I wrote this post yesterday but then got tied up and didn't get the chance to post it. Today there is another article to direct a bit of similar attention to. Bush wants to cut corporate taxes; so his trillion dollar war is not going to be payed for the corporations that bankrolled his presidency and whose benefit from the war is the greatest (Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, etc...).
Seems smart, instead me and even more so my kids will pay for it. President Bush, you're a first class asshole.
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This morning in the post an article caught my eye and got me thinking about the recent attempt in VA for abusive driver fees that raised such a huge stink. The article this morning dealt with Fairfax County looking to increase commercial real estate taxes in order to raise more money for transportation projects. The message here; they’ve got to get it one way or another and either way someone’s not going to be pleased. Though, if they don’t get it somewhere they’re going to hear about that instead since the transportation system will quickly turn to crap, bridges will fall, road will crumble, paths will not be built, additional lanes of super highways won’t be built (ok so some of it would be positive, though those would probably be the things that would get pushed through first).
Anyway, throughout the life of this abusive driver fee bit I’ve been kind of sitting in disbelief and chuckling to myself at the same time. Disbelief that people are justifying their arguments against the law with the fact that they’ll be hurt by it because they are breaking the law. “No way! Ya’ll can’t fine me lots of money for speeding or blowing off that stop sign!” sounds to me like “No way! Ya’ll can’t put me in jail for stealing those CD’s!” I mean I know they’re different and all but they’re both breaking the law, plus a traffic violation is much more likely to cause harm to another person then a minor theft.
Chuckling to myself because, well, the money’s got to come from somewhere and in the end it always comes down to the people’s pockets. Higher commercial real estate taxes mean higher costs for business which of course are then transferred over in the end to the consumers, aka potential abusive fine payers. One way or another guys, one way or another.
The abusive driver fees on the other hand are actually pretty great in my eyes and would be far better then additional taxes else where. If you think about it it’s an additional “tax” that would be so easy to not have to pay. All you’ve got to do is OBEY THE F’ING LAW and look at that you’ve in retrospect kept your taxes from rising, or from another view essentially lowered them. Yes, please! I’ll take that option. 20 MPH+? Who needs that?
I’ve got to give it to folks that I’d be upset if this fee were applied to cyclists too so every time you get cited for running a red light or blowing through a stop sign you pay a hefty fine. I would however grit my teeth and bear this oh so terrible and undo burden, oh and probably not blow through any more stop signs. The difference here though is that cars doing similar things unfortunately have a much higher chance of causing harm then me riding my bicycle. That’s generally just my own life I’m putting in my hands with that as opposed to all those around me.
The arguments about it hurting certain people more then others is just a bit ridiculous as well. Yeah some folks can afford to pay the additional fees and will therefore probably still do stupid things and continue speeding as before; but EVERYONE can slow down! I took driving school just like everyone else and I distinctly remember being taught how to use an f’in brake. No excuses people. Have a little sense and get over yourselves.
Anyway, throughout the life of this abusive driver fee bit I’ve been kind of sitting in disbelief and chuckling to myself at the same time. Disbelief that people are justifying their arguments against the law with the fact that they’ll be hurt by it because they are breaking the law. “No way! Ya’ll can’t fine me lots of money for speeding or blowing off that stop sign!” sounds to me like “No way! Ya’ll can’t put me in jail for stealing those CD’s!” I mean I know they’re different and all but they’re both breaking the law, plus a traffic violation is much more likely to cause harm to another person then a minor theft.
Chuckling to myself because, well, the money’s got to come from somewhere and in the end it always comes down to the people’s pockets. Higher commercial real estate taxes mean higher costs for business which of course are then transferred over in the end to the consumers, aka potential abusive fine payers. One way or another guys, one way or another.
The abusive driver fees on the other hand are actually pretty great in my eyes and would be far better then additional taxes else where. If you think about it it’s an additional “tax” that would be so easy to not have to pay. All you’ve got to do is OBEY THE F’ING LAW and look at that you’ve in retrospect kept your taxes from rising, or from another view essentially lowered them. Yes, please! I’ll take that option. 20 MPH+? Who needs that?
I’ve got to give it to folks that I’d be upset if this fee were applied to cyclists too so every time you get cited for running a red light or blowing through a stop sign you pay a hefty fine. I would however grit my teeth and bear this oh so terrible and undo burden, oh and probably not blow through any more stop signs. The difference here though is that cars doing similar things unfortunately have a much higher chance of causing harm then me riding my bicycle. That’s generally just my own life I’m putting in my hands with that as opposed to all those around me.
The arguments about it hurting certain people more then others is just a bit ridiculous as well. Yeah some folks can afford to pay the additional fees and will therefore probably still do stupid things and continue speeding as before; but EVERYONE can slow down! I took driving school just like everyone else and I distinctly remember being taught how to use an f’in brake. No excuses people. Have a little sense and get over yourselves.
1 comment:
I look at Virginia's "abusive driver fees" as sort of an asshole tax.
If you drive like an asshole, you risk getting fined. If not, you don't. It's pretty simple really.
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