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Re: Driving Pet Peeves
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Subject: Re: Driving Pet Peeves
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From: ckaan@bvu-lads.loral.com (Carson Kaan)
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Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 18:28:06 GMT
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Followup-To: rec.autos.driving,rec.bicycles.soc
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Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving, rec.bicycles.soc
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Organization: Loral ADS
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References: <3rkdg4$sud@park.rdcs.kodak.com> <3rl0np$ot9@kiki.icd.teradyne.com> <jtchewDA6F97.5qC@netcom.com> <3rp9ts$4hn@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu> <seb-2006951847100001@slip181.sirius.com> <3s9bjd$1f7@nnrp2.primenet.com> <marquisDAJ9L3.2A9@netcom.com> <3saatt$tf@nnrp2.primenet.com>
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Xref: news.clark.net rec.autos.driving:72871 rec.bicycles.soc:20075
In article <3saatt$tf@nnrp2.primenet.com>, steph@primenet.com (Steph
Greenberg) wrote:
>
> Another thing to keep in mind is that road construction funds in the US
> largely come from gasoline taxes. In a technical sense the roads belong
> to motorists.
>
This is a truly silly argument. Along this line of inane reasoning . . .
Schools in the US are largely funded by property taxes, therefore people
who don't own property shouldn't be allowed to send their kids to school.
Local roads, sidewalks and bridges (at least in Seattle) are largely funded
by local property and sales taxes, therefore motorists, pedestrians, the
homeless, etc who don't own property should likewise be kicked off of them.
And if they need police services, or get in an accident and have to be
take to the county hospital, likewise, since the gas tax doesn't pay for
any of these things. And let's not forget the gasoline itself, the supply
of which is insured by the carrier task force we have kept near the Persian
Gulf for the past 20 years -- motorists who don't pay significant amounts
of income taxes should have not be allowed to buy gasoline. And on and on
and on . . .
As for the premise that gas taxes pay for road construction and
maintenance, it isn't even true. For instance, the last time I was in the
Bay Area (1/95), there were all these signs on I280 stating that
"Construction paid for by proposition A -- your tax dollars at work",
with proposition A being a .5% sales tax increase. Why the voters would
increase their sales tax to pay for freeway construction mystifies me, but
then, the car religion is the US is pretty strong and the auto and oil
industries do spend billions of dollars every year on advertising to
brainwash the American public.
Carson
References: