Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Another Brilliant Government Idea

I think Budweiser should make a real men of genius commercial about the members of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission. They deserve it for coming up with a by-the-mile road tax.
The year is 2020 and the gasoline tax is history. In its place you get a monthly tax bill based on each mile you drove — tracked by a Global Positioning System device in your car and uploaded to a billing center.....

Besides the technological advances making such a tax possible, the idea is getting a hard push from a growing number of transportation experts and officials. That is because the traditional by-the-gallon fuel tax, struggling to keep up with road building and maintenance demands, could fall even farther behind as vehicles' gas mileage rises and more alternative-fuel vehicles come on line.

The idea of shifting to a by-the-mile tax has been discussed for years, but it now appears to be getting more serious attention. A federal commission, after a two-year study, concluded earlier this year that the road tax was the "best path forward" to keep revenues flowing to highway and transportation projects, and could be an important new tool to help manage traffic and relieve congestion.
This idea is stupid on many many many levels. First off, liberals always tell us how greedy corporations are. Well, it looks like government can be just as greedy if not more so.  What? They can't handle the fact that the gasoline tax isn't bringing enough "revenue". They can't take in less money. Heaven forbid. No they have to continue finding new ways to tax the living crap out of people.

Secondly, the tax would be horribly repressive to those in rural America. Those not living in a metropolitan environment don't have the luxury of not driving like their city brethren. They are going to be paying an inordinately unfair amount of the taxes from this scheme. If the roads are going to be used by everyone then everyone should pay an equal amount to use them.

Third and most importantly, who in the hell in their right mind would allow the federal government to put a GPS system in their car. Especially one  that the government has access to? It would essentially provide the government with the ability to track you at all times. Personally I find the concept a bit frightening. Especially if you care anything at all about privacy. Not much privacy when the government can check to see where you drove to last weekend.

The best quote from these real men of genius.
"If you're committed to the system being improved then it was a no-brainer," he said.
How about no. Why don't we just scrap the system of taxation and come up with a new one. One that doesn't destroy the privacy of all Americans. This is the U.S. and not an Orwellian animal farm .

Posted by brians at 9:56 PM in Political Issues
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The Effects of Artificially Raising Wages

I remember when the plea was made to raise the minimum wage. Those on the other side of the political spectrum wailed about how devastating it was for the minimum wage to be so low. They claimed that no one would be able to live off the wage. At the time, I said it was a horrible idea that will limit employment opportunities and cause stores to cut back.

Well we enter year 2 of the plan and the minimum wage is set to increase to $7.25 an hour today.  In case anyone noticed, the economy is in a recession which means the problems associated with artificial wage inflation will be exacerbated. Case in point.

Nikki Duvall can't work up a lot of enthusiasm about the prospect of Kentucky's minimum wage increasing to $7.25 an hour Wednesday.

She's among the 10 percent in Jefferson County who want a job, but can't find one, so, "Right now I'd settle for anything," said Duvall, 26, who lacks a high school diploma and recently applied for four different jobs at Louisville fast-food restaurants. She lost her most recent job three months ago at Meijer.

Here is someone who needs a minimum wage job. It's amazing how quick she realized that the rate increase will further hurt her chances of finding a job.  And for those that do have the jobs, they will likely see a decreases in the number of hours they work.
At Long John Silver's fast-food restaurants, the higher wage probably will be offset partly by working employees fewer hours, said Whayne Hougland, executive director of a group that represents the chain's franchisees. . Hougland said there aren't many other options, and raising menu prices would be impossible while competitors are already discounting heavily.
It is simple economics. A company can only afford to spend so much money on wages. The amount is fairly fixed. Thus when the costs of wages are artificially inflated the company must do something. They really only have three options. They can increase their sales, increase prices, or cut back on employees. In a down economy, neither the increased sales nor increasing prices are viable. Therefore the only thing to do is cut back on employees. This will take the form of lay-offs or cutting back on available hours for current employees. That means less money for employees. The exact opposite of what the wage increase was supposed to bring. On top of that, the wage increase is chocking off the availability of these low wage jobs. Making it harder for people who desperately need a job to find one.

It's a shame the legislators who voted for these increases didn't understand the basic economics of their scheme. Now many will suffer the ill effects of their willful ignorance. It really is sad.

Posted by brians at 4:04 PM in Kentucky Politics
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