If They Do This, I Will Finally Stop Talking About Moving, and Move

Filed under:Church of Liberalism,Not Cool,Politics,Wacky Oregon — posted by Anwyn on December 30, 2008 @ 6:03 am

Oregon governor Kulongoski to pursue mileage tax.

Now that you’re beaten into submission on that whole fuel-efficiency thing, you’re using less gas, but we still demand that you drive less, and oh yeah, we are determined not to lose a single penny of revenue by you curbing the behavior that we demanded you curb to begin with.

The online outline adds: “The governor is committed to ensuring that rural Oregon is not adversely affected and that privacy concerns are addressed.”

How can rural areas possibly NOT be adversely affected except through special exceptions that will no doubt rile suburban dwellers? If I had no choice but to drive ten miles one way to the nearest drugstore rather than the two I drive now, that’s an adverse effect. And please believe me when I say: I’m from North Carolina, I’ve lived in Texas and small-town Indiana, and Oregon outside Portland is the single largest rural area I’ve lived in close proximity to.

They say they’re dealing with the privacy issue–i.e. although while they plan to track the car they don’t plan to record its travel–but I fail to see how that can be assured since the distance tracking will be done, obviously, through GPS. So it seems to be more a case of “Trust us! We promise we won’t track vehicle location even though, obviously, we could!”

Tell me another one, Nanny Salem.

Via Drudge.

2 comments »

  1. I have to wonder if this tax or something like it may be coming to the entire US in the future. As we move cars away from fossil fuels, gasoline tax will fail to cover road maintenance costs. They’ll eventually need to come up with something else. Maybe this. I hope not, but maybe.

    Unfortunately, Oregon, much like its bigger, loonier cousin to the south, just can’t resist being “progressive”.

    Comment by Daddyman — December 30, 2008 @ 7:40 pm

  2. what do you bet that the state keeps all those mileage and gps records forever, and makes them available by subpoena?

    what do you bet that those records get leaked anonymously if the price is right?

    In the end, Oregon voters will support this. Ultimately, it’s For The Children™.

    Comment by Jones — January 2, 2009 @ 12:00 am

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