More Congress Critters Want To Track And Tax Your Driving Habits

from the why? dept

For years, various state politicians have pushed the idea of a "mileage tax" for driving, and it's never made much sense at all. Yet, just a few months ago, we noted that some politicians in the federal government were pushing the idea as well -- even though the Obama administration said it would not approve such an idea. Still, that's not stopping some politicians. Rep. James Oberstar is so strongly in support of a plan, he says he doesn't want any pilot programs, studies or information about such a plan, he thinks it should just be implemented right now.

Of course, these plans have never made much sense at all. They would be crazy expensive, in that every car would need to be outfitted with a GPS device, and then that info would have to be communicated to the government (certainly something of a privacy concern). And, the really silly thing is that we already have a much better and cheaper proxy in place: gas taxes. Not only that, but the gas tax at least encourages people to use more fuel efficient vehicles, and increases the demand for alternative energy vehicles. So it's difficult to come up with a single viable reason for a mileage tax, but that's apparently not stopping Oberstar from demanding that it be started right now.

Filed Under: driving tax, james oberstar, mileage tax, politicians

It's Baaaack. Oregon, Once Again, Pursuing GPS Driving Tax

from the bad,-bad-idea dept

It's been well over five years since we first heard about a plan in Oregon to attach GPS devices to cars and tax drivers based on how much they drove and the idea hasn't become any better in the intervening years... but apparently it's still being pushed. Against Monopoly points us to the latest report that Oregon's Governor is trying to move forward with the plan. One of the reasons behind the bill has nothing to do with a more efficient way to tax drivers, but because the state is gaining less revenue from its gas tax since there are more fuel efficient cars on the roads these days. Of course, rather than reward drivers for driving more fuel efficient cars, this sort of tax punishes them, and actually encourages the use of less fuel efficient vehicles. And, of course, that doesn't even begin to get into the potential (and likely) privacy problems brought about by any system whereby the government has full access to a GPS system on your car.

Filed Under: driving tax, gps, oregon, privacy