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December 06, 2006
Civic Forum
Sci-Fi Comes True...but only out West so far
Tennessee’s political landscape erupted last week over a poorly researched report that intimated serious electoral repercussions were due Senator Mark Norris of Collierville. The word was that Norris, Senate Transportation Committee Chairman, was proposing a satellite tracking device in every vehicle(!), to assess road user fees by miles tracked, as an alternative to the current 21.4-cent gas tax. Despite the misinformation – a recounting of some of the ways states are looking to replace diminishing transportation revenue, by the one state Senator who should know these things, was somehow transformed into his “proposal” – there is a story here. At issue is how the federal government proactively foments legislative initiatives in the sovereign states that make up our republic.
Operating on a general impression that we aren’t typically the first state to try things, I did a quick internet search to see if this idea had by chance been “floated” anywhere else. Sure enough, there was a column, from about a year ago, right there at the top of the list. (Declan McCullagh, “E-tracking, coming to a DMV near you,” C|NET News, December 5, 2005.) In it, Oregon and Washington were named as two states that had received piles of federal grant money to pilot the program. Yes, the U.S. Department of Transportation is behind this idea. It brings to mind a popular thriller movie cliché: “I repeat, ma’am, the call is coming from inside the Beltway.”
Do you remember the drinking age being raised to 21? More recently, do you recall changes in seat belt laws? Highway money (hmm, theme here) was the dope, states were the fiends, and Uncle Sam – well, he was the pusher. Excuse the coarse analogy, but somehow “carrot and stick” doesn’t do the situation justice. Besides, “mule” (read: member of Congress) has a whole different meaning in this metaphor.
While a usage fee seems innocuous enough taken alone, the idea of government watching every inch one’s wheels travel has to be one of the worst since – well, how about since never? At least the illegal NSA wiretap program was meant to protect us from turrists. This bug-in-your-car plan is just creepy. And no, I’m not just bitter because driving my family’s relatively fuel-efficient vehicle would cause me to send more to the state coffers if taxes were calculated by miles traveled rather than by petroleum consumed. That’s hardly the point. (By the way, how is a gasoline tax so much less worthy a “user fee” than the tracked-miles plan? The more you drive, the more – ultimately, even with hybrid or turbo diesel engines – gas you need, and so your usage of the roads is effectively apportioned in that tax, is it not?)
Now then, you’re saying, if all vehicles go low-fuel, the gas tax will indeed dry up. Doesn’t there need to be a plan in place if we truly make transitional strides off the oil energy platform? Sure. Reduced gasoline usage means lower revenue, and though the deflation of government is (arguably) an overall goal, such has to be done wisely. Besides, public thoroughfares remain a core output of a properly trimmed administering entity. But the sacrifice that would come with a GPS system for user fees – and the logical flaws that accompany the notion – are not the direction to go. We need to make sure that our state leaders “just say no” to that federal cash, even if Tennessee escaped the “eye in the sky” this time.
What did “Tommy” know, and when did he know it?
A fortunate hundred people, give or take, had the recent pleasure of hearing an informal lecture by esteemed former U.S. Senator Howard Baker, Jr. You know, he was the top Republican on the Watergate investigative panel who asked that now-famous question. And, yes, he was Chief of Staff to Ronald Reagan, United States Ambassador to Japan until last year, and has held several other stellar, résumé-friendly positions.
Beside the guest of honor himself, though, was the person chosen to facilitate the conversation: Tom Griscom, Publisher and Executive Editor of [another newspaper somewhere around here]. As a transplant, I’m still learning my Tennessee history, so it was news to me that Griscom had once served as Senator Baker’s press secretary. Their rapport loaned the interview a comfortable tone, and with Baker’s storied congeniality turned up to eleven, you would’ve sworn there was a fireplace in the UTC auditorium.
Baker talked of world dynamics (the Korean peninsula is the most dangerous area), the conflict in Baghdad (call it “civil war” or whatever; don’t leave the Iraqi citizens “to the wolves”), and how folks need to start getting along in Washington. He prescribed a process whereby the President and his cabinet and staff would “open the channels to compare notes” with the new leadership in Congress, to discover shared policy objectives. Would that that would actually happen. The event was over quickly, and the common citizens set about to mingle with their, oh yeah, peers, or to simply get back to work. Dignitaries in attendance included the city and county mayors, Congressman Zach Wamp, newly elected state Senator Bo Watson, and various private-sector leaders.
As we were leaving, a friend turned to me and observed that we had just been part of a national event. I couldn’t agree more.
[This column appears in the December 6, 2006 Pulse.]
Pulsations | By joe lance | 07:25 AM