Apparently, hybrids and fuel-efficient vehicles are a little too good. The state isn't making enough money from the gasoline tax (18 cents a gallon). In what must be an obviously high quality drug induced idea, the new DMV director has proposed a mileage tax. Basically, they'd put GPS in everyone's cars, track your mileage, and send you a bill. I think this is a rather stupid proposal, which would end up costing the state more money than it would generate. If the state is short on money, raise the gasoline tax a few more cents. Or raise car registration fees in a fair manner. As much as anyone talks badly about Schwartznegger, he did repeal the registration fees which unfairly targeted new cars, and he did give single occupant hybrids access to the carpool lanes, so as far as I can figure, the Governator knows what's he's doing when it comes to car society issues, and i don't think he would do something as fiscally foolish as taxing mileage when he can just raise gasoline taxes.
Of course there's the Big Brother-ness of this proposal that has privacy advocates up in arms, and if we can't trust Diebold machines to tally votes correctly, do you really want something calculating mileage for you and then billing you?
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