Dear Conservative,
The Obama administration has just eliminated a prohibition on toll-collection on the interstate highway system.
Some portions of the interstate highway system do currently have tool booths on them. In many cases, these routes predate the interstate highway system. The New Jersey and Pennsylvania Turnpikes, for example, predate the federal prohibition on interstate toll collection. However, for the vast majority of the interstate highway system, toll collection has been explicitly forbidden.
Now, in an attempt to increase revenue, the Obama administration has overturned that prohibition and opened the door for the Federal government to begin collecting tolls on the remainder of the 46,876 miles of interstate highway!
You paid for the construction of these roads and your tax dollars are already allocated toward infrastructure maintenance and development. But this isn't enough for the Obama administration... Nothing is ever enough and no amount of money will ever be able to quench the insatiable thirst of the Federal government!
The Federal government has taken enough from us and continues to take more of our hard earned wealth than they deserve! The idea of monetizing the interstate highway system with toll booths, considering the fact that their construction and repairs are subsidized by tax dollars, should outrage you!
The construction of toll plazas has always been a disingenuous endeavor. If you live in a state like New Jersey, Virginia, or Massachusetts where you have to pay a toll to use a federally funded roadway, you know how infuriating this is.
Across the board, toll plazas were designed to be temporary institutions to help recoup money spent on the roadways' construction. That debt has long-since been repaid and the money collected from toll revenue is now funneled away from transportation and into the general budgets. Over time, these temporary toll plazas become permanent because they become a important source of governmental revenue.
There is a reason that tolls seem to increase every year and it is not because repair becomes more costly. The maximum toll to cross the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey into New York is $102. This is the maximum charge for a large truck traveling during peak times. That comes out to a little more than 2 cents to travel EACH of the bridge's 4,757 feet.
This is obviously just one example, but if the toll is that high to cross one bridge, imagine what the toll will be to travel the tens of thousands of miles of interstate highways!
At the individual level, this is nothing but the Obama administration trying to reach into your wallets to fund its bloated domestic entitlement programs. No American should be forced to pay out of pocket to use a government service that their tax dollars already pay for!
However there is an additional way to look at this as well. Not only is this toll booth proposal bad for individual commuters, but it will have dramatic effects on our nation's economy. In 2011 alone, 9.2 billion tons of freight were moved across this country by truck. For those keeping score at home, that represents 67% of ALL freight tonnage transported domestically. Your gasoline, groceries, office supplies, you name it... The majority of goods sold rely on the interstate highway for transport.
What do you think will happen to the price of goods if the Obama administration levies a toll-tax on motorists? The maximum price for a truck to travel across America's busiest bridge is $102. Not because the trucks cause more damage to the roadway, but because the government can get away with charging truckers this fee. It becomes a "fair share" argument, where liberals claim that corporations should pay more to use a service because... they can.
Considering that over the past three months, the U.S economy has only grown 0.1% (practically not growing at all), we cannot afford this new tax! Mark my words... If the Obama administration gets away with this and We the People do not force Congress to intervene, we will see massive price increases across the country!
This is something that the American people CANNOT afford and, quite frankly, it is a tax that the American people shouldn't have to endure. Families should not be forced to pay exorbitant fees in order to travel on vacation or to visit family members! Americans shouldn't have to pay more out of pocket for gasoline and groceries just to pay for Obama's spending program!
This is a big deal! And it is also a situation where if you do not let your voice be heard in opposition to this plan, it will be too late. Government will only continue to grow and the cost to use these roadways will increase in order to fund liberal spending and ridiculous government salaries.
Congress can stop this. They can pass a law prohibiting the construction of new toll booths on the federal highway system. It is as simple as that. But these people don't drive themselves to work or pay tolls. They don't know how horrible this will be for the American people. If you are going to speak out on any issue, let it be this one. You must let your voice be heard and tell congress to stop this toll proposal from happening!
Joe Otto
Conservative Daily
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