Soak the Green: Oregon mulls a new tax that environmentalists and privacy advocates will hate.

Opinion Journal ^ | 5/10/05 | BRENDAN MINITER

[ZGuy]

As gas prices continue to top $2 a gallon, all those drivers of fuel-efficient cars may not have reason to gloat for much longer. Oregon is worried that too many Honda Insights and Toyota Priuses hitting the roads will rob it of cash it expects out of its 24-cent-a-gallon tax. So the Beaver State is studying ways to ensure that "hybrid" car owners pay their "fair share" of taxes for the miles they drive. That means allowing the taxman to catch up to hybrid owners just as often as he catches up to gas guzzling SUV drivers. And if Oregon goes ahead, it won't be long before other states follow. It's clear the state is looking to influence behavior in addition to raising revenue by implementing a "vehicle mileage tax." Under a VMT a motorist would pay a tax for each mile driven, around 1.25 cents. To administer this tax, a global positioning system would be mounted in each car. As a driver fuels up, the device would relay mileage information to the gas pump, which would calculate the VMT. A simple electronic odometer-reading device would do the trick, but Oregon is looking at GPS devices because they would also allow for charging higher rates for miles driven in "congested" areas during rush hour or to exempt miles driven out of state.

This is bad news not just for enviro-friendly motorists but for anyone who cares about privacy and transparence in government. More than 200 years into our experiment of a government founded on liberty and more than 70 years after FDR's New Deal, it might seem that the issues surrounding individual liberty have already been well hashed out. But the digital age offers a fresh set of challenges for anyone interested in pushing back the encroaching hand of government.

[goldstategop]

Liberals love taxes more than they love fuel-thrifty cars. If there's a conflict, its all too easy to predict what takes priority in their minds.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[KarlInOhio]

Time to buy a GPS jammer or park away from the pump and fill up gas cans and carry them back to the car.

[tahotdog]

That's hillarious.

I mean, I'd tell em I couldn't guarantee the safety of something like that in one of my vehicles, seeing as how IRS agents used to beat one of my mechanics and sic dogs on him when he was a child...

[mallardx]

This is so analogous to a situation here in Colorado. We had a serious drought a couple of years back, and the Denver Water department encouraged us all to conserve. Great plan, it worked, Denver folks conserved above and beyond what you'd expect, maybe 20% or so. Well Denver Water all of a sudden had around 20% less revenues. So, in their infinite wisdom, they decided to hike rates drastically so they could support their racket. If the thunder don't get you, the lighning will.

[avg_freeper]

One day we'll be taxed for the cigarettes we don't smoke.

[politicalwit]

Ahhhh, my heart bleeds. Now you know how smokers feel. Perhaps Oregon has found another cash cow. Now the enviroweenies can get smoked with flavorful taxes.

[meema]

NOW we're talkin' Police State!

[clee1]

Oh yeah!

I hope they do this... I could make a MINT building GPS/RFid jammers.

[JesseJane]

I feel the need to sing: 'In a Yugo' by Paul Shanklin.

[Major Matt Mason]

Oregon should be in Canada.

[joesnuffy]

Liberals crave a police state ( but only one that rubber stamps all their pecadillos...(are they ever in for a rude awakening)

They didn't call it national socialism for nothin'..eh?

[John Lenin]

What a bunch of morons, this eliminates the incentive to drive an unsafe sardine can and people will figure they might a well drive a safer SUV for the same price.

[aquila48]

One day we'll be taxed for the cigarettes we don't smoke.

That is such a prepostorous and ridiculous statement... it has all the earmarks of coming true!

[Toddsterpatriot]

Haahaahaa. ROFLMFAO!!!

[Finalapproach29er]

This is breathtaking.

I hate to say this but the states are often crazier than the feds.

[Osage Orange]

Seems I read somewhere....that the same type proposal was being discussed in CA.

The taxaholics will never stop.

NEVER!

FWIW-

[Walkingfeather]

So they finally are realizing that taxing is the end result not the reason for the taxing.

[1Old Pro]

I have a better idea, eliminate the taxes altogether.