Big Brother is Watching... As We Drive Posted by Bobby Eberle
February 27, 2009 at 7:26 am >> Printer-Friendly Version Ok, stay with me here... I know many of you are stunned with the turn our country is taking down the path to socialism. There is massive spending of money we don't have on programs we don't need. There are unprecedented amounts of government control about to be heaped on the American citizen. From banks to automobile manufacturers to health care, the federal government is injecting itself into the lives of Americans like never before. But, it doesn't stop there. Despite the trillions of dollars in the upcoming budget and the near trillion dollars in stimulus and mortgage bailouts, there is a group complaining about the lack of funds to pay for road projects. Their recommendation? To tax drivers by the mile by installing tracking devices in their vehicles which monitor their activity. As noted in the story Associated Press story Panel: Raise Gas Tax, Charge Drivers by the Mile, the talk of the government tracking drivers is real. When the idea was first floated by Transportation Secretary Rey LaHood, the Obama administration quickly stepped in and publicly hung him out to dry. "It is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration," the president's press secretary said. However, a "special commission" created by Congress is still pursuing the idea. And, of course, they are painting a dire situation in order to justify another government intrusion into our private lives. Its report Thursday warns that if government fails to find a new way to raise money, "we will suffer grim consequences in the future: unimaginable levels of congestion, reduced safety, costlier goods and services, an eroded quality of life, and diminished economic competitiveness as a nation."
"We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled," LaHood said last week. The commission recommends "moving to such a tax, which would mean equipping cars and trucks with a device that uses GPS technology to track the number of miles driven and compute the tax owed." Is this what we are coming to? GPS equipped cars so the government can monitor our travels? Doesn't the current system of a tax on a gallon of gasoline do the same thing? The more one drives, the more one will pay in tax, because more gasoline is needed. Strapping cars with GPS trackers so the government can keep tabs on how far we drive seems like something straight out of the former Soviet Union. "You've driven your allotted 70.35 miles today... let me see your papers." We have to restore some sanity in the way things are going in Washington. I hate to think of what might be next. Monitoring our food purchases to see if we are eating "proper" meals. After all, if government will be soon be in the business of providing health care for all, then surely they can tell Americans what to eat or not eat. Now we are clearly seeing the effects of two straight congressional election losses at the hands of the Democrats. Even with an Obama presidency, we could have had some kind of check to the check-and-balance system. But look at what we've done... and where America is heading.
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