Oregon, the tax man and big brother

If you drive a car-car I'll tax the street
If you try to sit-sit I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk I'll tax your feet
Tax man

Is this a wacky idea or a future reality check? The state of Oregon is looking for more money to fund new highways and upkeep and is trying out a system that would put a GPS in each car to keep track of actual miles traveled. The state would then tax the driver on those miles. It seems that due to hybrids and lower fuel use, the state’s income of twenty four cents per gallon in gas tax is not adequate to cover its highway budget which has come in at about 80% of that budget.

It’s not just civil liberties groups that think it’s a magnum invasion of privacy.  Most citizens are balking at the suggestion of a massive data base tracking your every right hand turn. Some suggest just checking every car’s odometer each year. With the digitization of most cars, turning back the odometer is not an easy option. And who pays for the GPS?

 Oregon is just testing the system now…let’s hope that’s as far as they get before sanity asserts itself.