Posted: Sunday, January 4, 2009 12:00 am
GPS system would cost car owners plenty
The guvner's idea of a GPS system to measure vehicle mileage for tax purposes is sheer lunacy! Can you imagine the costs to the car owner to install such?
Envision also the number of state employee drones to "run" the system and manage the data.
The fact that a task force already did a real "study" gives some idea of the continuing waste of money by state agencies.
If such a mileage base was truly vital, it could be obtained by noting such on the biannual registration!
Perhaps ODOT should stick to repairing the highways instead .
Paul Tanksley, Dallas
Tracking: Maybe not now, but how about later?
Ladies and gentlemen, the government will get your hard-earned money no matter what.
This "assurance" that tracking locations will not be stored or monitored is viable for now. However in the coming years I fear that tracking will be used and it will become a reality for not just Oregonians, but all United States citizens.
I think that this should be an awakening to Oregonians as to the legitimacy of "green" initiatives. If the gas tax was in any way truly related to curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the loss in revenue from the gas tax would have been lauded. Clearly, it is not and the we-know-better-than- you government is stepping in to reclaim the money they have lost.
Look forward to higher prices in gas as they are expected to cut back production and also thank your governor for raising it even further by raising the gas tax as well.
James Glover, Albany
It's just the beginning of government prying
I think it's time for everyone to wake up and think about how intrusive government is regarding the private life of individuals. Every phone call, whether from home or cell, every bank transaction including Visa, Mastercard, etc., and now a GPS in your car to track every move you make.
This is just the beginning of government prying into things it has no business doing. Pretty soon we will all have a chip put in our body to record every move we make. Watch and see.
I can only imagine what little freedom my kids will have 50 years from now. It's totally disgusting. Whatever happened to the Constitution?
Spencer Covey, San Mateo, Calif.
That's it! Now he's gone too far
I have managed to keep my pen holstered for a while but Governor K has gone too far. First he wanted a sales tax on gasoline, then tripling the cost of registering our cars so that we can't afford to drive our cars legally. Now he wants to play "Big Brother" and put a GPS on my car so that they can track how many miles I drive. They will charge us 1. 2 cents per mile. They say they will not be tracking where I am driving, but what is the next step?
If I am willing to pay for the gas, whether I'm using it in my car or my lawn mower, it's of no concern to him how many miles per gallon I get!
I think if we were to put "Old Ted" on Social Security and took away his chauffeured limo, his perks, free this and free that, he may start to see a different picture and devise a way to tax someone other that the people who need the help most.
Joyce Ulmer, Lebanon
We're already taxed on distance traveled
Re the governor's new scheme to tax the miles a vehicle travels:
Right now, you travel, you use gas, you buy more gas and you pay the gas tax. So, we already are taxed for how far we travel.
I know, he thinks we are all going to spring for a new hybrid that uses less gas so the present gas tax won't take in as much revenue. We are in a recession, a recession that is billed as a long-term one. A lot of us are not going to be buying new vehicles anytime soon.
And, the governor says, to make his plan work, he has to get the car makers to make an affordable GPS device to attach to our cars. That is going to cost money, which the country doesn't have, especially the U.S. car makers, who will soon be no more. Governor: How close are you to Toyota, Hundai, and Honda! Huh?
I won't say, "Duh." Oops, I already did!
Mary Brock, Albany
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