Spanish ISP Ain't Gonna Let Google Ride Their Pipes For Free → Re: Ah, a free ISP

WOW ... surely that can't be true .... you are joking right?

It hasn't passed but there are legislators who bring it up all the time and it was all the rage 2004-2007 with CalTrans looking for big money lobbying hard for it.
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It was brought up in Massachusetts too. Even Transportation Secretary LaHood endorsed the idea before Obama wisely nixed it.

That's friggin' ridiculous. Be green! Be efficient! Help us limit our dependence on foreign oil.

OH SHOOT! Uh...wait a minute. We didn't mean it. Please by more gas because we tax it to death and...

Didn't this happen to the tobacco folks? All the negative cancer-causing PR finally has usage down and to make up, they just keep raising the taxes in the name of the chronic health care problems it creates and how that's a huge burden to society. I suspect that's true but I seriously doubt if those tax revenues are used to help cover costs related to tobacco use.

(Just so folks know, I've never been a smoker and other than in principle, I don't care if they tax tobacco to death.)

The gas tax funds highway reconstruction. All Gas tax money is put into the Highway Trust Fund which is redisbursed to the states to pay to repair those pot holes you complain about. At the same time the gas tax hasn't been increased since the mid 80's. This worked for a long time because even though the tax wasn't increased to match inflation driver miles increased yearly increasing the revenue from the gas tax. Since 2008 gas tax revenues have been dropping. It's a non-starter (Pelosi said it wasn't even on the table) to raise the tax to compensate for 30 years of inflation that was never taken into account. As a result states are proposing the idea of per mile taxes as an easier sell to the public.

The reality is that in 2008 the highway trust fund was exhausted. Gas tax revenues no longer can cover needed construction and as a result we are now borrowing to rebuild roads. Personally I'd like to see the federal gas tax raised from the current $0.17 to $.30 and indexed against inflation. Otherwise we are all going to be driving on gravel roads soon, some rural areas have already started ripping out paved roads, without considering that gravel roads can have higher maintenance costs. Bitch about the per mile all you want, but if you really want to fix the problem you need to petition your rep's to raise the gas tax.

That is the point. The gov't has the transportation dollars but they steal to fund their other waste.

So I don't want to hear how they don't have money for road construction. That is like a drug addict who just wasted all his money on meth complaining that he now has no money to pay the light bill.

If they want to raise taxes, let them put it on the ballot and say it's to pay the bloated pensions of gov't workers and see how far they get. But no, after wasting all the money the first thing they run and cut is roads and public safety because they think they can raise taxes with those threats.

What about state gas taxes?

Public safety IS the poster child for bloated pensions. If you let citizens vote on tax increases, they will always vote no, and they will always vote yes on spending. See california's problem for details.

Nope. Some parts of the World already do this, your tax is based on how much you drive, and where and when you drive, not your gallons of fuel.

As cars become more fuel efficient, revenues from gasoline taxes fall, and cash strapped states look to other ways to make money.

The idea of "a per mile" tax or roadway toll tracking system aren't new, but the movement is gathering more steam.

Not only that, they can charge you extra for driving into congested areas, at rush hour, etc to encourage "traffic control" or alternative forms of transport.

some parts of Asia all cars have to have EZ-Pass(well something like it) and you get billed for entering that area. they just have the transmitters on overheads.

Can I get my gas tax money back then? Since Iowa refuses to have a motorcycle helmet law we do not get any federal road funds, and have the worst roads in the country.

Anyway, no way would I put a GPS thing in my car reporting to some bureaucrats how much and where I drove. I would rather drive on gravel roads. Well, more gravel roads.

And back on topic, lets see how it works for the ISP if they cut off Google. Not well I expect. What a bunch of wankers.

The taxes, to some extent, are used to pay for subsidies to Tobacco Farmers to help them grow more Tobacco. IMO, the subsidies should be cut off and applied to paying them to switch to an alternate crop (and totally phased out over a 3 year period). If the Government says that it is bad for you, why are they supporting it? Just collect the "sin" taxes on it but DO NOT support the Tobacco Drug Dealers by paying them to grow it.