Bicycle tax

Thread started by
Gav at 03.14.09 - 6:40 pm
http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2009/03/legislator_pokes_cyclists_with.html
There is talk in Oregon about the possibility of a tax of bicycles, $54 per bicycle.
Obviously the state needs income and considering the huge amount of bicyclists there, it would help considerably, but is it a good option? What do you think are the short-term and long-term benefits and/or repercussions of instituting a bicycle tax? What is a better alternative or compromise to what our county has proposed?
I'm still searching for news but I just thought I'd bring this up.
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fuck that tax each car more like maybe $100 more and give the extra $50 to each bike.
redridinghood03.14.09 - 7:02 pm
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I'm seeing some stuff about people wanting bicycle riding to be subsidized.
Gav03.14.09 - 7:05 pm
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It's inherently subsidized, you don't have to pay for a car.
I hate it when the gov't tries to tinker with the economy!!
Eric Hair03.14.09 - 7:10 pm
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but the whole idea of not having to pay for a car kind of goes down the drain if they tax bikes, especially for all you guys that have quite a few bikes.
Gav03.14.09 - 10:23 pm
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I imagine this would lead to an increase in bike theft. At the extreme low end, the bikes most ridden by the people that truly need them, that's most of, if not MORE than, the cost of the bike.
dokydoky03.14.09 - 11:30 pm
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A bicycle 'flat tax' definitely makes the least sense...
that's like paying the same to register your barely-running '82 civic as a brand new range rover. Obviously not logical.
The gov't infrastructure required to figure out how much everybody's bike is worth and assign it an appropriate tax would probably cost a significant fraction of what the tax would raise.
ergo --> idiotic idea. and that's not even getting into how dumbfuckassbackwards it would be to DISCOURAGE people from riding bikes in the worst way (ie via money, pretty much the only thing we can all agree on).
I mean shit, While we're at it, why don't we tax everybody who rides public transportation more, too? There's a whole lot of them!
Lance K03.15.09 - 2:02 pm
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tax the pedestrians' shoes too while we're at it.
Gav03.15.09 - 4:09 pm
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i've sat in silence for too long.. they can tax DEEEEEZ NUTZ
tfunk40803.15.09 - 5:27 pm
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They should tax the air we breathe..
godmode03.15.09 - 5:50 pm
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..it would encourage more people to just die. And then we wouldn't be so alarmed at the booming population growth rate. Problem solved.
godmode03.15.09 - 5:51 pm
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