Posted on 03/29/2009 6:12:42 AM PDT by Osage Orange
Mileage tax might be road bill funding source, Inhofe says
By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau
Published: 3/26/2009 2:31 AM
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Wednesday that a proposal to tax motorists on the miles they drive is being looked at as an alternative method to funding much-needed road projects.
Conceding that such an approach could be awkward, the Oklahoma Republican said such proposals must be part of the discussion as he and other key member of Congress begin putting together the next huge transportation spending authorization bill.
"No one thing is going to do it,'' Inhofe said, citing the backlog of transportation needs and a fuel tax that no longer raises enough revenue.
As the top Republican on the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over transportation legislation, Inhofe will play a major role in crafting the bill to replace the current law, which expires in September.
Inhofe spoke during an interview after a hearing with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Disappointing several members of the committee, LaHood once again ruled out an increase in the fuel tax as a way to generate more money for transportation projects. He cited the difficulty in raising taxes during hard economic times.
Even though the White House strongly came out last month against LaHood's suggestion that lawmakers should discuss taxing motorists on miles driven, he seemed to leave that idea on the table.
Inhofe confirmed that such a proposal is still alive.
"We are going to try to come up with something in terms of a VMT (vehicle miles traveled) approach,'' he said, agreeing with LaHood that a fuel tax increase should not be one of the options.
"On the VMT, no one has figured out how you can do that other than the honor system, which never works.''
Inhofe said one possible method could be checking a vehicle's mileage when its registration is renewed.
A VMT tax could be layered on top of the fuel tax, which might be reduced dramatically or eliminated altogether, Inhofe said.
Automobiles, especially hybrids, are not using as much fuel as they once did, he said, explaining why the fuel tax no longer can be viewed as a reliable source for transportation projects.
Inhofe said other options under review include indexing the fuel tax to inflation and limiting the use of money in the trust fund to highways and bridges.
Supporters of mass transit projects and other programs would have to look elsewhere for funding, he said.
Inhofe said the amount of the next multiyear transportation bill needs to come in at about $400 billion.
His office reported that the last bill totaled $286.4 billion.
Inhofe, who is proud of his conservative voting record in Congress, said, "I know it sounds funny coming from me, being a big spender in that area, but I am.''
He said such a dramatic increase is necessary because of the huge backlog of projects.
"It is somewhat life-threatening,'' he said of the condition of certain roads.
Oklahoma has slipped into last place among the states in the condition of its bridges, he said, citing examples of concrete falling off some of them.
>>>>> Nope...just the evil CO2 spewing people and cars on those roads. <<<<<<<
Disingenuous. You know what I meant.
You are asserting that the feds would somehow be able to tax your travel on a state (not federal) road?
I don’t see how.
What do they/you think I only drive on Federal roads after I fill my tank?
I'm not even sure if "they" will do it....
This much I know....they are ALWAYS thinking about new ways to tax us.
Maybe they will ask us on the next census...how many miles we drive in a year. Maybe they ask us how many cars we have...Hell they asked me how many bathrooms I had in my house last census..!!
Maybe they then just have a box on a future 1040 form...that you MUST fill in your approx mileage..and get taxed that way. I dunno....
But I do know this...they want my money, and they won't stop dreaming up ways to get it.
>>>>> They basically do it now.... <<<<<
No, they do not.
They tax the gasoline that your put into your tank.
Period.
There is no such thing as a federal toll road.
No entity anywhere in America pro-rates your taxes based on your mileage.
So the feds do not “basically do it now”. Not even close.
>>>> This much I know....they are ALWAYS thinking about new ways to tax us. <<<<<<<<
No one disagrees with you on that.
In a round about way they are "Taxing" me while I'm driving on state roads...because of the Federal Tax on every gallon of gas...That's what makes my car move along these roads...isn't it?
BTW....why are you so contrary on this anyway?
Do you not think they won't attempt to do a Federal VMT? Hells bells angkor THEY are TALKING about it right now...apparently.
How do you think they would attempt it?
But we're not talking about "round about". We're talking about two very different things: a tax on gasoline, and a tax on mileage.
Why must you keep conflating them when the tax on mileage is the exact, precise, and unambiguous topic of this thread?
BTW....why are you so contrary on this anyway?
Because the "GPS tracking" idea is a paranoid fantasy that will never happen, and thus it muddies the real issue.
The real issue and the real possibility is an "odometer tax", and when you say it (or an equivalent) is "the same thing" as the gas tax you simply muddy the waters.
But then you said....how can they do a VMT if you are driving on state roads? And I said they are sort of doing that now.
Why must you keep conflating them when the tax on mileage is the exact, precise, and unambiguous topic of this thread?
Are you my freaking mother in law? LOL!! I only gave that as an example...There's very flippin difference anyway, IMO. Tax me on the miles I drive,,over all roads...Or tax me on the gas that I use to power my vehicle on all roads. Period.
Because the "GPS tracking" idea is a paranoid fantasy that will never happen, and thus it muddies the real issue.
Well angkor...I don't think I uttered the word GPS...in that context. If I even said it at all.....So that mud hole wasn't made by me....
The real issue and the real possibility is an "odometer tax", and when you say it (or an equivalent) is "the same thing" as the gas tax you simply muddy the waters.
Well I'm sorry if it's too muddy for you...But FRiend a tax is a tax is a tax.......And this particular one is taxing your useage of gas...which you nor I USE much of...unless we are driving on state, city, county of Federal roads.
I tell you what...you can have the last word. No worries....
Mandated GPS tracking would be a violation of the Fourth imo.
Such a device would also cover people while on their private property and is not much different than thermal imaging. I notice this article doesn’t mention GPS but only reading the odometer once a year, which would be easy enough to do unfortunately as if we need a new tax anyway.
We NEED a new tax???
Like a hole in the head. :) I can't believe Inhofe was even suggesting it.
You might believe that mandated GPS tracking is unrealistic and impractical but read what those who are pushing this idea are saying:
California is Setting the Stage for a Tax on Vehicle Miles Traveled
MTC spokesperson Randy Rentschler said at the same meeting that "to some extent, this is an imposition on motorists, but we have to get a good sense of how many vehicle miles traveled we have... as [transportation] is the biggest source of CO2 in the state. FasTrak and Translink have privacy issues, but those databases exist. When we are given subpoenas by the police, that's the only time that we will release private data."
MTC Commissioner and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said: "The privacy issue is important, but the information is necessary and needed to plan and make future decisions.
Obviously these control freaks believe that GPS is doable and only give token concern for privacy issues. Unfortunately I'm convinced all governments will try to push this down our throats eventually and it'll be up to the courts to tell them that it crosses the line.
The EZ pass is an active RFID chip which is attached to your windshield. The number of miles driven on the Thruway is billed to your account.
The following website discusses possible technologies for the enforcement of congestion pricing in New York City.
http://frumin.net/ation/2007/02/congestion_pricing_positioning.html
>>>> The EZ pass is an active RFID chip <<<<<<
I have EZPass. It’s very different from GPS and has a very legitimate use.
In fact I love it.
Mandate all vehicles have EZPass type chips...and then erect sensors over all the blue and red highways in your state.
They won't capture every mile...but they will capture plenty.
And THAT is their aim.........
>>>>> They won’t capture every mile...but they will capture plenty. And THAT is their aim........ <<<<<<<
Unless you can produce some kind of tangible plan or proposal from someone, somewhere, advocating the use of EZPass-like technology to track America’s 250 million passenger vehicles on the nation’s state roads and highways and for some kind of hidden purpose, I don’t understand how or why anyone would want to build such an infrastructure.
In fact you can go to any of the roughly one dozen state EZPass web sites and see that the use of this technology is in fact very very limited to a small (almost miniscule) percentage of state roads, and of course they are all toll roads.
Note that they are NOT federal highways.
Note also that the feds have ZERO, NO, NADA, ZILCH ability to capture any kind of data whatsoever from EZPass systems at the state level. None.
So the idea that any state would or could build such an all-encompassing infrastructure at such a monumental cost and with such lengthy planning, all on the basis of “their” whimsical desire to “capture plenty” of driver data, and all gratis for “them”, is simply preposterous.
As I said on the other thread, you need to think this through not merely from A to C or from A to D, but from A all the way to Z.
Or at least A to H.
Then I would suggest...you don't understand the Feds.
In fact you can go to any of the roughly one dozen state EZPass web sites and see that the use of this technology is in fact very very limited to a small (almost miniscule) percentage of state roads, and of course they are all toll roads.
Note that they are NOT federal highways.
The Feds don't care..if they are Federal roads or State roads. All they care about is...potential revenue. Period.
Note also that the feds have ZERO, NO, NADA, ZILCH ability to capture any kind of data whatsoever from EZPass systems at the state level. None.
I guess you would have never said that the POTUS would be able to fire the CEO of an American auto company either.........
So the idea that any state would or could build such an all-encompassing infrastructure at such a monumental cost and with such lengthy planning, all on the basis of “their” whimsical desire to “capture plenty” of driver data, and all gratis for “them”, is simply preposterous.
It's not preposterous...and you aren't paying attention to current events either. The Feds can MANDATE...whatever they want. It will be up to the states to knuckle under or resist. We shall see.....
As I said on the other thread, you need to think this through not merely from A to C or from A to D, but from A all the way to Z. Or at least A to H.
Well you can continue to attempt to tell me...I don't think things thru. That's alright...because I think you don't think outside the box..and have a dangerous "trust" of Government to NOT be intrusive.
>>>>> It’s not preposterous...and you aren’t paying attention to current events either. <<<<<<<
To answer my critique of your post with “yes they can” and “we shall see” is not a thoughtful response, it’s just massaging your fantasy.
As I said, come back with some kind of actual evidence outside of your scary fantasies and then you’ll have something worth listening to.
At the moment you’re just massaging your personal fears.
You are one strange woman.........
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