So now we're going to tax miles driven?

[mystery-ak]

January 29, 2021
So now we're going to tax miles driven?
By John Green

Last week, Pete Buttigieg began confirmation hearings for his appointment as Transportation secretary.  During the question-and-answer session, we discovered why President Asterisk favors Mayor Pete for this position.  It seems he has a radical new idea for how to fund highway maintenance and development, which the new administration favors.  Funding for our highway infrastructure is currently supported via a fuel tax — 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel.  Mayor Pete's proposal is to move to a tax on miles driven rather than fuel consumed.

It seems that the administration is concerned that drivers of electric cars are not paying their fair share.  Thank God we're past the silliness of the Trump administration.  The adults are back in town, and the Harris/Biden administration is tackling the inequity of highway funding head on.  I'm sure racism is involved somehow.  I haven't figured that angle out yet, but I'm sure that the white privilege of owning an electric car has something to do with it.

Given that electric cars still constitute less than 1% of all vehicles on the road, I have a question for the party of science.  Isn't the amount of fuel used to drive from point A to point B still a somewhat useful indicator of the distance from point A to point B?  Granted, big cars use more fuel than small cars, but shouldn't small cars pay less anyway?  They impose less wear and tear on the roads, after all.  Of course, there is the problem that when I'm mowing my yard, I'm helping to pay for the highways.  Seems like a national issue that the administration should get right on.

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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/01/so_now_were_going_to_tax_miles_driven.html

[libertybele]

We are going to be taxed on everything. Everything will be regulated; fuel, electricity and water, and taxed.  I see potential for regulations and inspections being required for home gardens and them being taxed as well.

Thinking back in history the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution come to mind.

[catfish1957]

Buttplug...

How many odometer police are you going to have to hire to tally, collect and enforce this shit?

[Elderberry]

What about the older cars that can have the speedo/odometer disconnected or even run backwards?

[Idiot]

What about the older cars that can have the speedo/odometer disconnected or even run backwards?

Then you'll be required to add some sort of GPS device to your vehicle.

[GtHawk]

Then you'll be required to add some sort of GPS device to your vehicle.

Oh I bet that's already being planned, though it's true purpose will have nothing to do with tracking mileage and more to do with tracking enemies of the state.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Sounds like Lockdown, The Sequel is coming our way.

[Cyber Liberty]

It's not difficult to see what's going on here.  The Rats think they will succeed in getting all internal combustion cars off the road, because they're going to make fossil fuels illegal.  They still want to fleece drivers to pay too much for highway construction and maintenance, so what to do?  Tax by the mile.  By the time this scheme is fully implemented the roads will be filled only with vehicles that will self-report the miles driven via GPS and satellites.  No need for inspections to read odometers when the cars themselves will report the mileage.

The cars will self-report more than that.  They can report speeding to generate ticket revenue as well.  Gone will be the days when the law requires we can face our accusers.

[roamer_1]

Oh I bet that's already being planned, though it's true purpose will have nothing to do with tracking mileage and more to do with tracking enemies of the state.

Whadderya talking about? That's been there since the 90's.

Most 90's cars can be tracked, and even remotely shut off. And that only gets worse as it goes along.

All but the earliest can be turned on and accessed remotely, even if you turn all that crap off. So the only REAL security you have is to bust off the antenna that talks to sats... Because somehow, your car is phoning home to receive those instructions. And it is not much of a stretch to consider that it transmits location at every juncture.

How else can it be that LEOs can call GM and request tracking and automatic shut-off from NorthStar? Even if it is all soft-disabled, it can be turned back on.

[GtHawk]

Whadderya talking about? That's been there since the 90's.

Most 90's cars can be tracked, and even remotely shut off. And that only gets worse as it goes along.

All but the earliest can be turned on and accessed remotely, even if you turn all that crap off. So the only REAL security you have is to bust off the antenna that talks to sats... Because somehow, your car is phoning home to receive those instructions. And it is not much of a stretch to consider that it transmits location at every juncture.

How else can it be that LEOs can call GM and request tracking and automatic shut-off from NorthStar? Even if it is all soft-disabled, it can be turned back on.

I have never had a car with more than the  basic computer controlling ignition, timing, etc. No bluetooth or internet capability, they have to track me the old fashioned way.........by my phone.

[roamer_1]

I have never had a car with more than the  basic computer controlling ignition, timing, etc. No bluetooth or internet capability, they have to track me the old fashioned way.........by my phone.

Heh. Me too. My pickup is a 79 chevy 4x4... I finally broke down and got one with electronic ignition instead of points. And my leather checkbook wallet has a brass mesh lined pocket for the credit cards and the phone fits in there too if I need it to...

I can ghost. Anytime. Which means they have to track me the REAL old skool way - which means, after I get past the traffic cams... they can't track me at all. 

[Sled Dog]

There are many goals being served here.

1) Revenue grabbing, with the people owning real cars being taxed twice compared to those driving the fancy golf-carts....there's never any mention of people with internal combustion engines getting a tax rebate for gas taxes paid, and won't be.

2) Now the government knows how much you drive.   With your address on record, with your job location on record, they can figure out how much you drive to other places, too.  This brackets you.

3) The DMV will track this.  More jobs for useless people who vote Rodent.   The fascist state can always use more hangers-on.

4) Incrementalism.   "Gee, we're not capturing the miles accurately, we'll have to start putting GPS reporters in every new vehicle sold."  Now they can track where you go, every minute, every day.   Of course, it will be 24 hours after this idea is foisted before the police get total access to these "public records", right?

5) What's the next step after gaining the power to track where you go, 24-7?  Of course...they get to tell you where you can't go.   And to make that idea work most effectively, they're going to start putting remote kill-switches on the vehicles, too.

And, as someone said, it certainly wouldn't be too difficult to write a computer algorithm to track time and distance with posted road speed limits and start issuing citations for speeding...and illegal parking, too.

After all, you people swallowed that seat-belt nonsense without complaint.  That only took twenty years to choke all the way up, right?

[Cyber Liberty]

There are many goals being served here.

1) Revenue grabbing, with the people owning real cars being taxed twice compared to those driving the fancy golf-carts....there's never any mention of people with internal combustion engines getting a tax rebate for gas taxes paid, and won't be.

2) Now the government knows how much you drive.   With your address on record, with your job location on record, they can figure out how much you drive to other places, too.  This brackets you.

3) The DMV will track this.  More jobs for useless people who vote Rodent.   The fascist state can always use more hangers-on.

4) Incrementalism.   "Gee, we're not capturing the miles accurately, we'll have to start putting GPS reporters in every new vehicle sold."  Now they can track where you go, every minute, every day.   Of course, it will be 24 hours after this idea is foisted before the police get total access to these "public records", right?

5) What's the next step after gaining the power to track where you go, 24-7?  Of course...they get to tell you where you can't go.   And to make that idea work most effectively, they're going to start putting remote kill-switches on the vehicles, too.

And, as someone said, it certainly wouldn't be too difficult to write a computer algorithm to track time and distance with posted road speed limits and start issuing citations for speeding...and illegal parking, too.

After all, you people swallowed that seat-belt nonsense without complaint.  That only took twenty years to choke all the way up, right?

Other than to say they're already doing some of that, your comment is spot on.   

[txradioguy]

This was originally an idea that was floated at the end of the Obama administration.

Law of unintended consequences...more electric/hybrid cars on the road the less gas that is purchased and tax revenue dropped.

This is truly shaping up to be Obama's third term.

[Sled Dog]

Other than to say they're already doing some of that, your comment is spot on.   

Oh, the Rodents definitely know how best to boil a frog.   

I have in my wallet a letter from my employer proclaiming that I am an "essential worker" and thus at liberty to travel in these the United States of America, land of the enslaved and cowed.

How long will it be, given the fake hysteria from the Cult of Global Warming, that we will be required to justify our travels to our Climate Overlords?

And that isn't a facetious thought, no, not at all, but a very real possibility.   Totalitarian governments, and the Rodents in the US envy Hugo Chavez, Mao See Dung, Stalin, Hitler and Castro, for the ability of those tyrants to corral the populace and punish Thought Crime with impunity.   The Rodents are dying to do that to us.

And I hope they manage to do just that.

[bigheadfred]

There are many goals being served here.

1) Revenue grabbing, with the people owning real cars being taxed twice compared to those driving the fancy golf-carts....there's never any mention of people with internal combustion engines getting a tax rebate for gas taxes paid, and won't be.

2) Now the government knows how much you drive.   With your address on record, with your job location on record, they can figure out how much you drive to other places, too.  This brackets you.

3) The DMV will track this.  More jobs for useless people who vote Rodent.   The fascist state can always use more hangers-on.

4) Incrementalism.   "Gee, we're not capturing the miles accurately, we'll have to start putting GPS reporters in every new vehicle sold."  Now they can track where you go, every minute, every day.   Of course, it will be 24 hours after this idea is foisted before the police get total access to these "public records", right?

5) What's the next step after gaining the power to track where you go, 24-7?  Of course...they get to tell you where you can't go.   And to make that idea work most effectively, they're going to start putting remote kill-switches on the vehicles, too.

And, as someone said, it certainly wouldn't be too difficult to write a computer algorithm to track time and distance with posted road speed limits and start issuing citations for speeding...and illegal parking, too.

After all, you people swallowed that seat-belt nonsense without complaint.  That only took twenty years to choke all the way up, right?

ooohhh...

Should I go to Robot Three? Or get back to two?