More big brother

[Wildcard Ky]

This shit is getting out of control. Cali is looking into a mileage tax instead of taxing gasoline. They are studying putting a GPS tracking device on every car in the state. The amount of miles each car drives per year will be calculated, and the owner of the car sent a tax bill based on mileage.

Does stuff like this worry anyone else?

 

[china-doll]

This shit is getting out of control. Cali is looking into a mileage tax instead of taxing gasoline. They are studying putting a GPS tracking device on every car in the state. The amount of miles each car drives per year will be calculated, and the owner of the car sent a tax bill based on mileage.

Does stuff like this worry anyone else?

Good luck on that one. The privacy ploice will be all over that one.

Can you see it now:

Insurance agencies using the info to check drivers who speed so they can raise their premiums.

Lawyers using it during divorce proceedings to track the other spouse.

Oh the abuses that will be done...

 

[Wildcard Ky]

The privacy police are already raising hell, so are the environmentalists.

According to them, it will discourage some people from buying fuel efficient cars. FE cars save the owners money on gasoline taxes. That savings will disappear because the gasoline tax would be replaced by mileage tax.

 

[rgraham666]

and I can already see a nice underground business starting to hack into the trackers and fuck with the data so people don't have to pay the tax.

And the pols wonder why we distrust them?

 

[Couture]

Works great if you own a Hummer! Plus you can track all the hot girls.

 

[SlickTony]

Some rental cars already have devices on them which record when you are speeding, and suck "fines" out of your credit/debit card.

 

[china-doll]

Some rental cars already have devices on them which record when you are speeding, and suck "fines" out of your credit/debit card.

The last time I rented a car I asked about it, when they said that did I told them to go screw and walked across the way to another rental company. But not before making a scene in front of all the other people waiting in line.

3 other people followed me over.

 

[SlickTony]

Good on ya, China Doll! Now, we need everybody to do that.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

W-Ky,

Wait until your Ped-O-Metre is lo-jacked and your inlays are sending back an analysis of how many tacos you had. Then a charge for the caloric output of pedestrians can be computated and a flatulence tax can be applied to those people who ordered extra beans.

Remember, scientists have noted that the gaseous exhalations of ruminants (cow farts) are a major contributor to global warming. That will be the only scientific assessment Washington will accept this lustrum.

 

[R. Richard]

This shit is getting out of control. Cali is looking into a mileage tax instead of taxing gasoline. They are studying putting a GPS tracking device on every car in the state. The amount of miles each car drives per year will be calculated, and the owner of the car sent a tax bill based on mileage.

Does stuff like this worry anyone else?

I suspect that CA is actually looking at a mileage tax IN ADDITION to taxing gasoline.

 

[Lord DragonsWing]

WTG China Doll. That's what I'll do the next time I rent a car. Before you know it we're going to be taxed and monitored on everything. Makes a good reason for another Boston Tea Party. lol

 

[Op_Cit]

According to them, it will discourage some people from buying fuel efficient cars. FE cars save the owners money on gasoline taxes. That savings will disappear because the gasoline tax would be replaced by mileage tax.

Excuse me? "replaced"?

I'm striving hard to think of an example of any tax that was "replaced" by and because of some new form of funding. Can you give me an example?

Aren't we (Am's) all still paying a certain phone tax instituted to pay for the Spanish American War? They never do away with taxes.

Beware of anyone saying something is going to get cheaper because of a new law or tax.... How much did your auto insurance premium drop when your state adopted a manditory insurance, manditory seat belt, manditory helmet...

On the other hand, I think it's karma that the environmentalists are going to get bit by the same tool (force of government) that they use to (try to) force change in other people's behavior.

 

[sincerely_helene]

I thought this was gonna be a thread about the reality show.

 

[ElizabethWest]

I thought this was gonna be a thread about the reality show.

Haha! Me too when I first read the title!

 

[Boxlicker101]

This shit is getting out of control. Cali is looking into a mileage tax instead of taxing gasoline. They are studying putting a GPS tracking device on every car in the state. The amount of miles each car drives per year will be calculated, and the owner of the car sent a tax bill based on mileage.

Does stuff like this worry anyone else?

I don't think this would ever fly. California has a "right to privacy" written into the state constitution, passed some time ago by the voters. Monitoring the mileage people drive is clearly a violation of tha right. Even so, some judges would make some bogus ruling that the need supersedes the right and allow it.

It just goes to show what assholes politicians are for even considering this kind of shit.

 

[Guest]

and I can already see a nice underground business starting to hack into the trackers and fuck with the data so people don't have to pay the tax.

And the pols wonder why we distrust them?

ooooo!
i could do this job. please please please!

 

[Wildcard Ky]

Excuse me? "replaced"?

I'm striving hard to think of an example of any tax that was "replaced" by and because of some new form of funding. Can you give me an example?

Aren't we (Am's) all still paying a certain phone tax instituted to pay for the Spanish American War? They never do away with taxes.

Beware of anyone saying something is going to get cheaper because of a new law or tax.... How much did your auto insurance premium drop when your state adopted a manditory insurance, manditory seat belt, manditory helmet...

On the other hand, I think it's karma that the environmentalists are going to get bit by the same tool (force of government) that they use to (try to) force change in other people's behavior.

According to what they are saying (take that for what it's worth) the mileage tax would indeed replace the gas tax of 18 cents per gallon currently paid at the pump in California. Once again fuel efficient cars are playing into this situation. With so many fuel efficient cars on the road, the gov't isn't collecting enough money on the gas tax to pay for road maintenance. Here's a link that gives a good overview of the proposal being studied.

LA Times

 

[The Heretic]

This shit is getting out of control. Cali is looking into a mileage tax instead of taxing gasoline. They are studying putting a GPS tracking device on every car in the state. The amount of miles each car drives per year will be calculated, and the owner of the car sent a tax bill based on mileage.

Does stuff like this worry anyone else?

Typical politician knee jerk response. First they encourange cars that get good fuel mileage and produce low emissions, then surprise! They aren't getting enough revenue from gas because people are using less gasoline.

Gentlemen, we have to protect our phoney baloney jobs!

http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/images_movie/blazingsaddles_02.JPG

So they propose tagging cars with GPS devices - something that is so easily defeated that they won't work even if you leave them alone. Put the device in a tunnel, in a garage, or just in amongst tall buildings in a city, and it will stop recieving the GPS signal. You can imagine what would happen if people purposely shielded their antennas.

It is a ridiculous solution that will never fly.

 

[elsol]

This is a badly designed law if you think about it constitutionally. The second they try to tax someone that has to cross a state line to get to work the federal government trumps them.

I'm sure the federal government is just going to lay down and let someone tax something that is constitutionally only in THEIR domain.


Just a stupid fucking idea that will drag California into the courts from ALL sides.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[Boxlicker101]

This is a badly designed law if you think about it constitutionally. The second they try to tax someone that has to cross a state line to get to work the federal government trumps them.

I'm sure the federal government is just going to lay down and let someone tax something that is constitutionally only in THEIR domain.


Just a stupid fucking idea that will drag California into the courts from ALL sides.

Sincerely,
ElSol

Not to mention the millions of Californians who, every year, drive to Reno or Las Vegas or other places out of state for whatever reason. I wouldn't think CA could tax them for the driving in other states. What about those who drive into CA from other states and use the streets and highways and the services of the CHP. They would buy gasoline but not pay any road tax on it.

In addition to that, there is the right to privacy in the state constitution. Surely the monitoring of a person's driving habits would be an egregious violation of this right. This is a fatally flawed idea and I can't see it ever being enacted.

 

[snooper]

... What about those who drive into CA from other states ... They would buy gasoline but not pay any road tax on it. ...

Doesn't that happen already? It does on borders in Europe where taxes are different in different countries, everyone who lives near the border buys in the cheaper country, making special journeys if they are profitable..

... This is a fatally flawed idea and I can't see it ever being enacted.

When did that ever stop legislators? Which state was it passed a law saying PI=3, and all their machinery and and circular buildings are therefore illegal?