The old railway that connected my area to the mainstream areas of Scotland and the UK was demolished long ago. But the high taxes on petrol were supposed to go to improve public transport. There is a grass roots movement in my community to have the railway brought back. They say they hope to be able to accomodate us within the next generation.
In the meantime, we have only two two laned winding roads to get back and forth to Edinburgh or to the south and England. And of course every five miles or so there are speeding cameras. So not only do we have intolerably high petrol, we have no proper route to get to where the high paying jobs are and the purpose of the higher tax (public transport) will likely not be realized in our lifetimes... Not to mention the NHS is already in a shambles and the only thing to remedy it without privatization (I wish) will be to raise taxes.
As the saying goes- "that's how they get you"...
Wanna know why, read Kipling's Recessional. They has done recessed, now, and they know it. Having sowed the wind, they will weep the whirlwind.
Well, the solution is obvious, isn't it?
If indeed we do have an energy problem like California, I hope the voters will then turn to the Tories to put the lights back on.
Regards, Ivan