Monday, September 14, 2009

A New "Per-Mile" Tax Coming From The Left?

Well, if an Oregon Democrat has his way:

US Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) introduced H.R. 3311 earlier this year to appropriate $154,500,000 for research and study into the transition to a per-mile vehicle tax system.

The “Road User Fee Pilot Project” would be administered by the US Treasury Department. This agency in turn would issue millions in taxpayer-backed grants to well-connected commercial manufacturers of tolling equipment to help develop the required technology. Within eighteen months of the measure’s passage, the department would file an initial report outlining the best methods for adopting the new federal transportation tax.

“Oregon has successfully tested a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) fee, and it is time to expand and test the VMT program across the country” ....

What would this require? Well, it would mandate that every car in America have a GPS device installed; something that can range from a few hundred dollars to a thousand-plus. So add that onto the price of a new vehicle, plus the cost of Obama's new CAFE standards as well, and you have a industry that will be regulated into bankruptcy. Just saying, since "we" own GM, anyway....

What else would be required? Well, huge influxes of cash to companies like Honeywell and Accenture, who do this type of work and - coincidentally, I'm sure - are two of the largest contributors to Blumenauer's personal PAC, "Committee for a Livable Future".

How much does it cost to be on that "committee"? Ask the congressman, I'm sure there is a threshold...

And what else would be required? Oh, yes: $154 million in taxpayer dollars to finance a new taxpayer-soaking scheme, one that barely will impact city dwellers (read: Obama voters) at all, while draining the wallets of voters in more rural and wide-open parts of the country. Not that they exist to Obama anyway.

It's funny: Using taxpayer funds to figure out new ways to squeeze taxpayers for more funds. Where do liberals get these ideas? Maybe from China, where the family of the dissident has to pay for the bullet used to execute him?

This one's going to committee (Ways and Means). Sounds like the kind of revenue-raiser that Charlie Rangel can fall in love with...

1 comment:

Publius said...

They already have a per mile tax. In fact they increased it by 10 cents a gallon this year. It's called the federal gas tax. The only reason they want to develop "new technology" is to mandate a big brother like system that knows where you are to help quell the up rise at onset of Big O's third term.