Posted on 06/18/2018 8:13:18 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Correct, but misleading.
The cause of this serious problem affecting all citizens (except criminal elected, appointed criminals and "public servant" parasites, legalized theft, on a monumental scale, ongoing for a few generations, now.
The best way to see the magnitude and scope of the probem is by way of illustration. What better example than California? The sickest of the sick states, financialy as it affects working citizen taxpayers ("Public employees excluded.)
In California, the following question are never asked, much less clearly answered, sans bullshi* : 1. Why is Prop 13 attacked yearly by the legislature during the budget discussion and debates?
1a. Why are the elected criminals not permanently forced to forfeit they pay permanently for failure to do their job? No entity in the private sector has ever been paid for "pretending" to do their job.
2. Why is there not a mandatory by law, yearly report by the legislature, available on line for the citizens with a detailed (undertandable) accounting on how the vehicle taxes/fees were spent? 3. Why is there not a mandatory by law, yearly report by the legislature, available on line for the citizens with a detailed (understandable) accounting on how the vehicle fuel taxes were spent?
Is it becoming obvious why our highways, roads and streets are in miserable condition?
4. Why is there not a mandatory by law, yearly report by the legislature, available on line for the citizens with a detailed (understandable) accounting on how the revenue for the California lottery is spent?
5. Why is there not a mandatory by law, yearly report by the legislature, available on line for the citizens with a detailed (understandable) accounting on how the tobacco taxes revenue was spent?
6. And as a general statement in future bond issues or taxes that turns out to be permanent the first provision shall be No diversion of these funds to the the State general or emergency funds shall be allowed. No exceptions.
IT'S TIME TO STOP THE LICENSE TO STEAL BY ELECTED AND APPOINTED CRIMINALS!!!
For people transport, self-piloting aircraft will change that. Flight is the most fuel efficient mode of transportation. It's time to put the high in highways. They cost almost nothing to build and maintain and have tremendous capacity. Most schools, workplaces, and stores can go online, relieving half the demand for traditional highways. New technology changes things.
On the national level, why did we never get a detailed accounting of how Obungo's (2009) stimulus $trillion was spent?
IN ANY OTHER CONTEXT THAT WOULD BE STRAIGHT UP THEFT OR FRAUD! CERTAINLY A "HIGH CRIME OR MISDEMEANOR" AGAINST ALL AMERICAN TAX-PAYING CITIZENS.
Parts of I-40 near Memphis have really declined. Three months ago in nearby Jackson, TN, they had digital signs warning I-40 drivers of the huge pot holes! Crews were working on them, so maybe by now those have been fixed.
I noticed a real decline in the Memphis city streets also since just a few years ago when I visited. Sad to see. Makes you realize America’s infrastructure is truly in need of repair. People can’t take higher taxes though or tolls; paychecks are barely enough to keep up with the actual cost of living. Use some of those taxpayer funds going overseas to instead help America first.
The minimum cost of such an undertaking has been estimated at $1 trillion — and there is no existing federal or state funding source or program to carry it out, making it an ideal starting point for another federal department with a
trillion dollar budget.
Once they get their nose in the trough it’s impossible
to keep them away from it.
I re-read this article and have a new takeaway:
The author is a shill for the government push to install chips/boxes in our vehicles for tracking mileage.
If you support that, rather than under your skin I have a chip to insert up your backside (and will do so with pleasure).
That's remarkable!
In your universe toads use AC??
Eisenhower, after all, had many years earlier been on a months-long military convoy from Washington to San Francisco that made a lasting impression with him of the nation's nearly-impassible roadways. In typical cold-war fashion, he pushed for a network of all-weather highways connecting major military installations in case of a conflict with the Soviets. (And this purpose, of course, could be justified as a constitutional use of federal funds, unlikely to be challenged.)
The hang-up was Ike's intention to bypass the big cities to expedite movement of troops and materiel. Politics reared its ugly head and some routes were changed to mollify mayors and governors. In other cases--I-70 through Utah for example--military needs overrode objections by state politicians and the highway took twists and turns that looked on the map like the road to nowhere.
Times have changed. Enviros now are in control in many states, unfortunately. The Sierra Club, Fiends of the Earth and EDF have used their clout and delayed highways to the point that they don't get built, or get torn up as happened in San Francisco after the Loma Prieta earthquake.in '89.
I can recall when California's then-governor, Gray Davis, opened the last segment of the Foothill Freeway and declared it would be the last freeway built in California. He could be right.
It's time to start over, and do it right. Poole's arguments are valid, especially with respect to the obsolete fuel tax.
The only weak point I can see is treating highways as "public utilities." Good grief! Don't we have enough consumer abuse from politically-appointed public utilities commissions with regard to "tiered" electric and gas rates, "green" meters, incentives to replace our water-wasting top-loading washing machines with clothes-ruining front-loading machines? Does this idiocy have to extend to methods of setting highway tolls, perhaps as a function of family income? Or the number of children you have? Or your vehicle's average MPG?
Why not allow the market to function for a change? Or is that too difficult to understand?
Stop robbing the gas tax funds, and use them to maintain the roads, rather than laundering them back to the politicians through various scams, and everything will be fine.
“If planning restrictions are not bypassed (i.e. climate change focus to force people out of cars), there is nothing “customer friendly” about being in gridlock due to political restrictions on properly-planned roadways.”
To-wit:
Planned Gridlock or Traffic Relief? Governor Hogan’s Traffic Relief Plan Offers Hope
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3664144/posts
“Any Montgomery County voter looking for traffic relief will not get much hope from the transportation manifestos of Montgomery County’s “progressive” Democrats this primary season. Collectively, they all try to outdo each other in their opposition to anything involving spending for roads.”
If the solution for progressivism is more progressivism (tracking our cars) due to progressivism’s failure, then this whole article/discussion is non sequitur.
While railroads are subsidized to some extent, they are typically private entities that give Amtrak permission to use their tracks, so the track problems are with these companies, not Amtrak, as lousy as it is.
Exactly. I get ~32 MPG in my car on the highways. It's closer to 25 for city driving. Given the taxes here in TX, at most I'm looking at about 2¢/mi. Yet, when I get on tollways, it's anywhere from 50¢/mi to almost 75¢/mi. It's crazy.
Tollways are nothing but scams, and we rightly reject them whenever we can. If they actually spent our gas taxes on roads, I'd have little problem with the cost/benefit of the equation, because the roads would be reasonably maintained. However, they are always diverting our highway taxes to mass transit and other boondoggles. (Amtrack - I'm looking at you too). There is also the fact that from what I understand your average automobile causes very little 'wear' to roads. Not so, the big rigs that share the road with us. However, they also get a lot worse MPG than my car, so they are paying more by virtue of that. Additionally, I know that tractor-trailers pay craploads of additional fees. I'm also not really interested in jacking up what they have to pay in any case, as any additional costs would just be passed along to consumers via higher prices. I figre that overall, the system we have is at least moderately fair on the revenue side.
It's the spending side that has to be looked at more closely. Spend the money on the freaking roads, and you can get your graft from the construction companies. (road construction is a huge bucket of fraud that should be more carefully monitored.)
I think Ike was tasked to take military equipment across the country when he was Lt or Major. The conditions of the roads or lack thereof led him to propose an national Hwy system as you said for defense.
I’ll note here that passenger rail largely died out with the major implementation of the Interstates in the 60’s.
I’m totally OK with that. Just sayin’.
democrats squandering monies specifically collected for the purpose (we should put all of THEM in a ‘lock box’ ...)
“I’m totally OK with that. Just sayin’.”
Trains have their place, but I wouldn’t trade what we have for them.
oh thanks for the info
Expecting private entrepreneurs to cater to an unmeasurable and captive public is folly in the long run.
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