“Please don’t say that. Damn it!
You already pay. That toll road idea is simply the government winning you over to pay more taxes. Refuse them.
Why is this a subject Conservatives buy off on to pay more taxes? It shouldn’t be.”
The idea of a toll road is far preferable to a general gas tax. I live in MA so I don’t pay the tolls on the George Washington Bridge. But out of the Federal Gas Tax I pay to maintain the bridge and the road because it’s part of the “federal highway system”. It makes no sense.
You are however correct about politicians squandering the money and using it for other projects. The tolls in MA were supposed to be removed in 1989, but all of a sudden, they needed to get some bonds for repairs and they’re still there.
I was addressing the principle that local control and funding is better than me paying for some faraway project.
Check out post 11 as a possible alternative to toll roads.
Those of you here who think toll roads are a good idea, please think about it again.
While in Florida I drove across the state and down a ways. The tolls totaled $8.00 one way. The next day I returned. I paid another $8.00.
Let’s say I traveled half the distance, certain a reasonable commute for a job. Okay, I pay $8.00 per day. Working roughly 22 days per month on average my toll bill would be $172.00 per month.
It would take about three thanks to travel that far in a month. The total gas bill would be around $150 dollars in a car that got decent mileage.
Note that the toll road bill is larger than the total gas bill, only part of which would be taxes. Realize also that the federal gas tax won’t go away. I will merely be converted into a state gas tax.
How do you folks think we wind up with new taxes? Do they just toss them all at us one at a time? No, they do it one at a time. And each time the public buys off on it. Oh, well, getting the funding closer to home is the right thing. Well, yes it is, but the funding will be closer to home if the gas tax is transferred to the states.
Despite that, some of us are prepared to buy off on creating a new taxation. And then in a few years you’ll all be saying something like, “Well, I was right. They should have done away with the gas tax.” Honestly, how many times does it take folks?
How many times do they temporarily raise the sales tax, then leave it there? How many times do they come up with a new tax that is supposed to be temporary, and it remains? How many Golden Gate bridges do you have to see, to realize 40 years after it was paid off, they are still charging tolls as a source of revenue for the city of San Francisco?
Folks, please quit buying off on new taxes, no matter how wonderful you think they are.