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Deval Patrick has a plan. He wants to get rid of the Turnpike Authority (yay!) and increase the gas tax (boo!), which hasn't been raised in nearly 20 years. Globe and Herald commenters are up in arms about the gas tax increase, which will take away a few dollars a week from their apparently near-empty pockets. These are the people who kept driving when gas was $4/gallon, and are now complaining that it might be $2.20. Make sense to you?
Today, we present a "MassDebate" with (educated, literate!) comments from both sides. From our perspective, the plan looks good—gas taxes are relatively egalitarian, affecting everyone who drives, and the Turnpike Authority was an organization whose main purpose seemed to be to make everything more complicated and expensive. It's true that the gas tax would rise with inflation, but maybe it should. Driving costs money, negatively affects our transportation infrastructure and the environment, and—judging from some of these comments—makes you kind of stupid, too. Here we go.
#15 Everyone that drives needs to put gas in their cars. Taking toll roads is optional. I'd say the state should cut waste instead of hiking either, but toll roads make more sense.
In that they allow people to avoid paying for driving? What kind of "sense" are we making here?
#19. And how does he figure this is equal to "one cup of coffee" per week. How far is his commute 1 mile?
Well, if we weren't afraid of a little math, we could figure this out. Let's face our fears and do the dirty calculations. Say your car averages 30 miles per gallon and you commute 15 miles each way to work, so you use about a gallon of gas each day. Nineteen cents times seven days per week (assuming you drive about the same amount on the weekend) comes to $1.33 per week, indeed about the amount of a cup of coffee. Even if you drive 60 miles every day (or get 15mpg), thus using two gallons of gas daily, the tax only costs you $2.66 extra each week, or $138.32 per year. Is this really something to cry about? If you can't afford it, try carpooling, or driving less on the weekends.
#34. I would support a 73 cent increase in the the gas tax if I were assured that the money would actually go to fixing roads, bridges and infrastructure. But I fear even a modest 19 cent increase the money will just be redirected to fund overly generous retirement and compensation packages. Call me cynical.
Well, we will call you cynical. But we also get where you're coming from. It's hard to rely on the government. Fortunately, that's why we get to vote, and why our representatives should respond to our feedback. If you don't like the gas tax, Deval Patrick—not the Globe comments field—should hear your voice.
#40. Raise luxury taxes in these times, not necessity items such as fuel?
Food is a necessity. Shelter is a necessity. Fuel is not a necessity.
#64. If this gas tax goes, it just gives me another reason to purchase more products up New Hampshire which is only 20 minutes away.
Wait, let's get this straight. A higher gas tax gives you incentive to drive longer distances, thus spending more money? Well, if it makes sense to you, go for it.
#162. this guy cannot be this DUMB......isn't gas already taxed...isn't it built in at the pump?
We're sorry—Deval Patrick is dumb? And you're the one not even sure if you're already paying a gas tax? Interesting.
#168. I do not think it is fare to subsidize public transportaition if the general populace of Mass cannot use it.
We don't think it's particularly "fare," either, but why is more driving always the solution? Why not lobby for affordable public transportation in your area, too?
#99. I think it's a great idea. Gasoline has been way too cheap in this country and we'll never cut down on our driving unless we make driving expensive. Our communites and neighborhoods need to be more liviable with shopping we can walk to, etc. I think it's a good idea and a lot better idea than increasing the tolls.
Be still our hearts.
#186. Gas is priced low and it has contributed to many of the problems that our nation now faces.
Did another Globe commenter just make a good point? Could this be possible?
#216. We paid close to $800 a month on gasoline when the prices were up there. Over the course of five years, that adds up to $48,000 that we will never see again.
Back up, soldier, let's try the math here. $800 a month for gas. Let's assume gas was $4/gallon, which it wasn't for very long. That means you're purchasing 200 gallons of gas each month. Even if your car gets pretty crap mileage, like 20mpg, that means you drove 4000 miles each month. That's 133 miles a day. You couldn't maybe cut your driving a wee bit?
#31. Good move, necessary move, vastly unpopular move.
Now someone's talking sense. Bottom line: driving costs money. The existing revenue isn't enough to keep the roads operating as they should. Nobody likes paying more, but we suspect that the people requesting budget cuts (instead of revenue increases) will be the very first to complain when RMV lines get longer (due to staff cuts), toll road lines get longer (due to staff cuts), roads go unfixed (due to budget cuts), trains run less often (due to budget cuts), the mail comes later (due to staff cuts), the lines at the post office are longer (due to staff cuts), and so on and so forth. There's just no way to get services without paying for them.
And if folks demanding "cuts" had actually read Patrick's plan instead of huffing about the gas tax (gas-huffing pun totally intended), they'd know that many cuts have already been made. That the state saved $47 million at the MBTA by "reducing overtime costs and staff levels and increasing employee health care contributions" and saved $31 million at the Turnpike Authority by "eliminating unnecessary management positions and reducing the number of toll takers." Steps have been taken to reduce spending—it's just not enough.
We look forward to the reduced traffic that will surely result from all of these people fleeing Taxachusetts as they've promised. In the meantime, maybe we have more pressing gas concerns to think about.
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Best Bostonist Article Ever!
Sometimes I nitpick...Here I go...
I believe fuel is a necessity. Food doesn't get to the store without fuel. Most people don't grow their own food, or walk or ride a bike to the store to buy food.
I'm pleased the state has made cuts like the ones Bostonist mentioned at the MBTA and the Turnpike Authority. Is there more to cut? I'll answer my on question like this: No state employee should get a raise given the state of our economy. I can name six people who lost jobs in the past year. You can decide if a pay cut, or no raise, beats no job. I assume most people working in the public sector work hard and probably earned a raise. But, you can't always get what you want. That would be a good song lyric.
Patrick's plan still seems fair to me given the current climate.
Another thing on fuel...can you say stimulus? How many houses have to blow up before we upgrade that infrastructure?