Posted on 11/25/2013 6:35:48 AM PST by Nextrush
Republican Governor Tom Corbett, who announced he's running for re-election next year, likes to tell Pennsylvanians he hasn't raised taxes. He ran for office four years ago saying he wouldn't raise taxes.
But that's exactly what he is doing today when he signs a "transportation funding bill" to fix roads and bridges along with subsidizing public transportation systems (especially in the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh areas).
The bill replaces an out in the open 12 cent a gallon gas tax at the pump with a backroom tax on gas at its wholesale price. It also raises registration fees for vehicles in the state with commercial vehicle registration being steeply affected.
The take for the state of PA should eventually reach over 2 billion dollars per year from taxpayers pockets.
The effect of it will be to raise the price of gasoline in Pennsylvania by 28 cents a gallon in the next five years.
The bill is being described as the second largest tax increase in Pennsylvania history.
This legislation made it through the state legislature controlled by Republicans when leadership of both parties convinced many long serving members to vote for the plan.
It was closer in Pennsylvania's state's House with an early vote opposing the tax hike, but in the end the first vote was reversed and the proposal went to a governor eager to sign it.
Talk is that legislators were promised that some of the money raised would end up being spent on "projects" in their districts.
The legislation creates a special 40 million dollar fund that the state's transportation secretary will spend after "consultation" with legislative leaders.
When the bill passed the legislature, it was hailed by Republican Governor Tom Corbett as "bipartisan" and supported by both "business and labor".
And why not, businesses will benefit and labor unions will benefit at taxpayer expense and some of the money they get will no doubt be "kicked back" to the politicians in campaign contributions.
This is Pennsylvania's business as usual political system in action and a thorough housecleaning is needed.
If this is what Republicans and Democrats end up giving us in this state, perhaps it seriously is third party time?????
The laws of the state are rigged against third parties, but we still have the write-in option in our voting machines, Mr. Corbett.....
This will make our gasoline taxes in PA among the highest in the country.
This really is an absolute outrage.
Corbett will come up with emotional wedges like his Medicaid expansion for Obamacare with conditions position.
But in the end Corbett is a business as usual tax and spend politician who happens to have an R next to his name.
With Republicans like this, who needs Democrats?
They are rigging it pretty good here I would say.
1) You have to take care of the Tony Soprano-types who run the highway paving industry. Otherwise they will make things very uncomfortable for pols in BOTH parties, who have been cutting illicit deals with them for close to a century now.
2) So-called “businessmen” who were STOOOOOPID enough to set up operations in the City of Pittsburgh or central Philly start screaming that their help can’t get to the store/office when the local transit system cuts the schedule yet again in order to pay pensions to all the retirees in their 50’s who sit home watching Jerry Springer.
3) The media Chicken Littles duly perform their duty by running nightly features on the Six-O’clock News frightening all the soccer moms into thinking that the bridge they drive over four times a day could collapse at ANY MOMENT.
I live here. It is Harrisburgh, Philly and Allegheny County that screw PA over time and time and time again. You get away from the “cities” or Allegheny County and it is very conservative (minus the district that dirtbag Murtha came from). The only problem is the parasites outnumber us and are spoon fed by KDKA and the likes every night none the wiser they are fleecing themselves in the long run. As soon as my youngest son is done with school I am leaving this state, but alas that is a few years down the line.
Yes, but we have to balance that against the constant in-migration of New Yorkers, Jerseyites and Marylanders who flee liberal hellholes but then repeat the same voting patterns.
York County is a virtual suburb of Baltimore at this point.
The article claims “businesses will benefit”. Higher fuel costs raises the prices of everything. This will adversely impact businesses and employment.
Actually a lot of Allegheny County is pretty conservative, once you get away from the City of Pittsburgh and burned-out milltowns along the riverbanks.
People in Murtha’s old district were in most ways VERY conservative. But were not against voting themselves huge swaths of the Federal Treasury in order to stay employed.
No matter how high taxes are raised, roads in Pennsylvania will ALWAYS be in deplorable condition. The money raised always goes elsewhere, and the roads still look the same.
Part of the money to be raised this time will go to public transportation — another money pit. Near Pittsburgh, local government instituted a drink tax to fund the local transit system. Yet, the local system continues to jack up fates and cut service. Where does the money from the drink tax go?
What is needed is an independent audit of the PA Department of Transportation and the public transit agencies. These government transportation entities spend money without accountability or any supervision. It’s time someone steps in to find out where the money is going and keep spending for these agencies in line.
In hindsight you are correct. I should have stated it as Pittsburgh “proper”. There are some very good townships in AGH. I can’t wait to see what the taxes are going to be like on the royalties from frakking in this region; somehow I think Harrisburg believes THEY actually own that property.
That “Drink tax” is disgusting. I wen’t out with some friends not too many months ago and a single bloody mary at a place in Station Square was $10.00.
PennDOT used to take care of my road and it was horrible for years. PennDOT dumped my roads maintenance on my township and it was re-done by private contractor (the road is about four miles long in total). Even with PennDOT plows trashing everything in site in the winter, that road is still in great shape after being done privately six years ago.
First of all Jay Paterno is an assclown who knows nothing about running a district. Secondly, the issue of Philly and Pittsburgh is this, they keep the voting corrupt. When a person can win over 50 counties but cannot get elected because of the welfare state ib these areas. Voter Fraud out of this world. Let the black panthers crawl around the streets and threaten people and get away with it. No justice form the corrupt justice system run by the obamanistas.
I think World War Z started in Philly, so we have that to hope for...
Which means more money for Virginia as our gas taxes are pretty low.
I have decided to vote for challengers in primary, and then I will vote Democrat over the Rino who has failed me. I just don’t see a downside. It is not that I am voting for the democrat so much, it is that I am voting against the Rino.
We have a Republican controlled state and this is the best we can get. Screw em, they have certainly screwed me.
I will leave this state shortly for greener pastures....shut my business down and leave. The only thing I will miss is my excellent gun club.
20,000 voters in the City of Pittsburgh (pop. 310,000) elected Bill Peduto as Mayor. Virtually all of them public employee union members, no doubt. THAT’S how it happens.
No doubt this is major problem. We've seen Virginia go bad and NC is getting worse….thanks to migration.
I will never vote again!!!
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