The Conservative Cave
Current Events => General Discussion => Topic started by: Ptarmigan on October 27, 2013, 09:07:23 PM
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A black box in your car? Some see a source of tax revenue
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-roads-black-boxes-20131027,0,6090226.story#axzz2iyikxgdx
WASHINGTON — As America's road planners struggle to find the cash to mend a crumbling highway system, many are beginning to see a solution in a little black box that fits neatly by the dashboard of your car.
The devices, which track every mile a motorist drives and transmit that information to bureaucrats, are at the center of a controversial attempt in Washington and state planning offices to overhaul the outdated system for funding America's major roads.
The usually dull arena of highway planning has suddenly spawned intense debate and colorful alliances. Libertarians have joined environmental groups in lobbying to allow government to use the little boxes to keep track of the miles you drive, and possibly where you drive them — then use the information to draw up a tax bill.
The tea party is aghast. The American Civil Liberties Union is deeply concerned, too, raising a variety of privacy issues.
Another way to get money and it uses tracking systems. I do not like that one bit. Libertarians and environmentalists are for it, while Tea Party and ACLU are against it. Strange alliance.
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Several states, most notably Oregon, have run plans like this up the flagpole. On a state level, I see problems with the whole thing from the basic mobility of our population. The thing with gas taxes is that they affect everyone equally, eventually (You may drive into the eastern side of a Left Coast state with gas you didn't pay their taxes on, but you'll probably have to buy gas at their tax rate to leave again) but with the black box, only the people who actually have to live there will be paying. There's also nothing in any of the black box proposals about ending or reducing fuel taxes, so everyone with a regular-fueled ride will be paying twice, so that pretty much forecloses the idea of getting all the gas burners to go along with it in order to make the electric/alternative-fuel crowd 'Pay their fair share.' I don't see this going through Congress intact as a Federal measure, either.
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Gub'mint black box, meet Golden screwdriver...
:devious:
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Oh for the good old days, when the only black box in the car was the ballot box being hauled around until the democrat powers that be decided how many votes needed to be stuffed in it.
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A black box in your car? Some see a source of tax revenue
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-roads-black-boxes-20131027,0,6090226.story#axzz2iyikxgdx
Another way to get money and it uses tracking systems. I do not like that one bit. Libertarians and environmentalists are for it, while Tea Party and ACLU are against it. Strange alliance.
Why in the world would libertarians be for this madness?