Posted on 02/12/2007 1:03:09 PM PST by presidio9
Ug, more 'if the taz serves a good purpose, it's good' BS.
We've already been taxed for the roads and highways. Why is it good to tax us again for the use of them?
Besides, this is just a Behavior Modification Tax. If it costs more to travel, less people will travel. You think that's a proper government function? Maybe you have some Dimocrat blood flowing through your veins.
If I can do this, so can most. Use public transportation or walk.
That's a personal choice, which is of course yours to make. I suppose it would be rude of me to point out that those who pay gasoline taxes typically pick up 50-75% of the cost of your bus ride?
Oh well...
And Indiana got $4 billion for a toll road that was losing money. Remind me again why I should oppose this?
I know what you mean about the pain.
Have had over 8 major orthopedic surgeries, neuro surgery, cancer surgery, and live with pain 24/7
I ret. a little early a few yrs. ago.
I walk an ave. of 2 miles + a day.
> On the other hand...if the government wants to charge me
> for the use of something I already paid for...
What your position ignores is that the roads WILL BE rationed.
They will either be rationed on the basis of who is most willing to spend additional hours uselessly asphyxiating in a tiny metal box, or by some other means.
Is making the roads available on the basis of who has the most time to waste the best alternative?
Doesn't seem to have worked when they tried it with tobacco.
No kidding. That's one of many reasons why I don't live there. How much money do people spend a month on cab fare? Can they roll it into travel expenses with their employer? I assume some can, but can the typical NYU student afford it?
Mostly, it was intended to be a tax on, and a brake on, commuting, to prod people to move close in, into those giant tenements -- oh, excuse me, I meant "luxury apartments" -- you referred to.
Ever see Blade Runner? Have another look. Take a good look at the scenery.
My wife won't ride a bus through downtown Seattle.
Why not total subsidization of public transportation (buses or trains) so that it is a free option?
Or is "just a little bit of socialism" the best model?
Boston's green line rail was free above ground outbound. Doesn't seem to have been abused.
If the goal is to get people to use it, this is what would accomplish that goal.
You wouldn't have a choice in Houston. You can't walk on the shoulder of our highways.
Not a personal choice. As a ret. Legal Support Asst. with the county attys. and always have supported myself, paying rent and a car was not an option.
Rent for a 1 bdrom apt starts at $1,000+ a month.
Having had many surgeries and what Ins. doesn't pick up has been an expense over the yrs.
If fuel was the only cost, that would be true. The time factor/cost in congestion, however, is now higher in many places.
The Right to TravelAs the Supreme Court notes in Saenz v Roe, 98-97 (1999), the Constitution does not contain the word "travel" in any context, let alone an explicit right to travel (except for members of Congress, who are guaranteed the right to travel to and from Congress). The presumed right to travel, however, is firmly established in U.S. law and precedent. In U.S. v Guest, 383 U.S. 745 (1966), the Court noted, "It is a right that has been firmly established and repeatedly recognized." In fact, in Shapiro v Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969), Justice Stewart noted in a concurring opinion that "it is a right broadly assertable against private interference as well as governmental action. Like the right of association, ... it is a virtually unconditional personal right, guaranteed by the Constitution to us all." It is interesting to note that the Articles of Confederation had an explicit right to travel; it is now thought that the right is so fundamental that the Framers may have thought it unnecessary to include it in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Thanks to Marko Liias for the idea. Thanks to W.H. van Atteveldt for the note about Congressional travel.
I'm glad it works for you. In King County here the fare box for Metro is subsidized between 50% and 75%, depending upon the service. Those people stuck in traffic are subsidizing bus service.
Okay, let's take away your freedom to travel, since you've disparaged mine, and discuss this again later when you've been cooped up in your house for about 100 days and unable to leave home.
Smartypants. See how you like it when the shoe's on the other foot. Pinches, huh?
Oh, and the cite is the Ninth Amendment, which specifies that freedom is the default condition in all things not invaded by the legislature's lawmaking power. That's the concept that Bob Bork got hosed on, when he was up for confirmation as an Associate Justice.
Well, it's all how you look at it. Parts of some existing roads were paved over by the toll roads. (FM620, MOPAC, 1325) They're still trying to toll SH183, Loop 360, SH71 (E and W), US290 (E and W) It's not over.
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