NEWS: Taxation via GPS?

After so much work to make Hybrid cards more afforable and desireable it seems California among other states is looking to tax Hybrid owners for not using enough gas. Oregon is already ahead of their southern neighbor in the same line of thinking; having already began field testing of GPS tracking systems to calculate miles driven and generate an according taxation scheme,



I seem to remember a while back some states actually working to give tax breaks to people to encourage them to buy Hybrid cars over standard vechiles. Now they want to turn the tables because they arent shelling out enough money to keep road projects going? Obviously funding has to be pulled from somewhere, but why does it need to come out of the pockets of those actually being environmentally responsible when there are those who still drive the massive Escalades to work because they have the money and enjoy the status symbol for nothing other than being just that.

Heck, if they are concerned about money, just put a dollar per gallon state tax on the gas, that way, they'll make hybrids, or even fuel efficient cars, much more attractive, and not have to worry about gas tax profits for quite some time.

Your Car is Now a Taxi Cab

That is it, you will have to pay far more than you would if your Honda Prelude were guzzling gas like a Hummer, which it does not, and shades of Orwell how wonderful it is to be taxed and traced everywhere you go.

The plan is to make every road that has already been paid for 10 times and more over into toll roads. Think about it now, every road a toll road, while your national ID card says you are an unacceptable person and cannot travel if you protest it, nor have a job.

I fail to see how anyone who is implementing this kind of tyranny can be happy, even if they exempt themselves and remain the few human beings who are about as free as we are today.

Oppose this with all your might.

[edit on 16-2-2005 by SkipShipman]

I think we here in California pay something like 37¢ a gallon in taxes already...not sure what other states charge but that seems high as it is already.

The obvious response to this governmental tactic is to not be duped into buying a hybrid. Frankly, the premium paid for the car vs. the gas saved is not sufficient to make the hybrid economically viable until after several years of driving and especially when you consider that there are a lot of geeks out there paying more than the sticker price, just for the privilege of appearing greener than they are smart.

"Car and Driver" suggests that the gas saving vs. sticker premium is abolished by the superior performance of the 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid V6, but I can tell you that my 2003 2.4L 160 HP DOHC iVTEC has more than enough power, costs $10,000 less and gets 26 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. To me, that's a much smarter deal.