Home » Archives » November 2007 » Your Tax Dollars At Work ... But Not For You
[Previous entry: "As I Ever Was ..."] [Next entry: "Weekend Eye Candy - StormWatch Edition"]
11/30/2007: "Your Tax Dollars At Work ... But Not For You"
As a loyal American, I understand that taxes are a necessary evil ... the fuel that powers the beast that is the government, which is working to make my life better. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. Far too often, a combination of career politicians worried more about their jobs and political gadflies worried more about their egos forget that in the end, they all work for me.
This tends to lead to some of the most asinine decisions you can imagine coming out of the government - the kind of decisions that would get any businessman fired. Here's another great example: converting existing carpool lanes to toll road.
Toll roads are nothing new to SoCal - they've existed in Riverside and Orange Counties for 20 years. Now LA County politicos - facing a mandate to decrease traffic on overclogged local freeways - want to use the toll road model as a "solution".
"Orange County has them and so does San Diego County, but we've never had toll roads," Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Marc Littman said. "This is another option for reducing congestion, improving mobility and generating additional revenues that we could use to improve public transit."
As if. Here's the problem with that theory: the money collected doesn't end up with the public - it ends up lining the pocket of the companies that are inevitably hired to oversee the toll roads. Much like the red-light camera debacle, only a small fraction of the revenue will end up available for the rumored "improved public transit".
Back when I was in college at UC Riverside, the 91 Freeway had a big wide dirt and grass median between the opposing lanes of traffic. On more than one occasion, that strip of earth saved my ass when I fell asleep during a late night run for home. Not long after, the median was replaced by toll lanes - run by a contractor, naturally. Did it improve traffic? Of course not. All it did was create additional capacity that allowed additional development at the far end of the freeway. More houses ... more people ... more traffic. Look at the 241 that cuts from the 91 south - through some of the most ecologically fragile lands in SoCal. The same thing is happening: more lanes means more access to build more houses to bring in more people.
It's the same bottom line we keep facing - but refuse to truly face. There are too many goddamn people here. We complain about the air quality, but won't limit the number of houses that can be built - and the number of people who can live here. We complain about the illegal immigrants, but we keep creating more and more menial jobs that only a desperate immigrant would take. We complain about traffic, but we won't limit the number of cars - we just keep coming up with dumbass solutions like this.
If you think that the problems of society today will be solved by politicians, you're dreaming - or running for office.
