Data recorders / Black boxes

I know this has been the topic of discussion on TW for some time. Anyone who has read much of what I post knows I'm NOT a fan of the government watching us, tracking us or creating more laws to regulate us. Then there's the other side. The group of "if you're not doing anything wrong why do you care".

In my mind, here's is an example that if you've been following you know started off to "help" us. Now it's turning to a different tone.

We, us...the "for the people by the people" are moving in the direction of tracking our moves so that we may be taxed.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-roads-black-boxes-20131027,0,6090226.story#axzz2iylEw3SC

What next...

 

I could not cut that thing out like a cancer fast enough.

 

I just bought a new Tacoma and while I was sitting in the Finance Managers office (friend of mine by the way) he informed me that the 3/36 unlimited warranty is not exactly what it seems any more. Toyota (and I assume other manufactures) use the black box to find a cause and effect and go by that. Therefore if something breaks on your truck and they plug in the black box and find that something you did was slightly out of spec for the truck they may or may not warranty it even with the bumper to bumper warranty. So the 3/36 warranty isn't what it used to be.

Food for thought.

 

...soft tyranny, ...it's all for the children...

 

yep, if that became standard f the warranty first day of owner ship i would pull the entire damn thing apart and cut it out.

 

Not 100% sure what the gasoline tax is then. Except there are a lot more things that burn fuel that do not use the public roads-like OHV, yard tools and so on.

What the government needs to do is stop giving money away and start spending on the things they collect taxes for. I pay a registration fee-part of which is supposed to pay for roads. I pay a gasoline tax-again, most of which is supposed to go toward roads. Bridge tolls are supposed to pay for roads around here as well-a great example is the Golden Gate Bridge District. They're currently talking about a dollar increase in the toll to pay for ferry and bus service-I have a better idea-start charging the users of those services more. We have been paying an additional sales tax for 20 or so years for the extension of BART to Santa Clara County. So far, no BART-that's a lot of money.

To say I'm paying 'more directly into what I am using' is a complete crock of shit. Because if I was, it would cost $20 to ride the bus instead of the $2/$3 it does today. So gov should quit skimming off the top to fund other pet project with creative financing and start doing what you said you'd do in the beginning.

Just to give you an idea, $13 of every tank of fuel I buy goes toward taxes.

 

Bingo, "we the people" require manufactures to produce more expensive, more fuel efficient vehicles and then "we the people" tell ourselves we need to collect more taxes as the more effiecient vehicles are not covering the cost to maintain the roads (via fuel taxes). And then "we the people", not trusting "we the people", mandate installation of said tracking device to ensure "we" are being honest. Further "we the people" pass legislation to penilize "subjects" that don't want the "king" tracking them.

 

Tinfoil

 

??? What's Tinfoil about "we the people" being tracked so "we the people" can charge ourselves? I'm not sure if the facts are being disputed or????

 

I might agree with you except the state (CA) has a pretty good track record of taking money designated for one thing to pay for something else so to complain there's 'no money for roads' is bogus.

 

They already do something similar in Illinois and Texas. Toll highways where they use something very similar to a fast trak. "Problem" is cars are much more efficient now and which has caused fuel sales to fall, while the cars on the road has increased. Government is going to get its money on way or another, just a matter of choosing where.

 

California has a solution. Automatic annual increases.

You probably also remember how some wanted to add $18/vehicle to registration to fund the parks-you already pay more for registration to support any number of programs

 

I couldn't be more pleased NOT living in California. I can't count the number of guys & gals I work with who have transferred from there to here and for each person that actually made it, I bet there's 5 more wanting to transfer. A $ goes SO much further here...

So right. Outside the state level "we the people" are notorious for spending money allocated for one thing on something else. It's no mystery. Most people I know now consider social security nothing more than a transfer tax and it was to be the sacred cow.

I've recently read (not sure of the credibility) that the US now has as many people being subsidized in some way as it has working. So am I wrong or is the US by default a combination of socialism by way of "we the people" taking ownership of selected private companies, communism by ensuring societal equalization through subsidizing and capitalism by allowing some to take profit. Agree or not (I don't) and not blaming just an observation.

 

Taxes aren't limited to gasoline and roads. The city of San Francisco wants to pass a .02 cent per ounce of soda sold. This would add .24 to the cost of Coke. The money would go to "children's health". They've already passed taxes on alcohol and cigarettes as well.

Oh, Joe. California has become the land of the entitled.

 

Could you please, at least briefly, tell me how to cut it out? Thank you.