Pump those $$ into the state's tax tanks . . .
Crain's reports quiet negotiations are going on between the Governor's office and Republican Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson for a $3 billion building program with $2 billion headed towards improving roads.
Watson reportedly said he's open to the plan if the money is divvied up evenly between Democratic and Republican districts.
Where will the money come from, you may wonder?
The INTEREST on the $2 billion plan will be furnished by the $175 million the state has scooped up while you and I have been paying exorbitant gas prices. If the price on gas goes up, so does sales tax revenue.
Hmm. . . now we know why there hasn't been outrage in the General Assembly over gas prices exceeding $2.50 a gallon! Next time you fill up your tank, visualize pumping your gas tax dollars into the state's coffers for our friendly lawmakers to spend.
Link: Gov. Blagojevich maps $3-billion road plan Crain's Chicago Business.
Cross posted at IllinoisReview.com.
13 comments:
Doesn't your own post say this is a bipartisan effort to fund road improvements? Can anyone argue the need to repair Illinois roads?
Doesn't road repair/construction seem like a good use of funds generated from gasoline taxes?
I don't see the problem.
sigh
I think this is a good use of the gas tax but would like to be sure the road renovations are spread throughout the state and not just in the Chicago area
Great, more "pork" doled out according to political needs not people needs.
The state has been repairing the same 55/74 interchange around Bloomington for the last 15 (yes 15) years. As long as someone will spend the money, contractors will surely accept it.
I hesitate to visualize the outrage of our esteemed representatives to high gas prices. Perhaps more lawsuits, frivolous payments to the Red Cross, fictional price gouging...wait that is what AG Madigan is claiming.
JBP
Could they screw smokers any more? For Christ Sakes, enough it enough. Just like property taxes, there is going to be a revolt.
Holy dead baby pictures batman, I read this article 4 times and can't see to link to the pro-life issue.
Frannie, doesn't discussing other topics water down your argument and reduce your bona fides (sarcasm)
cbm: Good points.
Anon 1:46: Double sigh.
anon 2:44: It will take Republican and downstate votes to make this happen, so what you desire is likely.
Aunt Glabby: if your elected representatives are astute, they will insure the funds are distributed to meet the most deserving needs of the people.
John: Hey, they're done. Haven't you noticed the nice, new six-lane, lighted, smooth pavement that is handling the state's commerce around B-N? This is truly a magnificent project that should be appreciated by the motoring public.
anon 4:11: [cough...hack] where is the connection to smokers and smoking in this thread?
To all: Transportation improvements are a beautiful thing. They are about the only thing that government provides that can bring Democrats and Republicans, young and old, rich and poor together. Witness the lopsided majority voting "yes" on the recent federal Transportation Bill, where Blago, Obama, Hastert, and Bush shared the stage and smiled at the crowd and each other.
anon 7:27
You are correct, transport provides across the board.
Unfortunately, the State gets this type of work done for approximately 10x the costs of private construction, which drains our resources so that construction firms walk away with our tax dollars.
JBP
Cite?
I'm sure that using union labor increases the cost of road construction vs. using illegal immigrant labor, which would save taxpayers money in the short term. But to claim that it costs the state 10x more to pave a road than it costs Wal-Mart to pave a parking lot makes your argument sound hollow.
Private developers often use the same contractors that the state does. They also are known to skimp on materials and specifications sometimes to meet a "budget". If you think the state's roads are bad now, just think what they'd be like if they were allowed to be built like the typical unsupervised "budget" private development.
Well the Skyway is privatized, what is the problem with it?
Private companies can do a poor job or a good job. The State has proven its incompetence time and again..(note 15 year project in Bloomington), yet we keep going back to it. It is a matter of management, and the State is not good at it. If a private contractor is not good at something, we can chose not to use him. If the State is not good at something, we have no choice in the matter.
JBP
What was so incompetent about the project in Bloomington? The state and its private sector contractors did a beautiful job there. Just because it lasted a few years more than you would have liked? It's not like the state can poop out $250 million all at once for a project, when there are so many needs across the state.
The Skyway is now privatized, but was built by the city of Chicago. Is it only beautiful now that it has been acquired by a private company? It's the same road, dude.
Something about taking 15 years strikes me as incompetent.
Privatizing the Skyway is a fine example for the rest of the State. Why not privatize the entire Toll System? McCormick Place? Illinois Beach Lakefront?
JBP
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