Taxing Progress

This maddening idea of a "per-mile-driven" tax comes up every so often, and I am afraid that it will eventually get traction. Aside from the obvious privacy concerns,* this program would ultimately be expensive and counter-productive. As it stands, we have decided (as a nation, via its government) that we would like for people to consume less fuel. To accomplish this, car manufacturers have stepped up fuel economy measures through innovations that cause less fuel to be wasted and cars to weigh less. Both of these positively affect the environment and our oil-dependency issues. The latter means less wear and tear on our roads.

In many ways, a fuel tax is ideal: It encourages people to use the resource carefully, and those who do not (or cannot) are forced to pay more of it. These are precisely the same drivers who cause the most impact on our roads (heavier vehicles, driving faster, accelerating quicker, etc.), and they pay the largest portion. It is dead easy to administer and the infrastructure is already in place. If we wish to further reduce fuel consumption or need to increase revenues for road maintenance, we simply raise the tax.

But per mile? Throws all of those bits out. Suddenly, there are no automatic incentives to be fuel efficient. Sure, we could base the rates on the vehicle's estimated miles per gallon, but then, if I own an old Camaro Z28, why not try to lift the nose off the ground at every stoplight? (OK, gas will still have a price, and so will tires, but the tax revenue side of the equation is gone.) If we really want to curb fuel use as a nation, the Europeans have provided a smashingly good model: High as Marlane Wayans in Scary Move N fuel taxes.

Is this about revenue? Doubtful. I have shown a model that would be easier to implement and could generate revenue while accomplishing other social goals. So, what is it about? Hybrids? Money? Naw, I'm going with power. If the gub'ment knows where you are, and you know that the government knows where you are, your behavior will change. (Unless you're a lowlife criminal who robs a convenience store while wearing a 24-hour monitoring anklet. Then, you are a man who either likes to be raped or a man who is too dubm to be persuaded by any type of reason.) And that, my friends, is neither freedom nor liberty.

*The gub'ment gets to stick a GPS locater on your car that reports back everywhere you have driven; tell me that database won't get abused or compromised, and I'll tell you I've got a great deal on some Fla swampland...