Florida lawmakers have lost their minds

So I am watching the news last night and they came across with this little gem, it seems that Florida lawmakers are considering doing away with the Gas tax at the pump. Great news except they want to replace it with taxing the amount of miles you drive per year, now according to the article Florida driver pay up to $.59 per gallon in taxes. While in theory this idea sounds good at first it is nothing more than a ploy to cut taxes for upper class and tax the hell out of the working person.
I live in Jacksonville and it is not uncommon to put 20-30 miles per day on my truck just in driving around to stores close to me and work. What about people that can put upwards of 100 per day? Maybe I am wrong but just some numbers I have played with: I have a 21 gallon tank .59x21=12.39 in tax per tank that will take me around 341 miles per tank. Lets say they use 5% per mile tax, 341x.05=17.05 in tax per tank when done per mile. How is that fair?

source

reply to post by N3kr0m4nc3r


By this point in history, it should be obvious that the GOP is actively against the common working man or woman. This is just one more brick in the wall so to speak.

For a working person to support a Republican at this stage of history is similar to a chicken supporting Col. Sanders.

reply to post by Open_Minded Skeptic


Well, until a third party is properly established, those of us conservatives who still have a heart don't have much of anywhere to go...

Back on topic, Rick Scott and Co. will all be grandly trounced come the next election cycle, and it won't be a day too soon for me.

reply to post by N3kr0m4nc3r


I have to say i do not have much sympathy with you, unfortunately. On an international site like ATS, complaining about such a low amount to pay for fuel is, frankly, a smack in the face for the rest of us around the world!

Frankly, as the world's superpower, you should be in line with all of the other major nations regarding fuel taxation (rather than being closer in line with Venezuela).

That said, paying more is never any fun, regardless of location.

Okay, lets say you make a fixed 30000 miles per year.

If you have an old clunker you would have to buy more gas than with a modern hybrid.

Sooooo - common people who can't afford the newest in car-tech would come cheaper with being taxed by miles instead of gas.

LOL bring it on. I won't let that happen to my car. Even if they do put a GPS tracker on the car its nothing a hammer cant fix.



Politicians are sex offenders!

They are always Sniping people out of their money to give to the big banks.

May they all rot in Hell.

reply to post by N3kr0m4nc3r


This is a way to get more money from all the green-minded people. People are trying to be more frugal by riding motorcycles, or economy cars, or hybrids, so now they have figured out a way to still get their tax money.

Hopefully this will die. It would be extremely costly to create a whole new program to monitor and collect this tax, and I don't think Governor Scott is going to be in favor of increasing the size of the government just to collect money they are already collecting at the pump anyway.

This is a stupid idea, so hopefully it just dies a painful death as another stupid bill, and hopefully this lawmaker is out of a job in November.

Just reading the sources from the attached link, and it got me thinking.

This is an even more stupid idea in a state known for tourism! Tourists spend a lot of money buying gas in Florida, but we can't stop every car at the state line and attach a gps device, so if we get rid of the gas tax and instead use a per mile tax, we will lose all that revenue from the out of state tourists.

No way this idea can work in Florida. It is just a stupid idea all around.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Regarding the tourism though, Florida gets lots of tourists from all over the world - so, to them at least, this price would still seem cheap!

reply to post by Flavian


But we couldn't collect it on tourists, because they wouldn't have the gps trackers, and they wouldn't have profiles in the database. It would be a nightmare to collect, whereas sales tax, and gas tax are already set up and easy to collect.

Changing a working system for a new system with so many holes and so much upfront cost is a stupid idea, and one that the governor would surely veto.

ETA:
If it happens, it would be great for me, I live near the state line, I'll just license my car in Georgia, and buy gas in Florida. Save the gas tax and avoid the per mile tax. I'm sure there are plenty more people like me. We would just license our vehicles elsewhere and avoid paying any tax!

reply to post by getreadyalready


Very good point and one i had completely overlooked, if i am honest. Does make it very redundant really......

Don't like seeing anyone paying more than they have to (even the rich, has to be same rule for everyone or what is the point?). Have to say though, as a Brit, seeing people complain about such a very low (and it really is, just check the numbers globally) rate for fuel is a bit of a red rag to a bull!

No offence meant, just wish i was paying that amount instead of the extortionate amount we get charged over here. Over 2/3 the cost of fuel in the UK is government tax. Back in 2000, it was worked out that a standard fuel tanker contained roughly £33'000 of fuel. Of that, £27'000 went in tax to the government! Things have got much worse since then too............

Good luck fighting it but i honestly cannot see the US holding out for too many more years on this issue - sooner or later you will be brought in line with other nations. Probably sooner rather than later, when they realise how much extra revenue it will generate for government coffers.

reply to post by Flavian


To be honest I agree with you. A gallon of gas is still cheaper than a gallon of milk. It is only slightly more than a gallon of Coca-Cola or Pepsi. It is less than a pack of cigarettes. Etc., etc. It is really worth more than what we are paying for it.

There are some differences between the UK and USA that make fiddling with our gas prices very sensitive here. We don't have good mass transit systems, and we have an enormous amount of real estate to cover. Cities are often set up where people commute 60 miles per day or more, and people drive larger vehicles. If the gas goes up $1 per gallon, that might correspond to $50 or $100 per week to a lot of people, and it is significant enough to make people change jobs, or get behind on their credit card bills, and it directly and immediately impacts the economy in terrible ways.

Also, we ship all of our goods over very long distances. 3000 miles coast to coast, so a little difference in gas prices can have a drastic difference in cost of goods at the counter.

There is also tourism. I just drove 1900 miles to go home for my 20 year class reunion. I only took 2 days off work, and I did it as a 4 day weekend, in our jeep, with my whole family. It cost me about $320 in gas, and I spent another $300 or so in food and entertainment along the way. If the gas had been higher priced, I might have not gone at all, or I might not have been able to spend money at the drive-in movie theatre, or buy beer at the reunion, or take the kids to the sights in Memphis and eat at Corky's BBQ!!

So, although I believe our gas is under-priced, I also know that changing it is really a huge dampener on the economy, and would likely spiral this recession into a full-blown depression.

reply to post by getreadyalready


All very good points. I know from countless visits to relatives over the pond that America revolves around motor transport (was going to say cars but i know you all love your trucks! ).

One of the benefits of being a small island nation is that everywhere is close by. I mean that too - you should hear the moans and groans generated by the thought of a 30 mile commute somewhere! Everything is close together as there is no space for it to be otherwise. Not the case in your country. I have known people stateside think nothing of a 50 mile drive for a decent restaurant for example - in the UK this would really only happen if you were going to stay in that location.

However, i do think it is inevitable. Same as i think that sooner or later, your government will crack down seriously on gun ownership. I realise these are both very contentious issues to your average "Joe the Plumber" type. I just think that sooner or later, the government will do exactly what it pleases, regardless of the complaints it arises.

A new florida law on all rental cars in the state of florida to carry a gps tracker on it would be passed i bet.

At first I thought that this is a horrible idea.
However this paves the way for us to get off our dependency on oil.

Thorium Plasma Batteries are the first thing that comes to mind if we tax per mile.
source

A battery that can run for 5-10 years with no recharge? I'd pay per mile tax if I could get that.
It's a no brainer.

Since 2006, five different inventors have designed, three have created, and two have demonstrated self-contained safe and green nuclear "plasma" batteries that can put out reliable and stable power for 5-10 years - without a single recharge. These inventors include Americans Aries M. DeGeus, MIT Professor Eugene Mallove, a former U.S. Air Force Reservist we only know as "Danny", and a Russian name Dimitri Petronov. The fifth inventor still works for Uncle Sam and is not allowed to give us his name or details, but he vows to write a tell-all book when he retires and expatriates himself in 2 years. He too is very angry. Now if you Google the above names, along with the key words of "Inventor, plasma battery, energy, technology" you will find that two of these inventors have been murdered and the other two have simply vanished over a year ago. Why?

Here's a nice quote about tax revenue collected.

The U.S. government collects over $1 Billion every day in fuel taxes and these monies account for over 35% of the American government's operating capital. About 43% of the cost of gasoline at our pumps goes to pay taxes. Our already strained economy would go belly-up within a month if these fuel-tax revenues were lost.

This is very much a problem with how government becomes dependant on revenue. With a billion dollars a day coming in from fuel tax alone it provides a big reason as to why alternative technologies are shelved, protecting the cash flow takes priority over protecting the environment and social well being. Not good when government is in that position, but considering all the resources going into global domination some one has to pay.

Just one more reason to use that drill and deduct mileage on those vehicles.

According to an article in the USA Today several States are consider the idea of a mileage traveled tax.

Among the leading ideas: Taxing drivers for how many miles they travel rather than how much gasoline they buy. Minnesota and Oregon already are testing technology to keep track of mileage. Other states, including Washington and Nevada, are preparing similar projects

Legislatures will always find new ways to relieve you of your hard earned money...

Sorry link didn't work..Here it is:

USA TODAY

Originally posted by VeniVidi
According to an article in the USA Today several States are consider the idea of a mileage traveled tax.

Among the leading ideas: Taxing drivers for how many miles they travel rather than how much gasoline they buy. Minnesota and Oregon already are testing technology to keep track of mileage. Other states, including Washington and Nevada, are preparing similar projects

Legislatures will always find new ways to relieve you of your hard earned money...

Sorry link didn't work..Here it is:

USA TODAY

edit on 6/26/2012 by VeniVidi because: (no reason given)

edit on 6/26/2012 by VeniVidi because: (no reason given)

More stupidity by lawmakers.

This law would actually benefit taxi-drivers!! It would create less revenue, because taxi-drivers spend the majority of their time idling their cars, burning gas, but not travelling any miles.

This is why our system of democracy is doomed to fail. We elect idiots, because our voters don't take the time or initiative to really look at the candidates. The candidate with the biggest media purse is the one elected, and a lot of the time they are complete morons.

Simple,

Install a tachometer, if you don't already have one,
Figure out what your engine revs at the most common speed limits.
Unhook speedometer....for most of the year anyways...

Originally posted by grey580
A new florida law on all rental cars in the state of florida to carry a gps tracker on it would be passed i bet.

At first I thought that this is a horrible idea.
However this paves the way for us to get off our dependency on oil.

Thorium Plasma Batteries are the first thing that comes to mind if we tax per mile.
source

A battery that can run for 5-10 years with no recharge? I'd pay per mile tax if I could get that.
It's a no brainer.

Since 2006, five different inventors have designed, three have created, and two have demonstrated self-contained safe and green nuclear "plasma" batteries that can put out reliable and stable power for 5-10 years - without a single recharge. These inventors include Americans Aries M. DeGeus, MIT Professor Eugene Mallove, a former U.S. Air Force Reservist we only know as "Danny", and a Russian name Dimitri Petronov. The fifth inventor still works for Uncle Sam and is not allowed to give us his name or details, but he vows to write a tell-all book when he retires and expatriates himself in 2 years. He too is very angry. Now if you Google the above names, along with the key words of "Inventor, plasma battery, energy, technology" you will find that two of these inventors have been murdered and the other two have simply vanished over a year ago. Why?

Here's a nice quote about tax revenue collected.

The U.S. government collects over $1 Billion every day in fuel taxes and these monies account for over 35% of the American government's operating capital. About 43% of the cost of gasoline at our pumps goes to pay taxes. Our already strained economy would go belly-up within a month if these fuel-tax revenues were lost.

edit on 26-6-2012 by grey580 because: (no reason given)

when we finally get technology that helps free people from the corporate government control system would you

Why would you want to tax people who break that bureaucratic bondage?

only answer can be to "keep them in the control system!" America used to be a great country where the people worked and fed themselves without government interference .... then technology brought us together into big cities and metro areas and these system of control like taxes, licenses, fees and more worked to make that free person a working ward of the state....

now when people have a chance to become self-sufficient the bureaucratic government has to find a way to ensure they remain on the hook!