Better Solutions Than A Mileage Tax

The good news is that Obama just rejected the mileage tax, but the bad news is that politicians (especially in oregon and taxachussets) keep thinking that this would be a good idea.

The fact that elected officials think it would be good to track citizens every movement is scary. If we keep electing people like this we’re going to head down a very slippery slope toward the type of 1984 society that Orwell imagined. In fact, it’s starting to look more and more like Orwell was just off by about 30 years.

So, instead of creating huge privacy concerns, here’s some better ways to go about changing the tax.

1.) If you really want to tax by mile, why not just look at a car’s odometer? Many states (like Texas) require yearly car inspections. It would be very easy to just write down the mileage at the inspection and charge the appropriate tax. Same data, no privacy concerns. Late fees and tax repercussions would even cause more people to get their car inspected on time, and eventually reduce emissions by a little.

2.) Tax Diesel More. Heavier trucks put more wear and tear on the roads than light cars do. Heavier trucks use Diesel fuel. Why not tax it accordingly?

3.) Tax Tires. If you follow my twitter feed you probably saw this suggested by Xich. Bigger tires = more wear and tear on the roads. Tires have a set mileage to them, so tax accordingly.

4.) Just raise the gas tax. Compared to Europe, America pays pretty cheap gas prices. We’re no Venezuela, but we still have cheap gas compared to some other places in the world.

5.) Start spending responsibly. The gas tax isn’t the real issue here though. The big issue is that cities and counties and states all spent their money and are now panicking. Instead of taking the money given to them for road repair, they spent it on other stuff. In Michigan, for example, we sent it to Nigeria.

February 22nd, 2009