memoniz

When I paid taxes last year it was $49 and that's with a late fee. It's the principle to me, to continue to pay tax on something I paid off 11 years ago. I know they need money for the roads, but I thought that's what all the other taxes and fees are for.

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

They don't need the money for the roads. Our fuel taxes pay for the roads. It's all ways to f*ck you out of money which you don't have to pay.

Forge-World-FORD

You could probably make an argument against yearly vehicle registration/licensing too though. As long as you own it why do you have to tell the state each year that you still own and drive it? If you sell it it gets re-registered anyway, or if you scrap it or anything that makes it not yours gets reported. Even insurance.

That link states this:

The confusion of the police power with the power of taxation usually arises in cases where the police power has affixed a penalty to a certain act, or where it requires licenses to be obtained and a certain sum be paid for certain occupations. The power used in the instant case cannot, however, be the power of taxation since an attempt to levy a tax upon a Right would be open to Constitutional objection. (See "taxing power," infra.)

Each law relating to the use of police power must ask three questions:

"Is there threatened danger?
Does a regulation involve a Constitutional Right?
Is this regulation reasonable?"
People vs. Smith, 108 Am.St.Rep. 715;
Bovier's Law Dictionary, 1914 ed., under "Police Power"

When applying these three questions to the statute in question, some very important issues emerge.

First, "is there a threatened danger" in the individual using his automobile on the public highways, in the ordinary course of life and business?

The answer is No! There is nothing inherently dangerous in the use of an automobile when it is carefully managed. Their guidance, speed, and noise are subject to a quick and easy control, under a competent and considerate manager, it is as harmless on the road as a horse and buggy.

It is the manner of managing the automobile, and that alone, which threatens the safety of the public. The ability to stop quickly and to respond quickly to guidance would seem to make the automobile one of the least dangerous conveyances. (See Yale Law Journal, December, 1905.)

"The automobile is not inherently dangerous."
Cohens vs. Meadow, 89 SE 876;
Blair vs. Broadmore, 93 SE 532

To deprive all persons of the Right to use the road in the ordinary course of life and business, because one might, in the future, become dangerous, would be a deprivation not only of the Right to travel, but also the Right to due process.

Forge-World-FORD

Also, taxes for road maintenance are supposed to come from people that use it for business (taxis, buses, other business that use roads and highways as a means of business).

Rusty but trusty

The government is a funny thing. My 92 is exempt from smog testing because it's obd1. I pay my $108/year for a sticker and that's it. My 07 and 11 need to go in for by-annual smog checks (free) and when they pass I pay $78 for the sticker. Which one pollutes more? I guarantee the 92 makes more smog then the other two combined. The reason obd1 testing went away was the cost of the testing equipment. They do not care about the environment... It's money! Expired tags are not an option around here, they love to stop you for that.

Rusty but trusty

Need to add... $108 is truck price, $78 is car price. And I pay for all three of them annually. It sucks but I can't complain, it could be worse and the money goes towards road MX/salt/plows etc etc

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

Yes, you can complain. You just don't because you've been conditioned to think it's right.

Warlockk

Ive made a resolution and I hope to pass this on to others. If there is something that I believe in or am passionate enough to complain about I am going to make an effort to do something about it. I've mentioned this before and I will again as these points come up. So in advance those who hear me repeat myself either skip it or act on it. Basically I've said before they the government is the people. Often today or seems that is no more. It seems they make decisions based on their own profit or for the profit of big businesses. Its the later argument that got me thinking. Why does big businesses get its way? Sure there are payoffs advertising etc. But when it comes down to it its one man, one vote one voice. So how do they do it? Businesses make their opinion known to those who represent us. They pay close attention to issues that effect them then they contact their representatives and let them know how they feel. In my school carrier I've had a chance to talk to some politicians on several levels. They all agree that there is a system in place which takes into account every letter, email, and phone call from their constituency. In the absence of input they mist go on polls or instinct. How many politicians do you think know what it is like to live a life of hard work and trying to pay bills. Many of them have no idea how much rent is or how much a loaf of bread costs. Often they do things they think are helping not realizing how much strain it puts on the Scarface person. Politicians have no idea what it means to live on minimum wage and assume no one does. Basically we can do exactly what big business does. The job of politicians is to represent the will of the people. Its up to us to tell them what our will is. A good politician ( I know its an oxymoron) tries to do not what is best for the people but what the people want. So instead of just complaining online, we can spend the same energy emailing our mayor, governor, or council member. In the case of crooked politicians or those who don't listen, vote them out. This used to happen all the time. That's why politicians used to campaign and talk to people. Because they wanted votes. Now they go to companies and corporations because those are the people who vote for those who listen to them. But its still just one man one vote. No matter how rich you are. And local elections don't use the electoral college. In the case of California, they should also remember when you vote someone out for criminal activity, and you then elect that same person back into office a few years later, don't ask why the same power, water, and tax problems are coming up again. So short version, if you don't like it change it. That is how our country was set up and that how it should be again. Politicians should be afraid of us, not the other way around.

unit505

I have to agree, you can complain. We pay ten dollars a year for inspections or $20 for a 2 year sticker. No emissions testing. Emission checks as far as cats and mufflers id suppose to be checked, but I've never had anyone crawl up under the truck to check. When I lived in Texas years ago, some counties checked stupid crap and you could get failed for things like modified air intake (I failed inspection for my air filter cover on my 72 Impala being flipped upside down!). I could drive 2 miles down the road and cross the county line and get inspected with no emission or modification check. You only had to remove the "Failed Inspection Sticker" prior to driving into the inspection bay so they did not know you'd failed in the bordering county. I don't know how Texas does it now. $78 for a car and $108 for a truck is fraudulent as is paying more for an OBD1 inspection. My '95 gets better gas mileage than most new trucks on the road today. I do believe the emissions are a benefit with fuel injection and for the environment, so I don't complain about them too much.

Brandon587

My tag cost about $30, and that's all I pay. No inspections, no emissions. Rv we used to have had a $1000 tag though, partially because if weight, and partially because of its value. That thing weighed in at 32,000 lbs dry.