The Whitehouse wants to see if American drivers would be willing to see all US Interstate highways turned into State toll roads. They suggested inefficient union run govt toll roads. The Republicans took the bait and countered with privately run toll roads. And the Conservatives pointed out they should just keep them as they are and stop directing road repair funds to social services (which is happening). This is NOT a good thing. Here in the West, Interstates are often the ONLY road between towns, and the desert dwellers already pay too much for everything.
If we get all interstates turned into toll roads, they can charge whatever they want with the transponders, and in places where there's no alternative to get on and off the interstate to leave town, because there are no other roads, it will be a huge tax increase. This will hurt the poor and rural most. Yet another attack on the country peasants. Yet another benefit for the Elite and their limousines. Sigh. Bastards. It will probably happen, too.
Why would they do something so dumb as create travel monopolies? This is creating prisons with escape fees. They can charge whatever they want, and you either pay or you are trapped. Is this Soviet Russia? Does the Horse Ride You? You must be colossally EVIL to think this is a good idea.
The interstate highways are expensive, and getting out of responsibility of paying for one of the few thing the govt does that helps everybody. Dumping their one great accomplishment into private hands for destruction is the sort of thing you expect from a govt drowning in debts. The Federal Govt owes trillions in monetized debt to the Chinese and Europeans. If they shift spending responsibilities onto the states that huge expense stops being their problem.
The states have to raise taxes, since state responsibility means no more federal matching funds for those costs. Tax payers, forced to pay to use the highways that were build and maintained with tax dollars start wondering why they pay any Federal taxes at all, and start clamoring for outlawing the IRS, state by state. Turning those roads into toll roads won't be accepted here in the West. We aren't used to corruption like Easterners. This is still What You Know country West of the Rockies. We only allow Who You Knows in Hollywood, and mostly as the bad example they provide since they're totally helpless outside the Movie industry, which remains less financially successful than the video game industry. And how sad is that?
So much hinges on the movement of goods and services via the roads and highways and interstates. A big part of why I write this blog is my realization of how crucial this all is. What's worse, people will avoid the interstates as the ripoff they are, and build alternate routes to keep the money away from the greedy turnpike monopolies.
How would you feel paying 40 cents a mile from a toll booth to travel on this road? Is 40 cents a mile not that bad? How about a dollar a mile. How about 5 dollars a mile? For this. And keep in mind the toll booth transponder signal can be stolen and the debt of the stolen code applied to your taxes via IRS enforcement, your responsibility to report the theft of the code because govt is never wrong and it is literally against the law to sue them. Feeling happy yet? Still satisfied with how your tax dollars are spent?
I am very much against toll roads, and I'm very much against the misuse of existing road taxes for ANYTHING but fixing roads. I'm in favor of cutting social services and shooting miscreants. I will vote that way too. California would be better off being our own country than dealing with this chiseling evil crap.
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