This could be a fun discussion.

[bvergeer]

If in 10 years from now road tax is collected by the mile via GPS, RFID or Odometer reading rather than at the pump, how will that affect your touring habits?

http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/1299981.html

I don't think it would affect the number of miles I ride but the idea that every mile I ride would be documented/recorded somewhere would be a little unnerving.

Bob
Ride Safe------Ride Hard-------Then get on the bike and have fun.

[Big IV]

If the mileage is being offically recorded by the government then can we use that to our advantage? Can we use that offical tally for Iron Butt and Far Rider group totals? some sort of annual high mileage group?


Might as well get something out of the deal really.

I still mantain that the price of used odometers will sky rocket if that happens. They're easy enough to get off and on right?

[bsnicely]

just another way to keep track of people. They can already track most cell phones. Price of fuel may drop, we pay 54.9 cents per gallon here in WV in state and Fed taxes.....

[alph]

the government wont go for a tax that the people can out right see.  unlike the gas tax, people don't think that everytime they fill up their minivan with 20 gallons they just waisted $10 in pure tax!  if you were to think, everytime you filled up your cycle, you could have bought a gallon of milk with just the amount of tax you paid.

my parents had a gas station, we made about 6 cents per gallon average, that would be $1.20 per mini van.

[Bob E.]

If taxing by the mile, rather than by gallons of fuel consumed, what would be the incentive for purchasing more fuel efficient vehicles?  I guess if you are burning less fuel, you would buy less, so there is some incentive.  But really, what would be the purpose of switching systems, especially to one that is much more complicated, harder to track, and perhaps easier to scam??  I hate taxes as much as anyone, but I'd rather see a tax on consumption (per gallon) versus usage (per mile).  I also prefer sales taxes to income taxes, or even property taxes, because there is the incentive to save.  I also could never figure out the reasoning behind someone needing to pay school taxes that never brought kids into the world.  Maybe it's because they were kids too one day.  But then again, so are renters...and they pay no property taxes, at least not directly.  Anyways, consumtion/sales taxes just seem so much more simple to track and control.  But then again, I'm not the most informed on the subject.  So I am sure someone will be sure to point out where I'm wrong.

[Jay]

They passed it in Colorado.  A "fee" added to you annual registration based on vehicle weight.  The revenue is supposed to go towards road and bridge repairs.  Hell, I thought that's what the 44 cent per gallon tax is for!

[sandy]

When I got my first car in New York (1966), I found out that NY charged plate fees based on the weight of the vehicle. No matter how old or decrepid the car, the fee never went down. Now that's an incentive for economy cars.

[Big IV]

Are they not accounting for rust? I'm sure that road salt is making some of the cars lighter in NY.

[Jabba]

FairTax.org

I am a believer.

Jabba

[Hotrodwing]

Typical washington brain surgeon's tax people for driving then when they cut back so does there revenue. Then they will need a new tax. Just look what they are doing to tobacco. Oh and by the way if they label it as a temp. tax don't believe it for one minute.

[flamingobabe #44]

I'm with you Jabba, FairTax.org, that's the fair way FB

[Ghillie]

Using taxation to control behavior should never be an acceptable action of government or allowable use of taxation. To try to stop smokers (and I despise cigarettes) by taxing them is a crock. To try and force people to economize by taxation is also a crock. Bigger government means less liberty.

[FLAVALK]

Let's see, if this comes to pass...

1) They will tax us for buying fuel at the pump (even if they say they won't - yeah, right)
2) They will tax us by the mile for using the fuel
3) They will tax us for burning the fuel (tax on carbon footprint- Global warmin BS)

Three taxes in one!


I luv my gubment 

[2tonevalk]

Hell if they could make a machine that fit on your face and counted the times you take a breath, they would tax you 5 cents each time you inhaled and 10 cents every time you exhaled.   

[FLAVALK]

I'm with you Jabba, FairTax.org, that's the fair way FB

The government doesn't do "Fair".

It would take away too much power from them.

[Black Dog]

TAXMAN-the beatles	powered by Aeva

Black Dog

[Oss]

black dog you think the same way I do   I was hummin the song as I was reading the posts

Surprised the gov hasnt figured a way to tax that yet

[2tonevalk]

TAXMAN-the beatles

Black Dog

I prefer the Stevie Ray Vaughn version myself.   But the Beatles do it well too.  

[fudgie]

Opps my speedo cable is broke and only wok intermitently!  Guess I'll have to fill my farm barrel with gas and use it 'just for my mower'. Yea right. And no one uses farm disiel in their road vehicles.... 

[sheets]

In California, off-road diesel is dyed red.  SERIOUS consequences if red diesel is found in a on-hiway rig. 

[alph]

FairTax.org

I am a believer.

Jabba

Hey Jabba,

There’s only one thing about the fair tax I’m afraid of, that it’s only federal, not local!  If the federal government implements it, the local state and city doesn’t have to, so you’re going to actually end up paying more in tax.

If our government would live within it’s means, they wouldn’t have to tax the hell out of us!

If you know something I don’t, please share it with me!

Al.

[Brad]

Opps my speedo cable is broke and only wok intermitently!  Guess I'll have to fill my farm barrel with gas and use it 'just for my mower'. Yea right. And no one uses farm disiel in their road vehicles.... 

In my area they are pulling trucks over every day and dipping the tanks looking for the red dye.  Huge problem if you get caught.  On the other hand they don't seem to care a bit about the guys burning used cooking oil.  They don't pay tax on that.  Go figure.

[DeathWishBikerDude]

I'll pay by the mile...as long as they permanately take down the speed limit signs.
 
I'm guessing I'll be moving to Canada.
I'm tired of this #$%^.
 

[Robert]

How about not taxing the roads and lowering the taxes? Yea I know but heres something that may put a different slant on things,
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
World's tiniest RFID tag unveiled

The world's smallest radio frequency identification tags have been unveiled by Japanese electronics firm Hitachi. The minute devices measure just 0.05mm by 0.05mm (0.002x0.002in) and to the naked eye look like spots of powder. They are thin enough to be embedded in a sheet of paper, Hitachi spokesman Masayuki Takeuchi says. RFID tags store data about the objects they are attached to, and companies are vying to create increasingly tiny versions. Recently, Hitachi unveiled another RFID tag, the Mu-chip, which measures 0.4mm by 0.4mm (0.02x0.02in). But the latest chips, which are yet to be named, can hold the same amount of data as the Mu even though they are much smaller. They have one major issue, however - they need an external antenna to work, and the smallest antenna developed so far is about 80 times bigger than the tags. Hitachi says it wants to study the tags' possible uses, but it does not yet have any plans to put its latest creation into commercial production. Unlike its predecessor, the barcode, an RFID tag's data can be extracted from afar - sometimes from hundreds of metres away - by radio-reading devices, and the technology is already widely used. Stores use it to track stock in warehouses and shops. Some countries are using the tags to hold passport data or for payments in transport systems, and they are even being used for animal identification.
 

PERRYSTONE ON ENDTIMES AND RFID CHIP	powered by Aeva

[Jabba]

IMO the electorate is afraid of the FairTax because it would allow us to SEE what our taxes are.  I challenge ANY one of you to tell me how much tax you paid last year.  No one can POSSIBLY know.  Besides all of the taxes you COULD know or estimate their are all the ones that are simply imbedded into the cost of the things you buy.  When a retailer has to pay taxes on it's workers, they add those taxes into the cost of the goods.  This is true the whole way thru the production chain, from the guy that mined the iron ore, to the steel mill, to the production facility that built the farm machinery, to the farmer that grows the wheat to the baker, and finally the grocery store that sells you the loaf of bread.  and don't forget about every truck driver along the way.  We have to pay guys like Smokin'Joe, and all HIS taxes too.  They estimate that 23% on average is the imbedded taxes on all the consumer good we buy.  That's a HUGE reason why a lot of our manufacturing has gone overseas.  Many foreign countries do not have that imbedded tax on goods produced in THEIR countries.  It's also why we're not competetive globally on good we'd like to EXPORT. 

If we go to a FairTax, it would have to be Fed and State as well as local. top to bottom overhaul of our current system. 

What we have is ponderous, inefficient, and outdated.  But... our electorate fears transparency.  They don't WANT us to know what they spend, or how.


It really is time we take our country back.

Let's fire the LOT of them.

The Libertarians are changing my friends.  We're not a bunch of pot smoking, peace at all cost, anarchists.  Sure there are some kooks in our ranks... but there are kooks in the Reps and Dems too.

Come join us, and help us take our country back from the Republicrats.

Jabba