Posted on 10/18/2011 6:15:50 PM PDT by presidio9
Edited on 10/18/2011 6:28:38 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The tolls collected on the bridges and tunnels surrounding NYC are far in excess of what is necessary for routine maintenance. Most of the money goes to the salaries and extremely cushy pensions that are enjoyed by those who work for the Port Authority of New York. Imagine the Wisconsin public employees unions on steroids and you will start to get a picture of these boondoggles. I live in New Jersey, and a short round trip into Brooklyn, via Staten Island, costs close to $25 in tolls (Goethals Bridge, Verrazano Bridge, NJ Turnpike.) Multiply that by the tens of thousands who must make that trip, or a similar one, every day, and the numbers are absolutely mind-boggling.
Gasoline taxes. Heavier (more damaging) vehicles pay more, automatically. No need to surveil everyone.
Does this mean you want to pay more taxes for your gasoline?
The 49% in this country who pay nothing in taxes yet suck up all the welfare, section 8 housing, WIC, food stamps, free cell phones, free cars with free insurance, free AAA and free repairs. THAT"S WHO!!!!
you have to put it on a switch so you can rotate the different plates around at your liking. It is actually quite simple.
Seriously? Who do I propose pays for the resurfacing of the street outside? Or building the highway? We are already taxed for it. It comes from our gas taxes, money we pay every single time we fill up our cars. But somehow, bridges are 'special' - mostly because ferries had tolls, and putting tolls on bridges was a natural migration.
Answer this: If the tolls on the bridge don't come out to be enough to cover the maintenance, what do they do? Shut down the bridge? Nope, they take it from taxes. And if the tolls don't cover the retirements of toll takers, it comes from taxes. And if it doesn't cover the fancy computers, it comes from taxes. And if it makes a profit, especially as the bridge ages, why that money typically goes into the general fund, rather than reducing or eliminating those tolls. Because once a government gets a hand into your pocket, it never ever wants to pull it back.
Save everyone the hassle, and pay for it from where it's supposed to come from, taxes, rather than this stupid nickle and diming people every time they use the bridge.
Europe's got all sorts of fancy programs that the US cities are eager to introduce - special zones where you get to pay extra to drive into or through, not to mention even more highway tolls, and of course, the ultimate prize, a per mile tax on every mile driven.
I'm TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY.
From reading more about this, it appears that most of the money is going to build the new World Trade Center, not bridge maintenance.
Tolled roads/bridges should be privately owned and operated. And they should not all be owned by the same company.
Hmm.
Could be a serious problem selling that idea.
EVERYBODY PAYS TAXES even if all they do is buy milk for a baby's bottle.
Who do you propose to pay for the bridge’s upkeep?
Gee.. I don’t know.. how do they do it in states with no toll roads?
You also switch the first time about a mile away too.
I had thought about making such a device. But I thought about using more than 2 license plates.
Frankly, New York already has enough bridges and too many people. Maybe they should encourage them to MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE ~ like Cape Cod or something where there's still open beach front.
Milk is not taxed. Very few items in the grocery store are taxed. Sin taxes on certain items are like ciggies and booze but almsot all food products are not.
Those taxes are passed on to milk being purchased for babies to drink.
Sure they are - with *your* money! LOL
Do you really think those folks with the EBT cards are paying taxes on the baby formula? You really think those Mexicans bundling up those Christmas trees and mowing those lawns are paying taxes? And those Mexicans are registering their cars and buying car insurance. Sure.
That will make sure the green light goes on. However, you still need the plate flipper. When the party whose ESN you sniffed complains about all those exorbitant tolls when he was in Vegas on vacation, they'll go back over the video ...
Let's see, total US bridge maintenance budgets, divided by the number of people in the country, assume that the retirees are in a taxable bracket, carry the 1... Yep, my calculations indicate that a mere fraction of the taxed dollar goes to places and things they'd likely not use - bridges, public parks, etc. A big percentage goes to fund defense contractors, public union employees, and of course, the ultimate, those who think they're entitled to every single penny that couple has scrimped and slaved over to earn over the years.
Since I'm saying that bridge maintenance should be paid for from the gas taxes already collected, your strawman example shouldn't have to pay a dime for the bridge.
Actually, the GW Bridge is part of the New York Port Authority which is an interstate compact. For all practical purposes that’s a private organization ~ they don’t collect taxes. They are supposed to pay for everything in their jurisdiction out of rents and fees.
You’re acting like milk is a different product than any other product someone buys. Every finished product has the cost of taxes built into it.
But there is no sales tax added at the checkout line for milk like almost all other products you buy. THAT was what I was pointing out.
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