Zach LarkinsSAY WHAT?
I heard a news item this morning that still has me shaking my head. It seems there is a group in Michigan that wants to raise gasoline prices by $0.09 per gallon over the next three years. This sounds rather outrageous, but they are saying the extra money would go to road repairs. Say what?
They claim that without this funding the roads of Michigan will fall into disrepair. Sorry, I have travelled many roads in Michigan and, except for the turnpikes and major highways, they are little better than tank traps. That is not to say our roads here in Canada are any better. A front end alignment is virtually useless as by the time you drive home from the alignment shop, your front end is going to be as bad as it was before you wasted the money.
I know that here in Canada we pay an exorbitant amount of tax on gas, which is supposed to be funneled into road maintenance. Of course it never is and that is why the country is looking closer into making toll roads more common. Toll roads are indeed common in the States and they are the best roads you would ever want to drive on. But is there no tax on gas already that is intended to keep roads at a municipal level up to snuff?
It would be nice if the government used the money for its intended purposes instead of lying to us. The tax is used as a cash cow right now. The government spends the funds wherever they see fit. And I object to this. They are in the throes of putting bicycle lanes all over the place and will use some of my tax dollars to accomplish this. Sorry, I don't buy it.
When a bike rider has to pass a driver's test, when they have to have a licence to operate that vehicle on public thoroughfares, when they have to renew plates every two years, when they have to pay for insurance, when they have to obey the rules of the road, when they have to pay a certain amount of their income every week to be on the road, then, and only then, will I go along with their claim that they have a right to be on the road. As it is, they're getting a free ride at my expense.
And maybe if they chipped in their fair share, gas prices wouldn't have to rise to maintain roads. All the money collected in taxes on gas and all the above mentioned items would be more than enough to keep our roads in good repair.
I certainly hope that no one in Canada is listening to these fools. Our gas right now sits at $3.80 per US gal. We can shake our fingers at the greedy oil companies, but government is a bigger thief. A 10% excise tax topped by provincial and federal tax, all of which is topped by the GST (a tax on a tax, which technically is not supposed to be allowed) brings us ever closer to either paying the same prices they do in Europe, or to becoming a nation of bicycle riders.
Our countries are just too big for that. Al Gore better get used to the idea that we are, and always will be, nations of car drivers. Better he concentrate on China's 500 plus fossil fuelled hydro plants to bring down glo-bull warming than put the blame on the citizens of the USA and Canada for doing what they have to do to survive. Drive to work.
They claim that without this funding the roads of Michigan will fall into disrepair. Sorry, I have travelled many roads in Michigan and, except for the turnpikes and major highways, they are little better than tank traps. That is not to say our roads here in Canada are any better. A front end alignment is virtually useless as by the time you drive home from the alignment shop, your front end is going to be as bad as it was before you wasted the money.
I know that here in Canada we pay an exorbitant amount of tax on gas, which is supposed to be funneled into road maintenance. Of course it never is and that is why the country is looking closer into making toll roads more common. Toll roads are indeed common in the States and they are the best roads you would ever want to drive on. But is there no tax on gas already that is intended to keep roads at a municipal level up to snuff?
It would be nice if the government used the money for its intended purposes instead of lying to us. The tax is used as a cash cow right now. The government spends the funds wherever they see fit. And I object to this. They are in the throes of putting bicycle lanes all over the place and will use some of my tax dollars to accomplish this. Sorry, I don't buy it.
When a bike rider has to pass a driver's test, when they have to have a licence to operate that vehicle on public thoroughfares, when they have to renew plates every two years, when they have to pay for insurance, when they have to obey the rules of the road, when they have to pay a certain amount of their income every week to be on the road, then, and only then, will I go along with their claim that they have a right to be on the road. As it is, they're getting a free ride at my expense.
And maybe if they chipped in their fair share, gas prices wouldn't have to rise to maintain roads. All the money collected in taxes on gas and all the above mentioned items would be more than enough to keep our roads in good repair.
I certainly hope that no one in Canada is listening to these fools. Our gas right now sits at $3.80 per US gal. We can shake our fingers at the greedy oil companies, but government is a bigger thief. A 10% excise tax topped by provincial and federal tax, all of which is topped by the GST (a tax on a tax, which technically is not supposed to be allowed) brings us ever closer to either paying the same prices they do in Europe, or to becoming a nation of bicycle riders.
Our countries are just too big for that. Al Gore better get used to the idea that we are, and always will be, nations of car drivers. Better he concentrate on China's 500 plus fossil fuelled hydro plants to bring down glo-bull warming than put the blame on the citizens of the USA and Canada for doing what they have to do to survive. Drive to work.
I would put the money into research and development of alternative fuels, perhaps based on corn or other crops, thereby giving farmers income and also screwing Saudi Arabia and the other oil nations who are our enemies in any event.
youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern