Two years ago Ray LaHood (Transportation Secretary) brought this idea up and now it’s seeing more light of day. With the Randian name Transportation Opportunities Act (TOA) they plan to tax how many miles we drive by installing an Orwellian-type electronic device in our cars.
1984 meets Atlas Shrugged all in one fell swoop.
Of course this is in addition to the national gas tax (average) of $.495 that we are already paying.
Take a look a these PDF maps (H/T Mark Levin’s website), here and here, to see how much you are now paying in state and federal taxes per gallon of gas. And those taxes won’t ever go away; they will be added to the VMT (vehicle mileage tax) that this regime wants to impose on us with this new TOA.
No one, it seems has considered how this will impact employment, or lack thereof. Take for instance the number of people who will stay home rather than take a family vacation. The impact on communities and states that rely on tourist dollars will surely feel it. And lets see — how will this impact state and national parks that rely on tourism dollars. Fewer people will be hired and more people will be laid off or not replaced should they have to quit their jobs.
Then there’s the more sinister side of this: controlling our movement and restricting relocation to other states. People are easier to control if they can’t move around much. Make it more expensive to travel and people do (and already have) cut back. That means less money spent in the retail sector, as well – again, a job killer.
This gives me a headache. This man and his regime HAVE GOT TO GO in 2012 or we are doomed.
Diary of a Mad Conservative 
May 8th, 2011 at 4:13 AM
We cannot let this restriction of movement and piracy of our right to privacy move forward.
May 7th, 2011 at 12:13 AM
[…] One day you can tell your children about the family vacations they will never get to take (Diary of a Mad Conservative) People are easier to control if they can’t move around much. […]
May 6th, 2011 at 7:22 AM
[…] our borders. This article should scare the hell out of you. Next, you ought to slide over to the Diary of a Mad Conservative and learn how the Department of Transportation to tax you for every mile you drive without the […]
May 6th, 2011 at 6:30 AM
Amen, Roxy, amen. Gives me a headache too. How do we learn all we do and not lose our minds?
May 6th, 2011 at 11:06 AM
Because we are not lemmings.
We see the cliff and will not jump over it.
Instead, we have the ability to take the lemming herder away to a place where he will be reduced to where he can speak as much as he wants and the non-lemmings watch in amusement. (Carter).
🙂
May 5th, 2011 at 7:56 PM
There is nothing this administration does that does not curtail American freedom. And it’s all promulgated with innocuous sounding phrases like “transportation opportunities, clean water, clean air, net neutrality, acceptance facilities (for submitting your ‘new’ passport request) yada yada yada”. They are Marxist totalitarians. How can people not see through them?
May 5th, 2011 at 6:33 PM
Good evening Roxy, AFVET,
I agree. Our liberties are under attack and even worse, the blind sheep refuse to believe that which is as plain as the nose on their faces.
If one more sheep says to me, “They can’t do that” or “You know, you can’t believe half this stuff,” or “That’s not going to happen” I will go postal.
May 5th, 2011 at 2:04 PM
Big Brother is getting bigger by the day.
May 5th, 2011 at 12:07 PM
It’s disgusting.
Add this to the attempt to monitor your usage of power with ‘smart meters’ and tax you if you go over the limits they have mandated.
Cass Sunstein is indeed the most dangerous man in Washington, per Glenn Beck.
Our freedoms are being eroded at a frightening rate, and the ignorant sheep among us have no clue as to what is happening.