Paging Mr Orwell

Oh for chrissake this is getting way out of hand. To do this would reguire "every vehicle to be equipped with global satellite positioning technology, a transponder, a clock and other equipment to record how many miles a vehicle was driven, whether it was driven on highways or secondary roads, and even whether it was driven during peak traffic periods or off-peak hours". Talk about intrusive. Papers, please?

Let me make this clear to any D.C. dunderheads actually considering supporting this.

IT IS NONE OF YOUR GODDAM BUSINESS WHERE I DRIVE HOW FAR HOW LONG WHY WHEN OR FOR WHAT REASON. NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. GET YOUR OWN GOODDAM HOUSE IN ORDER AND DON'T THINK ABOUT TRYING TO TRACK WHAT I'M DOING.

at MSNBC:

Transportation chief eyes taxing miles driven
LaHood's says current gasoline tax not enough to fund infrastructure
The Associated Press
updated 7:50 a.m. ET, Fri., Feb. 20, 2009

WASHINGTON - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he wants to consider taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn — an idea that has angered drivers in some states where it has been proposed.

Gasoline taxes that for nearly half a century have paid for the federal share of highway and bridge construction can no longer be counted on to raise enough money to keep the nation's transportation system moving, LaHood said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled," the former Illinois Republican lawmaker said.

Most transportation experts see a vehicle miles traveled tax as a long-term solution, but Congress is being urged to move in that direction now by funding pilot projects.

The idea also is gaining ground in several states. Governors in Idaho and Rhode Island are talking about such programs, and a North Carolina panel suggested in December the state start charging motorists a quarter-cent for every mile as a substitute for the gas tax.

A tentative plan in Massachusetts to use GPS chips in vehicles to charge motorists by the mile has drawn complaints from drivers who say it's an Orwellian intrusion by government into the lives of citizens. Other motorists say it eliminates an incentive to drive more fuel-efficient cars since gas guzzlers will be taxed at the same rate as fuel sippers.

the rest