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| DATE | 2019-08-28 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Track Everything
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House Democrats plan new ‘Traffic Tax’
August 25, 2019
Democrats have an idea to make bumper-to-bumper traffic worse: tax
drivers more when they’re sitting in traffic. Incoming House
Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) is planning to propose a
new tax that would penalize drivers by taxing them at a higher rate when
they experience traffic.
The traffic tax would be part of a new pilot program for a “vehicle
miles traveled” (VMT) tax which would replace the federal gas tax and
instead charge motorists based on a per-mile fee.
In order for a VMT system to work, GPS systems would be installed in
vehicles which would track vehicle movement and measure miles traveled
in order to calculate the tax. Rep. DeFazio would then use the guise of
replacing the gas tax with a VMT tax to charge differential rates based
on highway congestion.
“The only fair way to do VMT is with congestion pricing. You shouldn’t
charge a farmer who has to travel 20 miles to the feed store the same
per-mile fee as someone who jumps on 205 in Portland and causes a
backup,” DeFazio said.
To be clear, DeFazio isn’t talking about creating new toll lanes or
raising toll prices to reduce highway congestion. He is instead talking
about installing a tracking system in your car that would monitor your
vehicle’s movement and the location at every moment, transmit this
information to federal agencies, and then tax you based upon how busy
traffic is when you’re driving.
Such a form of congestion pricing is a deeply regressive form of
taxation that would be exponentially more detrimental to the working
poor who spend a higher percentage of their income commuting to work.
DeFazio’s traffic tax would also disproportionally tax suburban and
rural drivers who use highways more frequently and commute further to
work than individuals in urban areas.
Apart from the inherent unfairness of the tax and obvious privacy
concerns of having the federal government collect information on every
driver’s whereabouts, the point of taxation would be deeply unpopular
with voters.
Imagine the frustration you’d experience when you’re late for work
because road construction is causing traffic delays while at that same
moment knowing the government is charging you more money for the pleasure.
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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