When I was a preteen growing up in Las Vegas in the early ‘70s the “energy crunch” brought on by an oil embargo in the Middle-East, was in full swing. Long lines were happening at the gas pumps and we joined in the energy conservation measures. We were told to do this because we “were running out of our energy sources” and we had to do our part to conserve our precious resources.

Then the surprise came: Nevada Power was losing so much money from everyone cutting back on their energy use they were going to have to raise rates to recover from the conservation efforts. “Just this once”, they announced just enough to cover costs.

Well, that was forty years ago and just about every year since Nevada Power has asked and received a rate hike.

Fast forward to 2001 and the state of Nevada and NDOT, hurting for money, has now taken up the mantra that people are doing such a good job of conserving energy that they are looking to find new sources of revenue.

Make no mistake; they have no intention of “rolling back” any old taxes for a new one. Read the article (NDOT Studies A ‘Miles-Travelled’ Alternative To Gas Tax: Progress, Sept. 28, 2011) carefully. It is blatantly obvious that it is the “obligation” of citizens of this state and country to pay taxes.

You would be hard pressed to find anywhere in this country and state that a tax has ever been “rolled back”. Once they have found a way to tax, that money is already spent and they are not going to give it back.

Another part of the story I found disturbing is the lack of looking for ways to cut costs. Nowhere do they say they are doing this or that to reduce costs. Nope…just spend and tax.

However the biggest thing that every lover of freedom should be concerned about most is the “device” that is going to be installed in every vehicle to “track” the miles driven. What else is this device going to “track”? Where you drive, how fast, when, how often? You are naïve if you do not think this is going to be included in what they are going to track.

This is not a good idea. At some point we need to say enough is enough!

I am going to ask everyone to take the time to start reading every “bill” they receive from the government. Look at your vehicle registration and look at all of the “fees” that have been attached to it. How about your property taxes (and the so-called fees associated with them). Hunting license (tax), shopping taxes, tax on your labor… let your imagination go wild. Do the numbers. You will find a large portion of your income goes to poorly run government programs.

Now the state of Nevada and NDOT want more. How far are we willing to let them go? It is up to us to stop this madness.

Scott King