Wednesday, July 23, 2008

WSJ Article Treasure Trove of Bush Transportation Lunacy

The house has passed a bill to inject $8 billion dollars into the highway fund for projects from the general fund. It passed with a veto proof majority yet the President has threatened to veto it. As people conserve more gas by driving less and driving hybrids, they also cause the transportation fund used to pay for freeways and transit to dwindle.

Let's put aside for a second the fact that congress wants to spend more infrastructure money on roads instead of putting it towards sustainable transportation or alternative energy or railway electrification. The Decider's hooligans made me laugh then shake my head in embarrassment for this country when they made the following statements in the Wall Street Journal:
The White House called the bill "a gimmick and a dangerous precedent that shifts costs from users to taxpayers at large."
Since when did users pay for freeways anyway? I'm lost, isn't the usual argument for taking money from other pots to pay for roads that all taxpayers are users of the system in some form or fashion. But lets not take from taxpayers to help users when we could instead...
The administration has proposed covering the trust fund shortfall by shifting money out of a mass transit account.
Yeah, that's a great idea. In a time of great pressure on transit systems due to high gas prices, let's expand roads using transit funds! That will totally help us cut our dependence on foreign oil and to lower gas prices, lets increase demand for driving! I'm sorry, but what a bunch of *^&@*%$$ morons! Really?! And what's a good transportation article without saying that really tolls aren't taxes and the Republicans don't want to raise taxes:
But the administration and many Republicans oppose tax increases, instead favoring greater tolling and a heavier emphasis on private-sector investment.
Isn't relying on tolling still making people pay more money. Not that I'm against tolling in certain instances, but its still a tax. I wish someone would call them out on that. I wish someone would call them out on all of this.

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