Update January 7, 2009: Oddly enough, just days after posting this, I was watching a show about weird places to go in Pennsylvania and saw a segment on The Blob. An annual Blobfest is held each year in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania at the Colonial Theatre where part of the movie was filmed. The Blob lives.
I was reading the paper this morning, in fact, I stopped reading the paper to write this. The article that I started reading reminded me of a scary movie that I watched when I was younger. I remembered it as somewhat frightening, but by today’s standards of animation and special effects, it would probably appear quite lame.
The Blob was released in 1958 staring Steve McQueen and featured a monster that loved human flesh. No big deal right. There are plenty of those in the movies. The hook was that the more it ate, the bigger it got, and then it ate even more and got that much bigger and ate more and more…and so on. You could not hide from it as it was a gelatinous glob that could seep through tiny crack and get you. Chills down my spine.
Did I mention that it was immune to most conventional weapons. I have to confess that I cannot remember how the citizens finally killed the thing (actually The Thing was another movie about a monster that’s why I did not capitalize it).
Getting back to the article, it was written by Joan Lowy of the Associated Press. The headline was “Panel urges 50% hike in gasoline taxes.” It seems that no less an authority than the National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing said this should be so. You should all be impressed that the NCSTIF is looking out for our roads and bridges and is “the second group in a year to call for higher fuel taxes.”
Let’s face it, gas prices have fallen drastically and our elected officials want to seize this opportunity to raise our taxes while we are enjoying relief from $4.00 a gallon gas prices. We now pay 18.4 cents for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel so what is an extra 10 cents a gallon on gas and 15 cents a gallon on diesel while fuel is so low? That is just the federal taxes. Your states’ taxes are probably double that. That is not all, the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission suggests an increase of federal fuel taxes of 40 cents per gallon over the next five years.
You can relax as you remember how our elected officials quickly reduced fuel taxes when prices were so high this past summer. That is right, they didn’t. I seem to remember that their answer was to hold hearings and point fingers.
The NCSTIF is a 15-member panel created by Congress. You see, this is how they do it nowadays. The buck no longer stops here (Congress). A blue-ribbon panel of experts says it must be so. Congress does not really want to raise taxes, but the panel says it must be so or we will be in a crisis. Congress is here to help…themselves to our money.
The article is full of ways to sell this and creative ways to ensure a steady flow of cash. The NCSTIF recommends tying the fuel tax rates to inflation so it rises automatically. If I may translate; no one in Congress will have to vote on that tax increase. The group also suggests creating more toll roads and charging fees for rush hour traffic. They are not taxes, they are “fees.”
The best scheme was their suggestion to install a device on everyone’s car to track mileage. You will then be charged based on how much you drive. Do not worry, “they’ve been assured that such a system could be designed to prevent vehicles from being “tracked in some big brotherish way.”"
I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!
Wait, it gets better (actually much worse). The chairman of the American Trucking Associations wants the fuel tax increases and suggested that “Instead of calling it a gas tax, call it a carbon tax. As long as we label it as something else, we may have the momentum and acceptance to move forward.”
Politicians and lobbyists do not even seem to disguise their disdain for our perceived lack of intelligence. Somewhere someone must have said “they are used to 4 dollar a gallon gas prices. Now that prices are down, let’s raise taxes before the fuel prices go up again.” Since people seem to have bought into the man-made global warming issue (it is 20 degrees outside this morning) they want to use that to justify spending and tax increases.
I confess that I did not read the NCSTIF report. I am guessing that it is reader-friendly and under 1000 pages in length. In her article, Ms. Lowy did not highlight any parts of the report where the Commission discussed ways to cut costs or spending. I am sure that it is in there with their recommendations on ways to “keep pace with the cost of road, bridge and transportation programs.”
Does “Transportation Programs” sound too generic to you? It sounds like Alaska’s bridge to nowhere, or Pittsburgh’s $350 million subway under the river or maybe the ultimate transportation project; Boston’s Big Dig. I suspect that these funds are also used to support numerous mass transit systems that operate in the red losing money every year. Ask yourself why you have to continually pay for stuff that does not work.
I have a few suggestions:
Stop building new roads and bridges until you can properly maintain the ones you have.
Privatize mass transit systems where government run operations fail to support themselves for three consecutive years. Give them a chance then cut them off.
Stop other “transportation projects” that will not support themselves (i.e. Pittsburgh’s tunnel) or any planned light-rail system is being considered.
Repeal all prevailing wage laws.
The Federal statute is Davis-Bacon passed in 1936. Essentially, any government project is required to pay a premium wage rate based on the “prevailing wage” of the area. It does not matter to government officials whether a competent contractor can do it cheaper, they are required to pay more. That’s not competition. It was passed in 1936 to protect workers wages. Did I mention that it was passed in 1936. How many extra billions and billions of dollars have been paid for public projects because of this law. Remember, that is our money. Is it being spent wisely?
This would be a good time to call, write, or e-mail your senator and representative. Maybe do all three. You can get their contact information here (scroll down on left side and type in your zip code).
So what eats, gets bigger, eats more, gets even bigger, eats even more, gets ever more bigger…
- The Blob
- Your Federal Government
- Your State Government
- All of the above
Unfortuately the answer is “4″, but only number one is fictional.
Happy New Year!
