My Gawd It's Coming
 

Geezus last night I had a rough night out at the Casinos...first was the delux buffet and then it was gambling and drinking till the early morining hours.... I staggered home exhausted and went to bed and had this dream....

I dreamt that every car in the USA had a black box in it that kept track of the miles you drove and what roads you were on like a GPS system will..and at the end of the month you were billed according to how many miles and WHAT roads you used..the higher usage roads were charged at a higher rate while rural roads with little traffic are charged very little....What a concept for increased government revenue...reduction of oil dependence , pollution, congestion and finally a means to get people outa their cars and onto public transportation....I would even venture that it could reduce gasoline taxes, but knowing government they will never take away a source of revenue once in place. I can see it now ...My Gawd what a vision and it's coming...and sooner than may think....

Hmmm...seems like you had cheap booze, bad steaks and poor luck in the REM department.

My Gawd what if John Kerry is elected and has the SAME DREAM?

We arguably pay this stuff already now - it's call gas taxes, vehicle sales taxes, "impact fees", registration fees, roadway construction taxes, property taxes, etc.

On one hand, I wouldn't have a problem with it if it were the ONLY source of revenue, but on the other hand there are already so many sources of "highway construction / reconstruction" revenue from so many different sources it's hard to believe the government agencies aren't doing a little (or a lot) of "double dipping" and should therefore not be allowed to add yet another roadway-related tax.

Want to solve the problem of busted-up roadways, congestion, over-consumption of oil, etc? Say all non-commercial vehicles that get less than 20mpg have to be off the road in 12 months. Commercially-registered vehicles have to pay higher taxes / fees based on their weight / fuel consumption.

Problem solved.

Ahh, but the low MPG personal vehicles use more gas, thus more tax dollars. The higher taxes of the commercial vehicles would lead to higher prices for good; thus higher sales tax revenue, and higher prices for construction/services; thus higher sales tax (again), higher home prices, raised property values/taxes.

We can't win.

Red Barchetta by Rush.

Ohhhh my head hurts....I told Mother my dream and you have to leave it to her to figure a way to make a buck....All she could say is, "chaching chaching chaching, can U imagine the money to be made on those little black boxes...just a small taste of the action and you'd be rollin in clover.....Oh to think of it." Somehow I just don't think this idea is going to go away....

Well, GPS as a Wall Street commodity, would be a good investment.

I know parents who are thinking of planting GPS into their kids' bodies, so they will know where their kids are at all times.

Conversely, I know kids of elderly parents who are thinking along the same lines - because of Alzheimer's.

I don't think it will solve the problem for me. I use a half ton PU for work. It doesn't get 20MPG. So, I pay the higher fees and then I charge more to work on your house. YOU end up paying the premium. I just pass it on thru.

OK. That sillyness should point out rather clearly that YOU will pay for ALL of the increases as every business that depends on some form of transportion (that would be about all of them) would PASS IT ON.

So there you are, trying to solve problems by penalizing usage. Could there maybe a better way to approach these kinds of 'problems'?

Zeke....so you want a 1959 D Roadster..your sure now...not a CAb, a Speedster or a convertible....just a roadster...good luck on finding your roadster....now me I'd take anyone of those listed above.

It's allready Here
 

Article in AP....Matthew Fordahl.....Auto insureres give black boxes a test drive.....


"In August , Norwich Union the UK's largest auto insurer announced it was testing "a pay as you drive" program involving 5000 customers."

In some places there is a road usage tax. It mostly effects large trucks.

Vehicles over 16,000 pds do more damage to roads then smaller ones and they are ones who could be taxed.

hey tabs, you can sell me your 911 for some extra "walkin around" money. sounds like you had a great time.