Posted on 08/05/2008 8:54:47 AM PDT by Graybeard58
The government class — liberals and self-styled conservatives alike — seems incapable of grasping that Americans can solve the problems of the day simply by acting in their own interests. Thus does government always feel the urge to "do something" even when the public manifestly has "done something."
When it comes to cutting fuel consumption in times of high prices, soaring demand and increasingly unreliable supply, you might say that train already has left the station. The numbers are staggering.
Through May, Americans drove 50 billion fewer miles in 2008 than in the corresponding period in 2007, says the Federal Highway Administration. Meanwhile, traffic deaths declined 9 percent. Put another way, 1,650 Americans are alive today who would have died if gasoline prices had remained low.
n Mass-transit ridership reached a record 10.3 billion trips last year, a 50-year high, according to the FHA, which expects commuters to break that record this year.
n Responding to consumer demand, the Big 3 automakers are rushing to increase their production of compact and subcompact cars.
n Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters predicts shrinking gasoline-tax revenues will result in a $3.1 billion shortfall in the fund that pays for road construction and repair, as well as aid to mass-transit systems. That may sound like bad news to bureaucrats, but it could be argued the people wanted a tax cut so badly, they gave themselves one.
Demonstrating the tinniest of tin ears, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., made a pitch for restoration of the 55-mph national speed limit to curb fuel consumption further. That's a bad idea on many levels. It disregards the personal and economic value of the time consumed while driving; it encourages blatant disdain for the law; it reduces the carrying capacity of highways; and it could even cost lives. As Stephen Moore pointed out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week, "The evidence is overwhelming that traffic safety is based less on how fast the traffic is going than on the variability in speeds that people are driving." Revival of the double nickel would exacerbate that variability.
Someday, people in government should try letting the people decide, by their routine behavior, what's best for the country rather than dictating to them from Washington or Hartford. They might be surprised by what an informed, energized public can accomplish.
Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.
If you want on or off this list, let me know.
I do a fair amount of interstate driving and it seems to me that people are voluntarily driving slower. Has anyone else noticed this?
especially semi trucks.
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Americans are a people that can overcome problems. We don’t whine about it. We roll up our sleeves and come up with a solution. Lets Roll!
I agree..........like replacing the Queen of the United States....Pelosi. Since when do we allow one person to tell the whole country what they can and can’t do?
I’ve also seen more motorcycles on the road, with more mature riders, than I have ever seen in my life.
I did my part today. I rode my bicycle down to the beer store. Urp!
Right on the mark. John Warner’s a moron!
I agree..........like replacing the Queen of the United States....Pelosi. Since when do we allow one person to tell the whole country what they can and can’t do?”
Agreed. She certainly thinks she has royal blood, doesn’t she?
Even the Queen of England doesn’t behave with the impudence that Pelosi shows.
bookmark
Stop insulting Bozo!
They demand SWAT Team responses and solutions to things that could formerly be resolved by a knock on a door or simply ignoring things they found offensive.
Bump for later today.
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