Goverment Is One Big Traffic Jam (Ben Shapiro On California's Potemkin Freeway Maintainance Alert)

Townhall.com ^ | 8/20/2008 | Ben Shapiro

[goldstategop]

Late Sunday night, my wife and I drove from Sacramento, Calif., to Los Angeles. We figured that it would be wise to leave Sacramento in the early evening to avoid traffic. At 7 p.m., we climbed into the car and headed for Interstate 5, the major highway connecting Northern California and Southern California.

For the first five hours of the drive, things went as planned. The highway was relatively clear, and we sailed along happily at 80 mph.

Then we saw it. A sign. A large orange sign reading: Freeway Closed Ahead, 11 p.m.-4 a.m.

It was too late to get off the freeway; it was too late to turn around. There were no turnoffs, no exits, no restrooms. We were stuck an hour from Los Angeles, bumper-to-bumper, moving less than 1 mph. Literally. During the next three hours, we moved a grand total of 1.6 miles. Families were pulling onto the shoulders of the highway to catch some winks. One creative fellow actually attempted to drive off the freeway by cutting through some wire separating the freeway from an adjacent road. The cops immediately arrested him.

Three hours is a very long time to sit in traffic, particularly when your radio is broken. My wife was nodding off, so there wasn't much in the way of conversation.

So as the red lights of stopped cars twinkled far into the distance, I began to understand road rage. As I drove, at the pace of a turtle, past signs notifying me, "Traffic Slow Ahead," steam began to emerge from my ears. By the looks of the other drivers, I wasn't alone.

One thought kept running through my head: The government is completely incompetent.

I assume there were liberals in the traffic jam; after all, this is California, where liberals dominate both the halls of government and the voting rolls. And I wondered what those liberals thought of the government's handling of road repair. I wondered whether they smiled at the idea that they were paying the state of California up to 10.3 percent of their income. I wondered whether they were glad that the state of California allocates more than $13.8 billion to the California Department of Transportation each year, paying 22,000 full-time employees -- and that not one of those employees had the common sense to post signs notifying drivers to take another route.

And I mused about broader questions. I wondered why the liberals in the crowd hadn't considered that if the government can't handle paving roads, it certainly shouldn't handle the health care system. I wondered why liberals never stopped to think that perhaps the government isn't built to stop purported global warming; this little traffic jam alone was burning carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at an enormous rate. I wondered why liberals believe that the people best qualified to handle the education, Social Security and welfare systems are the same folks who left the office at 4:59 p.m. last Friday thinking that they had done a good job with construction on the I-5.

Most of all, I wondered why liberals are so worshipful of government in the face of all available evidence. If this had been a private toll road, you can bet that customers would have been notified upfront of the major delay. But because the government is free to tax and spend as it chooses, there is no incentive to treat drivers decently.

The same holds true more generally. Private industry has a stake in efficiency and customer service. The public sector has no such stake.

Here's the most ironic fact: As we drove by the construction area at 3:30 a.m., we didn't see a single construction worker. The delay accomplished nothing, other than the illusion of improvement. But that's what the government traffics in: illusions of solutions. Which is why my wife and I reached our home at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning, tired and grumpy, our gas tank empty and our patience gone. May all liberals sit through such traffic before they vote big-government Democrats back into office.

[goldstategop]

California's big government has produced Potemkin freeway maintainance. Actually, its only the illusion of maintainance! Brought to you by the same folks eager to raise taxes on the Golden State's residents.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword t

[papasmurf]

Another toll road shill. Wrong answer, Ben.

Go back to Pete Wilson’s contract management requiring efficiency, lane & road closures only when approved and have alternate routes pre-planned, and only as absolutely necessary, and for sure, bring back quality and timeliness incentives.

Let the market work FOR the people, instead of against.

BTW, CalTrans doesn’t do much actual road work, it’s contracted out.

[goldstategop]

Actually he makes the point that government is indifferent because it has no competition. Private companies must satisfy their customers. The government is a monopoly and doesn't have to do a damn thing for its constituents.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

[FreedomNotSafety]

You are utterly misreading this situation. The very liberal deep green fanatics understand exactly what they are doing. They exercise every chance they have to make life miserable for those who wish to exercise their god given and common law right to free movement. This group of people will not be happy until people are only allowed to live were they are ALLOWED to live. Poor maintenance, too few lanes, lack of new roads, and unreasonable speed limits all work to keep people from moving freely. People are much easier to control when they live in vertical warehouses and can only move about via government controlled transportation.

Of course it is even easier when they are not armed.

They same logic applies to attacks on common industrial processes and chemicals. Take chlorine for instance. It is the back bone of an industrialized society. A municipal water system is dead without it. Do you actually believe liberals really believe all the nonsense they spew about the dangers of chlorine? They do not believe it. But the know if chlorine can legislated out of existence our society will have to be remade.

We can withstand and overt attack on our liberties. No one would dare tell us we are not allowed to drive but they can make that liberty worthless by allow our transportation system to become unusable or highly controlled. Why do you think they spend billions of dollars on new lanes then only allow hybrid cars and multi passenger vehicles?

Think about this. Was your trip really necessary? Could you not have shared the ride? Was not public transportation available? Do you own a hybrid? based on your answers is it a stretch to think some day you will not be Allowed to make that trip?

[singfreedom]

Gosh, I hope Nazi Nan didn't read that part about all the pollution being spewed into the air. I also hope she didn't hear anything about all the pollution floating around during the Olympics in China either. She's got a planet to save!!

[papasmurf]

I saw that he attempted to make that point, but he is wrong, in reality.

Private companies that take over or build toll roads are immune to pressure. They have an iron clad contract. They do what they want, when they want, etc., etc.

The State can’t even build another road that competes with their “enterprise”. Toll roads are not any better than public roads, and never will be.

All of this talk is just another sales pitch for tolling our roads.

[goldstategop]

I do get it! Liberalism is about control. They're elitists who have two sets of rules: one for them and a second for every one else. The Left has an inordinate need to run the lives of others. That is precisely the point. If they don't do that, no one would look to them to manage problems that liberals created in the first place. And they never fix them since that would make liberals superfluous. So they do the things Shapiro describes to make sure that people will never stop needing to turn to them - in fact, the more miserable people are, the more liberals feel empowered.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

[FreedomNotSafety]

You stated, “One thought kept running through my head: The government is completely incompetent.” and, “Most of all, I wondered why liberals are so worshipful of government in the face of all available evidence.” I respectfully say again you do not get it.

The government is only incompetent in some areas, like transportation and crime, and that helps liberal causes such as controlling were people live. In other areas such as restricting rights, confiscating property, and killing people it is extremely efficient. And that is why liberals worship government. The face of evidence says government is the best way to control peoples lives. What you perceive as incompetence the liberal perceives as a means to an end. They understand that every traffic jam is a step towards forcing you to accept whatever, if any, alternative they see fit to provide. That is why they worship it.

[FreedomNotSafety]

Correcting myself and apologizing: My comments should be directed to Ben not Goldstategop. Very sorry but is late here.

[Tainan]

Another 'Looky Lou' complaining about traffic.

The mind boggles at the irony.

[Falconspeed]

I agree with Benedict XVI’s conclusion about Islam: that Islam is spread by the sword.

I also just returned from the Golden State and Santa Paula freeways, 10pm. Yes, the North and Southbound lanes are closed tonight. Yes, there are numerous warnings. No semi trucks are grouped together at the base of the Grapevine since they learned about the closure earlier today and are driving the 101.

I have been stuck in construction zone traffic many times and have learned to check the internet before driving SF to LA and to watch for detours.

Yes, Calif. is full of liberals who are comfortable and complain. I pray for them and hope they travel to poor country, come home with a new attitude and kiss the hallowed American soil.

[IbJensen]

I’ll bet if the tollway was sold to foreign interests, as so many states are apparently wont to do (like Saudi Arabia) we wouldn’t have any problem at all.