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From: David Kaye on 11 Feb 2010 15:44 Kurt Ullman <kurtullman(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > This is already being piloted. Some states are trying to decide if >GPS reporting back to the State can be used for road taxes, since we are >driving more miles with more efficiency and the old way isn't making >enough money. Okay, you run a state. Your state is $20 billion in debt. Where do you cut? Do you cut welfare, knowing that if the poorest of the poor can't get shelter they're going to be living on the streets and in your parks? This is not an urban thing by the way. In California there are tens of thousands of people living in rural state and national parks, on BLM land, etc. Do you cut school budgets, clearly one of the biggest expenditures any state makes? Sure. Cut schools and other countries get ahead of us. It's no accident that other countries are taking away our tech lead. It's no accident that people can get better medical care for cheaper outside the U.S. In most *civilized* countries of the world a higher education costs the student nothing. Here, a decent education is anything from $50k to $200k, causing a debt most students carry for decades. Do you cut road maintenance? California did that. You don't want to drive on a lot of California roads anymore. Do you cut public transit? People have suggested that the Golden Gate Bridge bus and ferry system be shut down. Fine. Do that and you double the traffic on the bridge, which is already at a standstill from 3pm to about 8pm daily. Where do you cut?
From: John Higdon on 11 Feb 2010 15:44 In article <5YudnQ2qLv4tyenWnZ2dnUVZ_hidnZ2d(a)earthlink.com>, Kurt Ullman <kurtullman(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > This is already being piloted. Some states are trying to decide if > GPS reporting back to the State can be used for road taxes, since we are > driving more miles with more efficiency and the old way isn't making > enough money. Why the complexity? If the current method/rate isn't enough, why not just raise the rate? Why the rush for Big Brother reporting of everything we do and everywhere we go? The odometer can work just as well, but without turning our lives over to the government. And frankly, gas taxes also encourage energy efficiency. Again, if the rate is too low (something I really doubt), then raise the rate, not the government intrusion. -- John Higdon +1 408 ANdrews 6-4400 AT&T-Free At Last
From: David Kaye on 11 Feb 2010 15:46 Jeff Liebermann <jeffl(a)cruzio.com> wrote: >Most rental cars already include some form of data logger. In its >simplest form, it's a GPS mapping display, with an SD card that >records all the NMEA-183 data. If you leave the state, drive too >fast, exceed acceleration limits, or induce a high G force (like >driving off the curb), the data logger will record it. When you >return the vehicle, you get a bill. [....] So, what you're saying is that if we should be afraid of anyone it's not the government but the car rental companies. And yet our laws say that they have every right to collect all that information about our travels since they own the cars. On the other hand, a good case could be made (and maybe won) in the courts against the government collecting similar information.
From: Kurt Ullman on 11 Feb 2010 16:18 In article <hl1q75$2q1$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, sfdavidkaye2(a)yahoo.com (David Kaye) wrote: > Kurt Ullman <kurtullman(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > This is already being piloted. Some states are trying to decide if > >GPS reporting back to the State can be used for road taxes, since we are > >driving more miles with more efficiency and the old way isn't making > >enough money. > > Okay, you run a state. Your state is $20 billion in debt. Where do you cut? Across the board every (including the office of the governor) department gets cut. Everybody gets screwed equally. > > Do you cut welfare, knowing that if the poorest of the poor can't get shelter > they're going to be living on the streets and in your parks? This is not an > urban thing by the way. In California there are tens of thousands of people > living in rural state and national parks, on BLM land, etc. Or do you increase taxes which can mean more people also losing their shelter. More likely run off your jobs (like California has). > > Do you cut school budgets, clearly one of the biggest expenditures any state > makes? Sure. Cut schools and other countries get ahead of us. It's no > accident that other countries are taking away our tech lead. It's no > accident > that people can get better medical care for cheaper outside the U.S. In most > *civilized* countries of the world a higher education costs the student > nothing. Here, a decent education is anything from $50k to $200k, causing a > debt most students carry for decades. There is absolutely no correlation between money spent on education and outcomes. Thus the Washington DC school system has the highest cost per student, among the highest dropout rates, poorest graduation rates, etc. Idaho exactly the opposite. I find it really interesting that two of things that the government is most involved (healthcare and higher education) are two of the things were the inflation rate is consistently WAY above general inflation. Also, again, taxes going up take away money that the person might have been able to use for college, etc. There seems to be an underlying assumption that taxes appear out of thin air and have no impact on other areas. > Where do you cut? What do you do instead? -- I get off on '57 Chevys I get off on screamin' guitars --Eric Clapton
From: Kurt Ullman on 11 Feb 2010 16:19
In article <higgy-35EE54.12443111022010(a)news.announcetech.com>, John Higdon <higgy(a)kome.com> wrote: > > Again, if the rate is too low (something I really doubt), then raise the > rate, not the government intrusion. It easier to raise intrusion than it is to raise the rate. Easier to hide politically. -- I get off on '57 Chevys I get off on screamin' guitars --Eric Clapton |