ANOTHER Tax?!

Earlier this week a story surfaced that indicated that our current Congress was looking at the possibility of taxing America's drivers for each mile they drive their cars.

This is being looked at due to the supposed decrease in revenues caused by the recent inflated costs of energy that has resulted in fewer gallons of fuel being purchased, and hence, fewer taxes rolling in to government coffers.

Subsequently, the politico's in DC are examining various ways to keep that revenue stream going at its recent pace. They claim that more money is needed to shore up the transportation infrastructure across this great nation. Our roads are aging, our bridges are becoming hazardous, etc.

So, the idea of taxing us for the each mile we drive has been floated...again. This is not a new idea. It literally surfaces every few years as tighter and tighter budgets are proposed.

What's disturbing about this concept is that the only realistic way to gauge any car's miles driven is by installing some sort of GPS or other similar technology in every car in the US. THAT smacks of too much governmental intrusion in our lives; a sort of Orwellian prophecy fulfilled.

I immediately emailed my House Rep and said "No, No, NO!" We are already taxed when we buy gas; buy a car; renew our car tabs every year; pay for repairs etc. Why should we pay yet another tax for something we are already paying taxes for--the owning and operating of an automobile? This one stinks!!!

I've got an idea...instead of taxing the US consumers, how about paying the contractors that work on our roads less money? Further, how about insisting that any repair jobs are not only done under budget, but are done so that the fix is permanent; instead of having to go back six months later and repair the same thing yet again? These things can be written in the contracts; and any overages are the responsibility of the contractors--NOT the US government. You do THAT and I guarantee you that costs would drop, and repairs would be better, and last longer.

Enough of taking the hard-earned money out of our pockets. It's time our Senators and Representatives take responsibility for the mess they (and their predecessors) have created. They need to insist on lowered costs across all the various aspects of building and repairing the highways, by-ways, and other national infrastructure.

If this was actually enacted and enforced, I wonder how many billions of dollars we would save every year, and how much safer our infrastructure would actually be.

But...it's just a dream. One I'm sure we'll be taxed on just for having...