"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/02/2015 at 20:50 • Filed to: None
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"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
03/02/2015 at 20:50 • Filed to: None | 3
| 13 |
I just read this article in our local news. It seems that millions of dollars that Texans pay in fees for specific funds are never spent and only used to balance the budget at the end of the year. There is now $4 billion in a pot somewhere that's only going to be used to cook the books. It's the same story with these damn toll roads they keep building. There was a time when you paid gas taxes and road taxes and you got roads. Now you pay the taxes and get toll roads. It's probably the same in lots of places, but damn, this makes my blood boil.
/rant
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For Sweden
> ttyymmnn
03/02/2015 at 20:59 |
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But why won't you raise the fuel tax to fix the roads, silly American?
bob and john
> ttyymmnn
03/02/2015 at 21:00 |
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wow. Someone has some explaining to do.
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ttyymmnn
> For Sweden
03/02/2015 at 21:02 |
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No, no, no. That's not how it works. You CUT taxes so the people who truly benefit from lower taxes will get richer, then you do shenanigans like this that screw the little guy to make your books work out. Because 'Murica.
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ttyymmnn
> bob and john
03/02/2015 at 21:02 |
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Not likely. I'm going to avoid turning this into a political argument.
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bob and john
> ttyymmnn
03/02/2015 at 21:03 |
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oh man...if this as on cl...ARGUMENTS AWAY
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ttyymmnn
> bob and john
03/02/2015 at 21:06 |
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Yeah, I thought about putting in on CL, but I'm not in the mood for that sort of discussion. Politics in this country, and everywhere, for that matter, are just too damned depressing.
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bob and john
> ttyymmnn
03/02/2015 at 21:08 |
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yea. I'm not an american (mayple syrup and poutine FTW) so i woudlnt be able to comment on that, but still.
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ttyymmnn
> bob and john
03/02/2015 at 21:09 |
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I speak fluent Canadian, btw.
jariten1781
> ttyymmnn
03/02/2015 at 21:15 |
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You're correct, it's the same everywhere.
In VA the scheme is to 'earmark' targeted funds. But, when they do that they simultaneously decriment the General fund by that amount.
So: let's say in year XX 7 mil was spent for roads. Year XX+1 they create a New roads tax to be earmarked. Its written so that funds up to the baseline (year XX dollars) shall only be used for roads. XX+1 the tax brings in 6 mil and 1 mil is needed to cover the rest so it comes out of the General. As time goes by the revenue from the tax goes up such that by year XX+10 it's bringing in 12 mil. Well, at that point the 5 mil is spilled into the General fund even if the amount needed for roads is now 10 mil. So now we need a new "earmarked" tax for the 2 mil false deficit. Continues ad infinitum.
E. Julius
> ttyymmnn
03/02/2015 at 21:34 |
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Michigan has a ballot proposal up for vote in May. Raise our sales tax 1% to fix our roads. What a freaking load. Sure, let's raise a regressive tax that's only tangentially related to road use and infrastructure needs to cover the problem. That will work fine… until three years later when that money is being used to cover deficits or patch cuts elsewhere, and we're back into infrastructural decay. That makes waaaaaay more sense than raising the excise taxes on fuel, specifically designated for the highway trust fund and tied directly to road usage. Especially since the excise tax is a specific dollar amount that hasn't changed in decades, so has actually generated less revenue over time.
Hurr durr we don't want pay an extra $5 a month on gas, let's just pay 1% more on freaking everything.
itranthelasttimeiparkedit
> ttyymmnn
03/02/2015 at 21:59 |
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they had protests at the capital a few weeks ago specifically about the motorcycle one
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ttyymmnn
> itranthelasttimeiparkedit
03/02/2015 at 22:12 |
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It's a shame the majority party wasn't listening.
Rico
> For Sweden
03/03/2015 at 20:24 |
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That money from raising taxes will never be used on infrastructure just like the "missing " money in the OP.