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Friday, January 09, 2009

Big Brother Democrats

Democrats are always presenting Republicans as the Orwellian sort. You know, Big Brother wanting to spy on the average American and take away our rights. When in fact, it is the liberal Democrats who want a government that knows your every move.

And they have clever ways to disguise their true motives. For example, it was a Democrat think-tank that changed the word "tax" to "revenue enhancement". That's a creative change in terminology to deflect from the fact that your taxes were going to be raised. Because when the Democrats use the innocuous term of "revenue enhancement", most Americans have no idea of what they heard.

The latest revenue enhancement idea shows you who the real Orwellians are, because the Democrats now want to revenue enhance your "freedom of movement". Case in point: Oregon.

As this article in Yahoo points out, Oregon is proposing taxing "mileage", instead of gasoline. Why? Because of all these "green" cars are too...green.

"Oregon is among a growing number of states exploring ways to tax drivers based on the number of miles they drive instead of how much gas they use…The idea first emerged nearly 10 years ago as Oregon lawmakers worried that fuel-efficient cars such as gas-electric hybrids could pose a threat to road upkeep, which is paid for largely with gasoline taxes."

The Democrats forced automakers to build fuel-efficient cars, and in typical liberal fashion didn't look at the long-range potential of their "engineering of the economy". So now they want the taxpayer to foot the bill for their inane idea. And ultimately the automakers will pay as well, because why buy a green car, when there is no advantage for the consumer?

No you may be thinking that this liberal lunacy is limited to Oregon. If you think this, then you don't know the liberal takeover methodology of "baby steps".

Liberals litmus test ideas with polls. They then pick a willing lunatic fringe [BlackSphere code for "Liberal state"], and roll it out the program. Finally, they establish a coalition of more liberal states who can't pay their bills:

"James Whitty, the Oregon Department of Transportation employee in charge of the state's effort, said he's also heard talk of mileage tax proposals in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado and Minnesota.

"There is kind of a coalition that's naturally forming around this," he said."

With the exception of Florida (a pink state, not a red state), this is a coalition of BLUE states who for the most part are running significant state deficits.

But let's examine the bigger issue, which is how they plan to monitor and collect this new revenue enhancement. They will be tracking your movement:

"…even going so far as to install GPS monitoring devices in 300 vehicles."

GPS tracking of every location that you take your car. And you thought that the Republicans monitoring of phone calls of terrorists on a limited basis in order to protect Americans was Orwellian? This pales in comparison to what an omnipotent Federal government can do when monitoring your every movement in order to…collect a tax? Something tells me there may be more to this tracking?

And don't think that the liberals are making this a "states'" issue. They are looking for the Fed to step in and help put the Feds' teeth into this program:

"Congress is talking about it, too. A congressional commission has envisioned a system similar to the prototype Oregon tested in 2006-2007."

Here's the wrap:

Is anyone surprised that the congress of Pelosi and Reid would be considering this very creative revenue enhancement idea? Likely not. Because there is nothing more creative than imposing a sneaky tax, that has the added benefit of tracking your every move.

That's my rant!

© 2009 Kevin Jackson – The Black Sphere All Rights Reserved
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34 comments:

Unknown said...

Yet another great rant exposing the idiocy of our liberal friends...

The Black Sphere said...

Thanks, Tracey! Glad to see you visiting!

Anonymous said...

PuterPrsn

Yep, they want to register and have proofs for everything in sight EXCEPT voters - them they want to register with no checks and balances whatsoever.

Anonymous said...

cardgame

here is why this is more than it seems. The argument is we need a GPS to tell how "far" you have driven then tax you against that. Well why is a GPS needed for that? Do they need the accuracy? The intent is milage. I don't know if people understand this but there is this thing in the car today called an odometer. It reads milages VERY ACCURATELY without the need to know WHERE. So if the intent is to get the milage and then tax against it, it would be reasonable (understand I don't believe this plan to be close to reasonable) to assume that the odometer reading foots the bill. Considering there is communication technology like WiFi, WiMax, and Radio that can transmit a small signal of the odometer read and VIN number, I ask again why you NEED a GPS? Because there is more to the story and this is why the American people should take it for what it is and storm the legislature.

Anonymous said...

tasine

The steps these liberal high-rollers will go to in order to steal more of our money are boundless. I think they are all sociopaths who cannot understand shame. And their people who castigated President Bush for the phone bugging of suspected terrorists will accept this with open arms, thereby giving the lie to their reasons for bashing him. Remember Prohibition? Stopped legal sale of liquer - moonshining shot up like a beanstalk. Booze got sold and drunk anyway - it stripped the Treasury of it's tax though. Remember when the government mandated this piece of whatever it was that was supposed to suppress the smog emitted? People were disconnecting them left and right. It didn't stop the smog. Oh, they'll spend millions of our dollars to get this GPS thing going - and it will fail like every other Democrat planned program. The public is too ingenious for government types to mess seriously with.

Anonymous said...

The GPS thing is because they want to charge you MORE for using certain roads at certain times. So if you are foolish enough to go to work during working hours, using a road your tax dollars already paid for, you will pay a premium.

Anonymous said...

pacerx

Don't drive on the public roads then. Problem solved.

Anonymous said...

jwoulf

The dems have wanted a nanny state and to take away our guns for a long time, this is not news, but still needs to be told to everyone who will listen.

Anonymous said...

RomeroWasRight

Our government - and I'm talking Democrats and Republicans - the government as a whole - is moving toward a malevolent totalitarian regime.

The government of the most powerful, wealthy, free nation the world has every known is moving toward taking freedom off the table for the sake of its power and wealth.

The people MUST rise up and be willing to risk much or even all, or we will go the way of history.

American Theater said...

Kevin,
I think we need to invent a GPS tracker for the Libs, and when they cross into red states, they get taxed.

We as Conservatives are going to have to do more PROP 8 style law making and get these namby pamby government reps off our backs.

Jane Q. Republcain said...

Great post, Kevin. Love the blog.

FYI - this is currently being pushed in the North Carolina legislature too.

http://janeqrepublican.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/north-carolina-mileage-proposed-mileage-tax-nanny-state-tarheel-style/

It's liberal crap at its finest.

Here's to Big Brother.

The Black Sphere said...

AmericanTheatre - Fricking hysterical comment, and a GREAT idea!

The Black Sphere said...

JaneQ, I knew NC was included, but the article didn't mention them. Fact is, it is being considered in ALL lib states!

Thanks for the visit and the comment!

Anonymous said...

Kevin, this kind of thing makes me FURIOUS! They tax you 'for your own good' to pay for your roads and to limit your use of the product that is bad for the 'globe'... then, when you reward their guidance by using less, they declare an emergency and find SOME OTHER WAY to tax you.. even though you're DOING WHAT THEY WANTED!

In life, all of us must at some point find a way to get by with less. It happens to everyone.

Except government, who NEVER has to get by with less. They never even CONSIDER it. When tax revenues go down, they simply get their butts busy finding another way to tax you. YOU have to get by with less, but not THEM.

I wish I could type the words going through my head, but this is a family blog. :-)

Big Dave, in Dallas

Anonymous said...

... and of course, when people genuinely start limiting their driving because of this NEW tax, well what do you think is going to happen?

Yep, a new tax on 'not driving'.

Whatever it takes, they will NOT get by with less. And in the process of making sure they always get their cash, they will not HESITATE to RUIN OUR LIVES.

Dave again

Anonymous said...

lccat

The Dems. do not object to "Big Brother" as long as they are the Big Brother.

The Black Sphere said...

Dave, such is the lunacy of liberalism. Their outcomes have no accountability, except that they "get theirs". And by "they", I mean the elite amongst them, because they will frag their minions for the elitists!

Outside the Frame said...

Very nice piece indeed.

This is simply the tip of the iceberg and any movement in this matter (ie taxing mileage) will simply be copied state by state if it prevails. Call if the prevailing winds of taxation if you will.

What will our leftists governments do if we ever engineer ourselves out of oil completely and enter into the realms of the preferred green energy options held by the libs? I surmise that by then, they will have cap and trade, mileage taxation, and a litany of other taxes in place to offset the gasoline tax by 1000%.

Liberalism is a front for a mind altering agenda held by democrats these days. You have to hand it to them though...how democrats successully convince droves of logical minds into illogical, liberal lunacy is a monumental task indeed. Glad I stumbled upon your thoughts.

The Black Sphere said...

Outside - Thanks for the visit. I hadn't seen you on my comments before. I agree with your comments for sure! Visit often my friend!

Anonymous said...

averageJo34

What?!?! An article criticizing the Democrats on the front page of Digg? That's just crazy talk...

The Black Sphere said...

AverageJoe34 - Wow, I made the front page of the organization that banned me. Thanks for the shout from "an unnamed person"!

Anonymous said...

jraymilton

I'd say BOTH parties are far too Orwellian & statist these days. I wish I believed Obama will be different, but given his Senatorial voting record on privacy issues I'm dubious. Of course, it will be hard for him to be any worse than Bush on financial privacy, but questioning that involves questioning both parties' holy tax & spend drug war, a major source of their corruption-money (as proved by Cocaine-Contra in the '80s and Afghan heroin today).

Anonymous said...

I actually read about this a few years go when California (surprise!) was, and probably still is, thinking about this same thing. I hate the idea of being tracked, but when you think about it, if you carry a cell phone, it's already happening. Watch any cop show (CSI, Law & Order, etc) and what's one of the first things they do when looking for someone? Check their cell phone records.

Welcome to the Nanny State.

The Black Sphere said...

@Vince - But I can turn my cell phone off. Lojack will work all the time.

Anonymous said...

Add North Carolina to the list of states that are/have considered a mileage tax. (allegedly ILO the current gas tax. - Bet me!)

Anonymous said...

Once again you have shined a much needed light on the latest schemes of the left, nothing like "newspeak" to cover up the leftists true intentions, because that's how your hardcore pinko operates.

Laura said...

The government wants people and businesses to spend money for economic recovery but they keep threatening higher taxes. How they they miss the link between taxation and disposable income/spending?

Laura Hazen

Matt said...

In the spirit of failures with government, I will leave you with a few quotes from Milton Friedman.

"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand"

"Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless."

"Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government."

"Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government"

and finally one of my favorite quotes that gives me hope is from a lecture in 1991:

"The United States today is more than 50% socialist in terms of the fraction of our resources that are controlled by the government. Fortunately, socialism is so inefficient that it does not control 50% of our lives. Fortunately, most of that is wasted. People worry about government waste; I don't. I just shudder at what would happen to freedom in this country if the government were efficient in spending our money. The really fascinating thing is that our private sector has been so effective, so efficient, that it has been able to produce a standard of life that is the envy of the rest of the world on the basis of less than half the resources available to all of us."

The Black Sphere said...

MT, excellent comment! Thanks...

Anonymous said...

You are the best T.B.S.

You are all over this.

Unfortunately Republicans are just as interested in controlling our lives, they just aren't as imaginative.

The Dems do a good job hiding it behind a green agenda that will argue that if you're against it you're a earth hating moron. Thank you mr. gore.

I think washington is all about controlling the population and they use issues like these to keep us divided. If U.S. citizens are united, we are too strong and can't be held down.

The Black Sphere said...

I agree that they keep us pitted. But the liberals are the ones who mostly buy into it.

Anonymous said...

Mytbouf21


Its not just our govt that is a totalitarian movement, its the world. Think about all that already exist and how many you can think of that are wolves in sheeps clothing. An Orwell was a great author for writing that book decades ago, but its seems to scare my dreams at night thinking about what goes on in america and outside and how related it is to the book. Its mind blowing.

Anonymous said...

chumprock

There you go trying to draw imaginary lines. Both sides strive for the same thing.

Anonymous said...

cmp1966

Personally, I don't think this is an issue specific to either party - they seem to be arguing on what's the best way to go too far rather than if we should. I'd like to remind both of something Franklin said:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790), Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759