To all who oppose tolls on I-80: go die in an infrastructure collapse!

[illusionofjoy]

Leave it to dirtbag republicans to gum up the works. The state of Pennsylvania needs money to maintain roads, bridges and mass transit systems. Three options were laid upon the table in order to do this: raise the gasoline tax, lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private company or put toll booths on Interstate 80. Neither side of the legislative aisle relished the first two options, thus a compromise was made to toll I-80 in the form of Act 44. Perhaps not happy, at least everyone could be reasonably satisfied that a solution had been found and a compromise reached.

But then fat bastard US Congressmen Phil English and his weasel-like partner John Peterson decided to become whiny little bitches and try and block Act 44 at the Federal level through legislation which would prevent converting any Federally-funded controlled-access highway from being tolled. "It'll ruin our rural economy," they whined, oblivious to the fact that, aside from the occasional meal and fuel stop, no one ever stops in rural Pennsylvania long enough to pump any significant amount of money into the area. "But," they whimpered on, "we dirt-eaters shouldn't have to subsidise the fancy mass transit systems for you city-slickers." Again, they are blind to the obvious: funds from tolls on I-80 would go into maintaining and improving that highway, thus freeing up other state monies for infrastructure improvement across the entire Commonwealth as well as supporting mass transit in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Being self-centred dirtbag republicans, however, English and Peterson are too dense to grasp such simple concepts. What's worse is that they are collecting friends who are equally dim. From the Post-Gazette:

Mr. Peterson is working in Congress to prevent any federal funds from being used to toll I-80. If his measure is approved, federal highway officials couldn't process the state's upcoming application to toll I-80. Mr. Peterson hopes his measure to block the I-80 tolling process will be acted on this fall by Congress.

Joining the truckers [in protest of I-80 tolling] were several state legislators, including Sens. John Eichelberger, R-Blair, and Mary Jo White, R-Venango, and Rep. Fred McIlhattan, R-Clarion, who plan to support a new bill by Rep. Scott Hutchinson, R-Venango, to repeal Act 44 and stop the tolling of I-80. It isn't known yet when that bill might come up for a vote.

I am seeing a lot of members of the Gangrenous Old Party stepping up to ensure that Pennsylvania has plenty of bridge collapses in the future. Funny how that works, isn't it? As for truckers angry about having to pay for a road they use regularly and cause the most wear and tear on I say this: yes, tolls are taxes and since you're breaking it, you're buying it. Shut the hell up and quit whining about losing your free ride; you should have lost it long ago.

Joseph F. Markosek, chairman of the House Transportation Committee gets major points for telling these right-wing whiners exactly where they can put their protests. From pressofatlanticcity.com:

Rep. Garth Everett, R-Lycoming, said property tax reform used to be his constituents' biggest priority.

"Interstate 80 has eclipsed, significantly, property tax reform as the No. 1 issue," he said.

But the Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Allegheny County Rep. Joseph F. Markosek, has little sympathy.

"I know they have political pressures on them, but I think it's gotten to the point now where they're politically grandstanding, and they have to put up or shut up," he said. "If they're willing to put up tax proposals, we're certainly willing to listen."

Proponents argue that a painless way to finance transportation needs does not exist, and say the recent Minneapolis bridge collapse illustrates the consequences of doing nothing.

Incidentally, the email forms on the websites for Phil English and John Peterson seem to have been set up to disallow messages from those with zip codes outside of their congressional districts. I guess the myopic duo of Fat Bastard and Weasel are more than happy to tank the entire state of Pennsylvania (and the nation as a whole) for their self-centred, narrow-minded little crusade. I'll say it again: here's hoping that they and all like them find themselves stuck on a bridge when the inevitable consequences of infrastructure neglect occur.

Comments

[mokie]

Maybe the state could just not collect tolls or maintain roads in their particular little areas...

[illusion-of-joy.livejournal.com]

I'd be all for leaving rural Pennsylvania to rot on the vine. The problem is that the proposed tolling system of I-80 is already set up so that the locals would feel little, if any direct impact. Unlike the closed tolling of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, where one takes a ticket upon entry and doesn't have to pay until surrendering their ticket upon exiting, the I-80 tolls would be an open system, with barriers and flat fees at set mileposts along the road. In effect, it would be possible in many cases for someone who commutes locally to use the road between two exit points without any barriers and not pay any tolls whatsoever. Those most affected by the tolls are truckers who using I-80 to go to New York City or Cleveland and not stopping in Pennsylvania (I-80 serves no major cities in the state; Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia are all along the Turnpike). They could, in theory, keep their toll-free road, but they'd still whine about how their tax dollars were being used to support infrastructure and mass transit in urban areas.