With the deficit at $1.5 trillion, we're going to get a lot of loony ideas about how to raise revenue. The Congressional Budget Office has come up with a real corker:

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs of highway maintenance at a time when federal funds are short.

The report discussed the proposal in great detail, including the development of technology that would allow total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to be tracked, reported and taxed, as well as the pros and cons of mandating the installation of this technology in all vehicles.

"In the past, the efficiency costs of implementing a system of VMT charges - particularly the costs of users' time for slowing and queuing at tollbooths - would clearly have outweighed the potential benefits from more efficient use of highway capacity," CBO wrote. "Now, electronic metering and billing are making per-mile charges a practical option."

A "practical option?" If we lived in North Korea, yeah I could see it. But last time I looked, this was the United States - a place where government doesn't "track" anybody for any reason.

If we're going to track mileage, why not "track" how many breaths we take ever day or how many times our hearts beat? Maybe they could tax us every time we use the bathroom. Or have sex. Or watch TV.

Some states have begun to tax internet purchases even if the company we buy from isn't located in our state. By the time they're done, we'll probably have a stamp tax and a tax on tea.

Oh, wait...that's been tried already.