oregon eyes taxing vehicles per mile by satellite

from albany democrat herald: A year ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced it had demonstrated that a new way to pay for roads - via a mileage tax and satellite technology - could work.

Now Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he’d like the legislature to take the next step.

As part of a transportation-related bill he has filed for the 2009 legislative session, the governor says he plans to recommend “a path to transition away from the gas tax as the central funding source for transportation.”

What that means is explained on the governor’s website: “As Oregonians drive less and demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, it is increasingly important that the state find a new way, other than the gas tax, to finance our transportation system.”

According to the policies he has outlined online, Kulongoski proposes to continue the work of the special task force that came up with and tested the idea of a mileage tax to replace the gas tax.

The governor wants the task force “to partner with auto manufacturers to refine technology that would enable Oregonians to pay for the transportation system based on how many miles they drive.”

The online outline adds: “The governor is committed to ensuring that rural Oregon is not adversely affected and that privacy concerns are addressed.”

When the task force’s study and test were in the news in 2006 and 2007, critics worried that the technology could be used to track where vehicles go, not just how far they travel, and that this information would somehow be stored by the government.

In more than one interview with the Democrat-Herald and others, James Whitty, the ODOT official in charge of the project, tried to assure the public that tracking people’s travels was not in the plans.

econocrash: civil war, unrest, collapse & bankruptcies

civil war usa '09
from russia today: Russia Today interviews Igor Panarin, a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian foreign affairs ministry, who believes the economic crisis in the US has confirmed his long-held belief that the country is heading for extinction in its present form.

financial disaster will lead to civil disorder in 2009 or 2010, says secret citibank memo
from natural news: An internal memo from a top Citibank analyst reveals what the banks really think about the global financial situation, and the outlook is grim. "The world is not going back to normal after the magnitude of what they have done. When the dust settles this will either work, and the money they have pushed into the system will feed through into an inflation shock," wrote Tom Fitzpatrick, Citibank's chief technical strategist. He goes on to explain that the massive money creation efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks will end with one of two things: A resurgence of inflation, or a fall into "depression, civil disorder and possibly wars." Either outcome, he says, will cause the price of gold to skyrocket. Gold will push to well over $2,000 per ounce, he explains. The timing on all this? Sometime in either 2009 or 2010, said the analyst.

US collapse updates from daily dose of terror: russian analyst predicts decline & breakup of US, citigroup collapses! banking shutdown possible & financial meltdown: you ain't seen nothing yet

georgia's i-85 carpool lanes converted to toll roads
from gwinnett daily post: Interstate 85's carpool lanes will be converted to toll lanes, as U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters on Tuesday announced a $110 million grant to get Gwinnett's traffic moving. While the toll pricing has not been determined, rates would change based on congestion on the interstate, and cars with three or more people in them would still be free. "America's cities are struggling under the weight of higher population and greater demand on their roads and transit systems," Peters said. "Only by taking aggressive, forward-thinking approaches like Atlanta has done can urban areas hope to remain competitive in the century ahead."

US rescues citi with $20b capital & guarantees
from guardian: The U.S. government has bailed out Citigroup Inc, agreeing to shoulder most of the potential losses on $306 billion of high risk assets and inject $20 billion of new capital, in its biggest rescue of a bank yet.
Citigroup's rescue marks the latest government effort to contain a widening financial meltdown that has caused the disappearance or bankruptcies of companies including Bear Stearns Cos, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and Washington Mutual Inc.

US bankrupt updates from daily dose of terror: fed pledges top $7.4t to ease frozen credit, fed & treasury offer half our gdp to wall st & financial newsletter predicts US to default on national debt