April 30, 2007
Tolls : You're not going to lose federal funding, 39%
Well, Mikey asked one of his pals at the Federal Highway Admin to write a letter that would scare the shit out of the Lege and TXDoT. Basically, it said that the moratorium bills, as structured, might cause Texas to lose federal highway funds because they devolve project control to local and regional governments/agencies. The letter also congratulated Texas for leading the nation in public private partnerships, the euphemism most used by Republicans for 'selling off assets for pennies on the dollar'. The other, less popular phrase is 'corporate welfare'.
The really sad part? The braintrust at TXDoT is selling off the assets on the cheap. Oh sure, they talk about the billions they are getting up front. However, compared to the tens of billions to be made, even a first year B school student can tell you that our state officials are being very stupid about their decision making. So much for the business acumen of the current crop of Republican appointees.
The Republicans crow endlessly about how tolls are less regressive than a gas tax. However, what they don't tell you is that that's only true if there are real free alternatives. Since these deals restrict improvements (either to existing roads or building new freeways) and are going to be done all over the state, they'll catch everyone. Just like a gas tax. Shall we dive back into the math again? Oh, yes... lets...
Let's say you drive on a toll road 10 miles per day, pretty reasonable for a large percentage of the population in Texas, and the tolls are set at 12 cents/mile (which is super low... they are actually far higher in Austin). Let's also stipulate that to do away with tolls altogether we'd need to raise the gas tax to 80 cents/gallon. Your commute with tolls will cost you $1.20 per day. With the gas tax, assuming you get 20 miles per gallon, you'd pay 40 cents per day. Even if you went to A&M, 40 cents is cheaper than $1.20.
You'll also hear the Republicans go on and on about 'not raising taxes'. Go reread the last two paragraphs. If it's going to apply to everyone, it's a tax... even if it is paid to a private company with the blessing of Ric Williamson.
Now, back to the letter from the Feds... in it, the functionary that Krusee got to write the letter says that Texas might lose funds since the projects are controlled at the local level and they may not comply with federal enviro standards. Which is crap because EVERYTHING that uses federal money has to comply with federal standards, environmental and otherwise. Trust me, this guy at the Transportation Dept. won't be around after January, 2009. Seriously, pal, you cut your own throat trying to help Krusee.
The letter also blathers on about delays causing Texas to fall into air quality noncompliance which would jeopardize federal highway money. And 39% is all concerned about that. Which is funny because he sure as shit wasn't when TXU was trying to push through those ridiculous coal fired power plants. In truth, the environment isn't really 39%'s concern, it's HUGE Republican contributors like Zachry Construction that stand to make BILLIONS off the privatization of Texas roads. With each step the Lege takes, they see that money circling the drain and they need their bitch (39%, in case you weren't paying attention) to step up and save the day. Thus, the scary bullshit about losing money and polluting the air, all of which is utter nonsense...
“I will review this bill carefully because we cannot have public policy in this state that shuts down road construction, kills jobs, harms air quality, prevents access to federal highway dollars, and creates an environment within local government that is ripe for political corruption.”
Veto it, 39%. They'll override and in two years we'll back here again fixing the mess the Republicans made this time by keeping PPP's and tolling in place. The good thing is that this debate is showing those opposed to tolls who their real friends are. And they aren't fucking Republican.
Posted by mcblogger at April 30, 2007 09:16 AM
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