Quote:
Originally Posted by Evans, Marv
John. Yes you are correct with your comments about gas taxes. However (and I may be off on this - correct me if I'm wrong) most people's perception is that these kinds of funds are turned into slush funds by politicians who filch the revenue for their own pet projects or maybe use it in their districts to further their election success. I know the major city (I know it's not mostly covered by a federal gas tax) in the county I live in has needed roads repaired, underground water & sewer mains replaced, and most other infrastructure items repaired, updated, or replaced decades ago. People might be more receptive to increased taxation if they knew it would be used for the intended purpose in an efficient fair and equitable way. Somehow it never works out that way though.
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I think people are often delusional about how efficient or unefficient government spending is versus private sector spending or charitable spending or indeed their own individual spending.
Agreed, there are many examples of government wasting money on unnecessary projects. But the same is true in corporate America, as anyone who works in a large company knows - the money wasted on stupid things, pet projects, mismanaged groups, power struggles, payouts to investors, and massive executive compensation packages can certainly hold a candle to the typical government agency.
In too many cases, complaints about government waste are just another way to say "I don't want to pay" for whatever the public service or infrastructure is.
And what is the alternative? In some cases, public service or infrastructure can be privatized - airports, hospitals, prisons, universities, schools, etc. Sometimes that works. Other times it simply creates a for profit monopoly and after a decade or two, consumers find prices soaring or service deteriorating.
But basic roads and bridges can't be privatized. A few key bits of highway or vital bridge can be made into toll roads, if you want that to happen. But most roads and bridges have to be supported with tax funds from a broad source like gas taxes.
For now, anyway. Someday there can be GPS tracking of every car and truck and we can get invoiced for every 1/10 mile driven on every road out there. I hope that doesn't happen.