This "miles traveled" proposal, unfortunately, is a breath of oxygen for hard-core Republicans who hate Obama: thanks to "miles traveled", these people have a LEGITIMATE gripe against the government. Apparently it's too much trouble to raise the gas tax by a nickel, but let's set up a satellite surveillance system so we can keep track of 100 million American drivers. Maybe it'll catch Osama bin Laden! People are hurting right now, and we look to Washington for help and guidance, not comedy.

This is, without question, the most insane idea I've ever heard. Deeply, profoundly demented. It makes me think LaHood is a Republican plant with secret orders to bring down the Obama administration. It's that out there.

Seriously, it would make it impossible for me to argue against the gun nuts and the survivalists. Not to mention the Betsy McCougheys of the world who say government will create a computer database to monitor your medical treatments and tell your doctor what to do.

This is whacked in every conceivable way. It's a bazillion times worse than a gas tax, and it'll poll 20 points worse once people realize what you're saying.

If you're worried about carbon -- and in his remarks, LaHood was not talking about carbon -- a gas tax would be a better idea on the policy, but it's hard for me to imagine that moving forward, either.

But, dude, we already have a gas tax. Obama won Indiana by standing behind his decision not to suspend it.

a miles traveled tax would be unfair to poets (and their horses)!

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep

also, EK, you seemed to imply in your earlier post on this that the current gas tax was an excise tax on gasoline expenditures rather than a cents per gallon tax (which is what it actually is)

Umm, Gibbs just shot the thought balloon of a miles traveled tax down with a bazooka. There was no qualification in his response. Next.....

What's wrong with looking at the odometer to figure out miles traveled? Here in Massachusetts, the government gets that data anyway though the annual inspections. (No, the government does not do the inspections, but I'm sure they get paperwork from the inspection stations.)

The idea of using satellite tracking for it is pretty bizarre.

Ezra,
I agree, doing this for all drivers is obviously a non-starter. But doing it for professional truckers only could work -- they're used to being regulated (albeit lightly), and trucks cause much more road damage than personal vehicles.

This is a foolish frame to resign the issue to. Simply reconfigure card operated gas pumps to require the input of a driver's license plate number and odometer reading. Problem solved.

bdbd

what a lovely surprise!
the unexpected appearance of a robert frost poem!
if only they had a lane for horses
on the 405.
we still do have a wells fargo trail
down in shelter valley!

Singapore taxes distance travelled; they do it with RF smart cards in the cars and transceivers mounted on overpasses and the like. Some states do something almost exactly like this with trucks.

While we are being poetic:

O sing a song of Singapore,
Where life is such a crashing bore
That bureacrats must while the days
By fingerprinting dogs;

And Government (in full control)
Can ding you for each foot you roll
And issue electronic shoes
To everyone who jogs.

But I, for one, will not believe
In any progress they achieve --
No matter what great strides they make
In registering cats --

Until they have a census done
And checked, down to the smallest one,
Of all that island paradise's
Roaches, snakes, and rats.

The orwellian ads write themselves with this stinker. A gas tax makes so much more sense on an evironmental level, it encourages efficiency, it encourages living closer to work and it ultimately taxes usage and wear and tear on highways. But, any usage tax on vehicles at this point is about as popular to americans as grabbing your crotch during the national anthem. Driving on the open road is up there with mom, baseball and apple pie.

Christ,what an idiotic idea. Of course, this wouldn't be surprising here - we're the country, after all, that instead of just raising gas taxes to improve fuel efficiency started on a ridiculous process of CAFE standards and the like.

This is the most roundabout thing I've heard in a while. Miles travelled = gas consumption. Nobody is going to travel anywhere in a vehicle without gas, so just tax the gas. Now, if they are wanting to reward the green folk and their hybrids for better miles per gallon ratio, isn't this also already taken care of by the fact they get a better miles per gallon ratio? This suggestion is really like building a house of cards... Or am I missing something?