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Illinois Senate leader John Cullerton along with House Speaker Michael Madigan look to raise taxes on gas from 19 cents per gallon to 27 cents per gallon.
Gas-tax hike 'on the table,' Senate leader John Cullerton says
chicagotribune.com - 41 weeks ago - 381 views
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Ahhh, that's my State Senator hard at work. What people need to start asking themselves is why are governments always trying to plug giant gaping holes in their budgets by raising taxes and fees? Sometimes it's neceesary, but why does it happen in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois every other day?
There ARE some governments that actually run somewhat efficiently. The governments we have here are sadly not among them.
I agree! Why DOES it happen in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois every other day?
My favorite part of this is that Cullerton argues that the increased tax will discourage SUV use, and encourage mass transit use. I'm not a fan of SUVs, but with a CTA ride costing a minimum of $2.00, we'll all be walking and won't need to worry about fixing our pot-holed roads. Beside that, aren't the tolls supposed to be paying for the roads? Oh, and of course, the schools. Every tax here somehow pays for our ever-ailing schools.
The reason it happens is that government is wasteful. You know how some people have no idea where their paycheck goes? And you know how some people spend their paycheck well in advance of receiving it? Well, imagine the same thing only on a MUCH grander scale.
And of course us lowly citizens and voters have no earhtly clue as to how the money is being spent. They tell us it'll be used for this or that, but there's no way to know.
The trouble is that government doesn't have to make a profit the way a private company does. So there is no reason at all for them to be fiscally responsible. A bright-eyed optimist might say that the reason would be voters getting upset and voting politicians out of office who are not doing the job well. Well, we see how well that works here in Illinois.
As for encouraging the use of public transport by making driving more expensive, it's another idiotic attempt by government to affect human behavior. As long as someone has a choice to drive or take public transport, many people will still drive if the public transport in question is unreliable, inconvenient, etc. It's just the reality. But then facing reality is another thing governments aren't too good at.
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