The Hill has reported the following story:
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs of highway maintenance at a time when federal funds are short.
The report discussed the proposal in great detail, including the development of technology that would allow total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to be tracked, reported and taxed, as well as the pros and cons of mandating the installation of this technology in all vehicles. …
The report was requested by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who said that federal funds are tight, and in asking for recommendations on how to raise that money, he noted the possibility of a VMT tax as a way to solve the problem of collecting less in taxes as people move to more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The Tea Party stands for small government but our current Congress is looking for more and more ways to increase their power over us. Now they are thinking about mandating a device that tracks the number of miles we use, which is taking the idea of Congressional oversight to a whole new level. With modern GPS technology it would be a simple matter to add a GPS feature to the mileage tracking device without us even knowing about it. Then, using state DMV records, it would be easy for the Federal Government to track the location and movements of any car they wanted.
Furthermore, the stated purpose of this tax is not just for raising revenue to pay for road repairs and construction but as a tool to make people “move to more fuel-efficient vehicles” and it would also cause us to drive less so as to avoid paying more in taxes. This is an outrageous attack on our liberties because it infringes on our freedom to travel where, when, and how far we want, manipulates us in our purchases of a car, and also has the potential of infringing on our privacy.
The term “limited government” means that the government’s power is limited to doing only what the Constitution allows, which also specifically prevents the Federal Government from interfering in our life. The reason why our forefathers separated themselves from England was precisely over the issue of taxation. There was the Stamp Act, the Tea Act, the Townsend Act, the Declaratory Act, and others that imposed taxes on a wide variety of products. Now we see our own government imposing taxes on more and more products and taking more and more of our money to feed an ever-expanding government. Worse yet, they are doing it in a way that limits our freedom.
The Declaration of Independence states that the purpose of government is to secure (i.e., protect) the unalienable rights that each of us has been endowed with by our Creator. Whenever any government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and our Constitution provides us with a way to peacefully do that. We have the right to petition our government and we have the right to vote in or out those who make our laws. That’s how we alter an out-of-control, unresponsive government.
The Tea Party also stands for fiscal responsibility and spending more than we take in is fiscally irresponsible. Adding more taxes to solve this problem only makes things worse. The principles of good money management that apply to homes and businesses apply equally as well to governments. As any household knows, the only fiscally responsible way of handling money is to live within our means.
Worse yet, taking more money from our paychecks also takes more money out of the economy which is what creates recessions, which then lowers tax revenues to the government. This is a destructive cycle. The original intent of the Constitution was never meant to have the Federal Government take care of all our problems. It was deliberately written to limit the powers of Congress while giving us the greatest amount of freedom and security. When we are already trillions of dollars in debt, it is obvious to any reasonable person that we don’t have the money to do much of what Congress has mandated.
Congress represents us, the American people therefore they answer to us, not we to them. All Americans, have the Constitutional duty to hold our representatives accountable for how they spend our money and secure our unalienable rights. If we allow them to spend us into bankruptcy and take away our natural liberties then shame on us. We are the protectors of the Constitution, not our representatives. Let us carry out our responsibility with diligence and integrity.
