“Transportation” spending has turned into a huge scam. The administration and press claims the nations “infrastructure” is “crumbling” as if roads are filled with potholes and bridges are collapsing, but if you look around your community, you will see that most “transportation” projects have a lot of unnecessary extras.
In my area, there are now sidewalks everywhere where people do not walk. One goes along about a mile stretch of fields and I never see anyone walking on it.
We also have had about five fancy electronic billboads added to the highways that probably cost a couple million. Are they nice? Yes. But are they worth running up trillion dollar deficits to have? No.
The number of road signs has tripled too. Its as if they can’t make them fast enough for our DOT to put up. Its crazy how many mile markers, turn signs and other road signs they can put up.
This is all crap that is not necessary. Add on top of it the fact that the DOT workers get paid premium wages and you see why transportation spending is so high. Probably about a third to half of it really isn’t necessary.
Supermarket is 2 blocks away. Gas station is 4 blocks away. Water Plant I work at is 6 blocks away. My 2001 Highlander has 50,000 miles on it. They’ll probably tax me for not driving enough!
Mass transit cities such as San Francisco, are now trying to get permission from the city to allow ‘juveniles’ to ride the BART and other mass transit systems for FREE......Because ‘so many need to use mass transit to get to school.’ (most of the age appropriate juveniles this would affect are dropping out of school to sell drugs anyway).
Another little gem of information, which is NOT being reported, is that in California, school registration in K-12 is down over 10% in this school year.
Keep in mind that Gov Jerry Brown pushed a change in their income tax from 9.3% to 13.3% and also pushed an increase in sales taxes in the state ‘for the schools’.
Sin the schools were in session in September, and the election was in November, someone who is smarter that I needs to explain to me what level of outright lying was happening to push voters to approve both of these increases.
Giving ‘juveniles’ free mass transit is another way to have more trouble on an already plauged BART system. Those officers—who ONLY work for BART—are already overwhelmed with the punks tht cause trouble 24/7/365.
Charging a guy in Nebraska or Wyoming a miles tax to support mass transit in cities is just plain TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESWENTATION!!!!
I live rural. I have to go over 6 miles one way to the post office. I go over 24 miles one way to the grocery store. I go 20 miles one way to Wal Mart. Even at that, I only put 203 miles on my truck in 2012 and less than 3000 miles on my car. The amount of gas I use with my truck costs me more at the tax per gallon rate than the miles rate—but then I am ASSUMING that they won’t chronically raise the price per mile!!! Silly me!!!
This is another direct attack against the middle of the country—taxing them more miles for living rural-—while they grow our FOOD—and sending the money to the mass transit systems.
If the mass transit systems cannot charge the right rate to their own passengers—who are benefitting from the service—why should some rancher in Wyoming be charged for the benefits those mass transit riders enjoy???