I have previously written about the proliferation of toll roads in the United States as governments shift the cost of highways to citizens while spending wildly on foreign wars and losing billions of waste. Congress allows billions to literally disappear in places like Iraq and Afghanistan or give billions in aid to affluent countries like Israel, but it insists that American citizens already struggling financially should be forced to pay to use their federal roads. The change is a fundamental shift in our approach to highways which were viewed as the basic service supplied to taxpayers. However, the Administration has quickly open the door in the new transportation bill to end the long tradition of free federal highways. Of course, do not take too much cash on the highways, because it can be seized by police in the growing number of pretext stops called “policing for profits.”
This move follows states like New Jersey closing bathrooms and ending other basic programs. It seems that there are fewer and fewer benefits that citizens can expect for their taxes. They must pay the government and then pay again to use basic government services. This is an effective tax disguised as a toll that will hit low income people the hardest and add a new barrier to their securing or maintaining jobs. I could not care less about the cost but there are many, many families where this seemingly small added toll will be a hardship. It is cumulative for such families. At every turn, they are being asked to pony up for government services. While the Administration and Congress talks a good game about fighting for the shrinking middle class, it routinely shifts more and more costs over to such families while using tax dollars to literally deliver bags of money to such corrupt officials as Hamid Karzai.
The reason for tapping drivers is ironically the success of fuel efficiency standards. The Highway Trust Fund contains a 18.4-cent federal gas tax, but the advances in cars has reduced such revenues so the Congress has to find a new way to tap drivers without using the word “tax”.
The highway trust fund will face a $63 billion shortfall over the next four years. That is a fraction of the money that we burned in Iraq and Afghanistan and continue to throw abroad.
Of course, citizens could move to secede to Iraq and ask for their highways to be built for free on no-bid contracts.
On another example of how such fees can impact families, we recently received a return payment on our Virginia taxes. Rather than send a check as in the past, Virginia now sends you “Way2Go” debit cards from Mastercard. However, if you try to get the money transferred to your bank or make inquiries you face a series of potential charges. For example, if you call five times, they charge you. (We try to reach the contractor repeatedly and we cut off or misdirected — triggering the penalty). If you lose the cards (which is easy because they look like free credit cards), you are hit with multiple charges. You can only inquire a couple times about your balance or . . . you guessed it . . . you are charged. It appears a system designed to get citizens to pay charges to a contractor, a prospect far more likely for the elderly. The charges seem wired into the system — added charges that are treated not as a tax but administrative costs imposed on taxpayers. Again, despite the time and hassle of getting the money transferred, we were not concerned about the charges. However, we immediately thought of the many elderly taxpayers who will either not use the cards, throw them away in ignorance, or fall into the trap of these hidden charges: all this to get their money that was over-paid to their government. Here is a list of the charges, but you will have to use the Virginia Department of Taxation website.
Source: Washington Post
And, implicit in my lobbyist equation is corporations, they are the ones who pay the lobbyists. But, thanks for your comment and always good to see ya’.
bettykath, I have a strong record of corporate welfare derision. Indeed, one of my pet peeves is taxpayers paying for stadiums for billionaires.
This is a good reason to vote down any more gifts to Afghanistan perps and free loaders. Maybe we can get Christie to shut down a bridge too far. Set up tolls to pay trolls in Afghanistan.
Nick, Your comment was accurate as far as it went, it just forgot the biggest freeloaders of all. I would add to my own comment, the corporations as freeloaders.
very laugh-worthy slohrss29
kudos
Hey, W just said his brother would make a good Prez! Isn’t that great! Maybe he’ll spend money on protecting us from the highly-armed on-coming storm of laplanders, or perhaps the perpetually unruly East-Western Antarcticans. My vote is for the French, because I believe they have all learned that diminuating Charles de Gaulle long-nosed stare-down he used to give. There’s lots of folk to bomb out there! Forget about your roads though.
How can things ever change without first something terrible beyond our current understanding happening first? Is there anyone who thinks he would not be elected? Oh, forgot about the lady who gets her allowance from her masters in Saudi Arabia.
Yes, sir.
The banking industry pushed for debit cards, which provide a sneaky way to get a cut of everyone’s refund. Whenever you buy something with a credit card or a debit card, the merchant is charged a fee by the bank or financial institution. The merchants, of course, pass this increased cost to consumers.
Even the Social Security Administration has now gotten in bed with big banking, no longer cutting checks but rather recharging debit cards for low income seniors who do not have bank accounts. These institutional parasites feed on the most vulnerable among us.
The government increases minimum wage, then takes it back in the form of tolls on roads. This is as ridiculous as the automotive industry’s rebate scams, where the dealer jacks up the price to cover the cost of the rebate, increasing the total amount financed by the consumer. The rebate is really a loan, complete with interest charges that the consumer must pay.
If consumers would actually wake up and stop bending over for banks, merchants, and politicians, we could begin to see some changes and reforms.
Actually, the trend for reform may already be in progress. Whenever I refill my fuell tank, for example, I always pay using cash, so that I can get the cash price, which can translate to as much as a free tank of fuel with the purchase of every 20. And whenever I make a large purchase, I’m in the habit of asking for a cash discount. Its really surprising how often I get it, too. Even the manager of a Home Depot will, fearing the loss of revenue to his competitors.
Paul, I say we should be taxed like property tax, @ the end of the year, not taken out of our paychecks. The Tea Party would be the majority party if that ever happened.
@Justice Holmes: Germany also has a toll on trucks on autobahns and federal roads and an autobahn toll for cars not registered in Germany is in the works…
And helping immigrants with the language is a pretty universal trait for countries not fortunate enough to inherit the global lingua franca from the great and beloved British Empire, and we Germans were actually the slowest of that bunch to start such a thing.
You Anglophones don’t have to worry about language acquisition so much — the joys of (pop-)cultural hegemony.
As I have said before anyone who feels undertaxed can donate to the Treasury Dept. However, I don’t think you get to pick and choose where it is spent. I would like that, as well. I have proposed a checklist to go with your tax return, that would allow you to decide which areas you tax money was spent on. Each government program could be listed and then we would check off who gets our money.
“Lover” is uncivil? Strains credulity. Flop rule violation.
Nick Spinelli commented above:
“Paul, The rcampbells and other tax lovers here don’t want to pay more, they want YOU to pay more. But of course, you understand that.”
Civility, you say?
There’s no need to “personalize” attacks. Personally, I’d vote to remove it, but then I’m not the good professor and this isn’t my blog.
Feynman, I don’t recall being asked if we wanted to spend my tax dollars on a war of choice in Iraq. As a matter of fact and history, the entire thing was a scam to get oil, which seemed to have failed miserably. Any more wars, there should be a national referendum first.
Annie – if you reread the US Constitution, you will see that you are never going to get asked if we are going to war with anyone. The President can operate under the war powers act or he can ask CONGRESS to pass an act of war. There is nothing about a national referendum.
Mr. Spinelli,
In my case, you are mistaken. I am very willing to pay more for infrastructure, schools, national parks, healthcare, SNAP, the stuff I call general welfare.etc. You know the list. It does not include weapons and armies.
When I want to hear the sound of crickets I ask what happened to the largest infrastructure bill in U.S. history.
It was passed a few years ago ago.
No one seems to know where a dime of it ended up (Mega Infrastructure Bill To Make Jobs?).
Dredd – there are crickets because no one seems to care. 🙂
Paul, The rcampbells and other tax lovers here don’t want to pay more, they want YOU to pay more. But of course, you understand that.
Nick, no need to call folks tax lovers and single out posters. I would appreciate it if you would keep the attention on the arguments rather than characterizing the posters. You can make these points without personalizing the analysis. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Nick – better I should pay or Mitt Romney should pay then they should walk the walk and donate to the Treasury.
bettykath, Please read what I said again and feel free to amend your comment. I am an intellectually honest person. You maybe just don’t recognize it because we are so rare.
Germany has made some horrendous mistakes in the past and they continue attempt to atone for them, rightly so. They could do a better job in paying out monies to their victims and victim’s families.
Justice Holmes, Germany also has strong trade unions. My relatives who still live there tell me they don’t mind paying a bit more more goods, they last, don’t break for years. There is no push for cheap goods and they reject the notion of a throwaway society, as we have here. They also enjoy their health care system and my cousins have told me they wouldn’t ever trade it for one like ours.