A hundred years ago, there were no Interstate Highways. In fact, most major roads between towns were dirt or rock. There were not many cars on the road, but Henry Ford had other ideas. As the car gained acceptance, roads had to be improved and built. The logical choice was the community, and the government. In those days mostly roads were built by local and state governments. It was good in that they could promote tourism. But where would the money come from? Taxes of course. The first gas taxes were collected in 1931. With this money, roads could be built, and Americans started on our era of mobility.
The other source of revenues were tolls. Tolls helped pay for specific roads and bridges, and seemed fair in that those who used the infrastructure were paying for it. Tolls still exist today. Soon a National Highway system developed. It used existing roads to link together our nation. There was a dual use, in that the Army was able to move easier as well. Under President Eisenhower, the Interstate Highways were born. These too had a dual purpose. When engineering these highways they were designed to accommodate aircraft as well. If you noticed, there are long stretches where there are no obstructions over the roadway, they made pretty good back up runways, just in case, during the cold war.
Through all of this gas taxes and tolls paid for expansion and maintenance of the roads. As needs rose, so did gas taxes. The first gas tax was a mere penny a gallon. Today, it is 18.4 cents. There are also state taxes on gasoline as well, so the total tax would depend on where you live. That is why if you travel the roads, some states have cheaper gas than others.
Another thing hit us in the 1970s, the supply crisis when OPEC cut off supply. Prior to this time, gasoline was significantly cheaper than it is today. But cars were becoming more important. Suburbs that were getting farther away from the city center meant that not only did people have to drive more, but often they needed more than one car. Two car garages became the standard people looked for in new houses.
As demand rose, supply rose, just not as fast. OPEC has been pretty successful in controlling supply. So much of our increases has been through artificial control of supply. At the same time, fears grew that fossil fuels would eventually run dry. Are you old enough to remember President Carter' "Be Thrifty, Drive 50" campaign? Since that time, the regulators in Government have pushed for higher mileage per gallon of gas. And auto makers responded.
The other day, I read an article about how now the gas tax is just not enough. I guess we have been too good at shepherding our resources, and now government says they cannot maintain and expand with the tax alone. We are also more connected than ever in our lives. Mobile phones, and smart cars have provided them with a new scheme. Charge a toll based on how far an individual car drives. They can install a device that would use GPS to track the total miles driven, and issue a bill for those miles. I did not see an estimate of how much the charge would be, perhaps it is a trial balloon.
This blogger generally opposes new taxes, preferring that government learns to budget effectively, and works to use every penny as efficiently as possible. And this is no different. If the government, through our representatives decides this is a good thing, fine, but then the gas tax should be eliminated. Somehow, I don't think the general population will support this. Most of our driving is to get to work, and there is nothing we can do about those miles, except perhaps move. This move would also probably cause the price of gas to rise, especially if they eliminate the gas tax, you don't expect the price to fall do you?
When I mention that government is not the most efficient user of revenue, let me give an example. A few years ago, a major artery around here, which has been in use since the earliest days, was determined to need to be rebuilt. That was probably a good decision. They closed the roadway for a couple years to do this. Most of us expected a much wider road with more lanes, after all this road backs up every day to congestion. But that is not what happened, they literally tore up the existing highway, laid a new road bed, then paved over the top, not wider, not less curvy, just new pavement. So today, back ups still happen daily, but at least when not backed up the ride is smoother.
It is important that we react to this tax grab, as it is with other tax grabs. Our politicians, both sides, have a insatiable need for more revenue. And the waste in government is not unknown. It is time we decide that government needs to be more efficient, or they will not get new revenue. After all it is our money.
Spend Wisely!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Government Shut Down and Politics!
If you are a regular reader, you can probably guess my political slant. I try not to push an agenda, and would love to see more comments of a truly debate driven nature. That is one thing we do not seem to have in our nation's Capitol. Today, I am going to look at the Government Shut Down, and the politics that are driving it, and what it means to our economy.
First, the shut down is related to Congress NOT doing their job. They are supposed to write a budget every year. It is to originate in the House of Representatives, and then sent to the Senate. The Senate can accept the budget, reject the budget, and suggest changes, but the Senate cannot write a budget. The House has sent budgets to the Senate. They have ignored them. They have not voted on them in the last 7 or 8 years. As a result, the House has sent Continuing resolutions. The CR's are quick ways to keep funding up and running so the government can operate. They are NOT budgets. No line items are debated in the continuing resolution, it just extends the last budget for a specified period of time. According to the "American Spectator" the last real budget was passed in 1997. That means that no government manager really knows how much his budget is, and cannot plan on how to spend it. It would be like your boss, instead of telling you what your salary is, said here's a few thousand dollars, I'll get back to you later on your salary. This is no way of running a nation; and this rests primarily with the Senate, and their leadership.
Now what about the shut down? It seems only about 17% of the government is shut down. But the Executive branch, that's the one led by President Obama, has to decide on what positions are essential. As I watch the news, that seems to be the areas that will provide the most pain for the American people. Closing down public access to memorials and parks. Instead of posting a sign saying there are no employees present, proceed at your own risk, they wish to inconvenience as many as possible. This is pure politics. You can tell by what is allowed, and what isn't allowed. The example is the WWII memorial is closed, and barricaded. Yet in the relatively same physical space a immigration rally is allowed. It is simply a power grad by imperial politicians. This is NOT to say Republicans in the House are blameless. They are trying to grab power as well. Depending on which side of the political spectrum you are on, your side is battling for the people. The truth is, none are battling for the people, only for their own power bases, and each are spouting rhetoric to elicit their base's admiration, and that is not productive. This shut down is also driven by President Obama not even entertaining a negotiated settlement. Perhaps this is the one good thing to come of the shut down. If we can't agree, isn't better to just not spend? Isn't that what we do in our personal lives?
The shut down seems to revolve around the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare. There is a solution to our health care dilemma, but this writer doesn't believe that the ACA is it. The ACA is increasing premiums, at a time that is not helpful to the general economy. These increased premiums take money away from other areas that might be better at getting everyone working again. The ACA is affecting unemployment. Employers only have a finite amount of money, determined by profit margins and gross sales. They have to structure their companies to be solvent. This means small business may not hire, even if they feel a need, if that would push them over 50 employees. It means larger companies are cutting hours, so they do not have a large expense for full time employees that they can't afford. Rather than addressing these issues, Congress and the President are fighting in the media. The reasonable man would delay implementation while Congress reviews, something the liberals dread. The ACA is just an entry in to a single payer system, it was designed to fail, and they know it. The intent was to rush to fix it with single payer, gathering even more money in to Washington DC, one of the places least affected by our current economy.
Not to worry, because this is all about power, the shut down will not last. Common sense politicians are hard to find, and they will be silenced. They will be called names like tea bagger. They will be impugned, all to save the power base by mainstream Democrats AND Republicans. I recently watched a history show about the Founding Fathers. In it was a break down on President Washington lamenting political parties, how smart that man was. Some say we need a third party, perhaps, but when it goes mainstream, will it be any better than what we have now? I would in fact recommend voting third party next year, send a message to the political establishment to work out differences and let the American people get back to the work of driving our economy. I see some world governments, primarily using parliament systems, that must build coalitions to form a government. It's a little messier at the beginning, but with many parties at the table it might be argued that those governments are more responsive to their people. I know ours seems broken...
Spend Wisely!
First, the shut down is related to Congress NOT doing their job. They are supposed to write a budget every year. It is to originate in the House of Representatives, and then sent to the Senate. The Senate can accept the budget, reject the budget, and suggest changes, but the Senate cannot write a budget. The House has sent budgets to the Senate. They have ignored them. They have not voted on them in the last 7 or 8 years. As a result, the House has sent Continuing resolutions. The CR's are quick ways to keep funding up and running so the government can operate. They are NOT budgets. No line items are debated in the continuing resolution, it just extends the last budget for a specified period of time. According to the "American Spectator" the last real budget was passed in 1997. That means that no government manager really knows how much his budget is, and cannot plan on how to spend it. It would be like your boss, instead of telling you what your salary is, said here's a few thousand dollars, I'll get back to you later on your salary. This is no way of running a nation; and this rests primarily with the Senate, and their leadership.
Now what about the shut down? It seems only about 17% of the government is shut down. But the Executive branch, that's the one led by President Obama, has to decide on what positions are essential. As I watch the news, that seems to be the areas that will provide the most pain for the American people. Closing down public access to memorials and parks. Instead of posting a sign saying there are no employees present, proceed at your own risk, they wish to inconvenience as many as possible. This is pure politics. You can tell by what is allowed, and what isn't allowed. The example is the WWII memorial is closed, and barricaded. Yet in the relatively same physical space a immigration rally is allowed. It is simply a power grad by imperial politicians. This is NOT to say Republicans in the House are blameless. They are trying to grab power as well. Depending on which side of the political spectrum you are on, your side is battling for the people. The truth is, none are battling for the people, only for their own power bases, and each are spouting rhetoric to elicit their base's admiration, and that is not productive. This shut down is also driven by President Obama not even entertaining a negotiated settlement. Perhaps this is the one good thing to come of the shut down. If we can't agree, isn't better to just not spend? Isn't that what we do in our personal lives?
The shut down seems to revolve around the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare. There is a solution to our health care dilemma, but this writer doesn't believe that the ACA is it. The ACA is increasing premiums, at a time that is not helpful to the general economy. These increased premiums take money away from other areas that might be better at getting everyone working again. The ACA is affecting unemployment. Employers only have a finite amount of money, determined by profit margins and gross sales. They have to structure their companies to be solvent. This means small business may not hire, even if they feel a need, if that would push them over 50 employees. It means larger companies are cutting hours, so they do not have a large expense for full time employees that they can't afford. Rather than addressing these issues, Congress and the President are fighting in the media. The reasonable man would delay implementation while Congress reviews, something the liberals dread. The ACA is just an entry in to a single payer system, it was designed to fail, and they know it. The intent was to rush to fix it with single payer, gathering even more money in to Washington DC, one of the places least affected by our current economy.
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Not to worry, because this is all about power, the shut down will not last. Common sense politicians are hard to find, and they will be silenced. They will be called names like tea bagger. They will be impugned, all to save the power base by mainstream Democrats AND Republicans. I recently watched a history show about the Founding Fathers. In it was a break down on President Washington lamenting political parties, how smart that man was. Some say we need a third party, perhaps, but when it goes mainstream, will it be any better than what we have now? I would in fact recommend voting third party next year, send a message to the political establishment to work out differences and let the American people get back to the work of driving our economy. I see some world governments, primarily using parliament systems, that must build coalitions to form a government. It's a little messier at the beginning, but with many parties at the table it might be argued that those governments are more responsive to their people. I know ours seems broken...
Spend Wisely!
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Government Shut Down Economics
First an apology, my computer has been acting up, so it has been a while since I blogged. But let's get on with it! Earlier this week, the Federal Government had a partial shut down. And it is partial, only select employees were furloughed, the military is still there as are the policing agencies. As I watched all this unfold, I had some flashbacks...
The first time I saw a vindictive government agency was way back in the 1980s. At the time, my sister was a relatively new teacher in a suburban north school district. They had a bond issue on the ballot that would require a property tax increase to fund. Of course, they had put their argument before the voters, and assumed that they would get it through, after all it was for the children. The voters rejected their argument and the issue was defeated at the polls. I believe that most government is bloated and has no concept of doing without. I compared this issue to a vibrant private school system in our town. The private schools of the time had a principal, maybe a couple vice principals in their schools, perhaps a couple of secretaries but that was pretty much it. The public schools had all that and more. They had administrators, who were the most expensive employees in the school, there to take care of "business". Administrators make lots of salary, and besides sending reports to the Federal Government, I'm not sure what else they do. To me this is a huge waste of money. The average administrator earns over $100,000, and schools are only open 9 months every year.
But I digress, that school district needed to cut expenses because of the issue loss. Now to me it is a no brainer, at least one administrator in every school needed to go. Not one lost their job, but it was blood shed in the teaching ranks. I was young at the time, and really didn't understand it. As I aged, I spotted a trend. When voters go against government wishes one of two things happen: They find a way to sneak it through anyway, or they punish those voters. Laying off teachers punished the voters. I've seen other districts close sports, bands, and choirs to punish voters. It is almost vindictive.
Back to 2013. We suffered the Sequester, perhaps the most infamous result was the closing of the White House tours. Most people I have heard, say those tours did not cost very much, and didn't save much by stopping them. Most of the Sequester featured items that would most affect the people of this country, but government rolled on. Now we have the shut Down, and they barricaded outdoor monuments, that never had a lot of employee presence, and generally were open 24 hours. You could go to the Lincoln Memorial at 2 AM just to meditate.
However, I heard two stories that bear repeating. The first is the World War II memorial, like the Lincoln Memorial, it is open air, and normally could be visited 24/7 with minimal employee support. So because of the Shut Down, the President (who is the boss of the park service) ordered the WWII memorial closed, and staff erected barricades. Those WWII vets took back Europe and the Pacific, a few barricades would not stop them. And the people reopened the memorial. Now I saw a picture to where the Park Service, again by orders of higher ups, wired the barricades in place. Wonder why? Because it inconveniences the most people, not because it saves money. To save money, post a sign saying that this area is in Shut Down, and there should be no expectation of support.
The second was on a national parkway, and frankly I don't remember which one, controlled by the Federal Government. Along this parkway is a hotel, owned via concession by a private citizen. There is no Federal funds supporting this for profit venture, in fact, it is a money maker through rents and fees paid by this company. The parkway was considered important, so it was not shut down, traffic flowed pretty normally. This owner received a letter from Washington that said he must close because of the Shut Down. Why? No public funds were involved, and the road is open? Do you think it might be to put an inconvenience on the traveling public? Punishment? The best, or worse, part of this is the company stayed open. Not to be deterred, The vindictive higher ups, whose boss is the President, posted Federal cars with staff to block the entrance. Costing the Government money.
Now let's go to the future. With ACA Health Care Law, Obamacare, now a reality, assume there is a future shut down. How inconvenient would it be to shut down a hospital? Or a clinic? Or just certain, noncritical surgeries? This is how our government now wields its power, and the Democrats will blame the Republicans, who in turn will blame the Democrats. Where are the Statesmen?
Spend Wisely!
PS. This blog is not funded by the Federal Government, and is not Shut Down. If you enjoy reading it, patronize our advertisers.
The first time I saw a vindictive government agency was way back in the 1980s. At the time, my sister was a relatively new teacher in a suburban north school district. They had a bond issue on the ballot that would require a property tax increase to fund. Of course, they had put their argument before the voters, and assumed that they would get it through, after all it was for the children. The voters rejected their argument and the issue was defeated at the polls. I believe that most government is bloated and has no concept of doing without. I compared this issue to a vibrant private school system in our town. The private schools of the time had a principal, maybe a couple vice principals in their schools, perhaps a couple of secretaries but that was pretty much it. The public schools had all that and more. They had administrators, who were the most expensive employees in the school, there to take care of "business". Administrators make lots of salary, and besides sending reports to the Federal Government, I'm not sure what else they do. To me this is a huge waste of money. The average administrator earns over $100,000, and schools are only open 9 months every year.
But I digress, that school district needed to cut expenses because of the issue loss. Now to me it is a no brainer, at least one administrator in every school needed to go. Not one lost their job, but it was blood shed in the teaching ranks. I was young at the time, and really didn't understand it. As I aged, I spotted a trend. When voters go against government wishes one of two things happen: They find a way to sneak it through anyway, or they punish those voters. Laying off teachers punished the voters. I've seen other districts close sports, bands, and choirs to punish voters. It is almost vindictive.
 |
| Advertisement |
Back to 2013. We suffered the Sequester, perhaps the most infamous result was the closing of the White House tours. Most people I have heard, say those tours did not cost very much, and didn't save much by stopping them. Most of the Sequester featured items that would most affect the people of this country, but government rolled on. Now we have the shut Down, and they barricaded outdoor monuments, that never had a lot of employee presence, and generally were open 24 hours. You could go to the Lincoln Memorial at 2 AM just to meditate.
However, I heard two stories that bear repeating. The first is the World War II memorial, like the Lincoln Memorial, it is open air, and normally could be visited 24/7 with minimal employee support. So because of the Shut Down, the President (who is the boss of the park service) ordered the WWII memorial closed, and staff erected barricades. Those WWII vets took back Europe and the Pacific, a few barricades would not stop them. And the people reopened the memorial. Now I saw a picture to where the Park Service, again by orders of higher ups, wired the barricades in place. Wonder why? Because it inconveniences the most people, not because it saves money. To save money, post a sign saying that this area is in Shut Down, and there should be no expectation of support.
The second was on a national parkway, and frankly I don't remember which one, controlled by the Federal Government. Along this parkway is a hotel, owned via concession by a private citizen. There is no Federal funds supporting this for profit venture, in fact, it is a money maker through rents and fees paid by this company. The parkway was considered important, so it was not shut down, traffic flowed pretty normally. This owner received a letter from Washington that said he must close because of the Shut Down. Why? No public funds were involved, and the road is open? Do you think it might be to put an inconvenience on the traveling public? Punishment? The best, or worse, part of this is the company stayed open. Not to be deterred, The vindictive higher ups, whose boss is the President, posted Federal cars with staff to block the entrance. Costing the Government money.
Now let's go to the future. With ACA Health Care Law, Obamacare, now a reality, assume there is a future shut down. How inconvenient would it be to shut down a hospital? Or a clinic? Or just certain, noncritical surgeries? This is how our government now wields its power, and the Democrats will blame the Republicans, who in turn will blame the Democrats. Where are the Statesmen?
Spend Wisely!
PS. This blog is not funded by the Federal Government, and is not Shut Down. If you enjoy reading it, patronize our advertisers.
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