The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has come up with some stupid ideas in the past, but their newest idea may be the worst of all. They want to have the authority to pay the federal government back for the money they put into building some existing Texas freeways, and then turn those freeways into TOLL ROADS. They have to have lost their tiny minds!
Then they want to turn those toll roads over to private companies, so they can gouge the people of Texas to drive on roads they paid to build. This is not just a silly idea -- it is outrageous! How long are the people of Texas going to put up with these idiots? Every TxDOT management official should be terminated, and every elected official who had anything to do with appointing them should be booted out of office in the next election.
Our state Republican leadership has always chosen to enrich corporations at the expense of ordinary Texans, but this idea of giving our freeways to private corporations is way over the line. This idea needs to be stopped right now before it can go any further.
Fortunately, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison does not agree with TxDOT's mad scheme. I'm not a big fan of Senator Hutchison, but this time she's acting to protect the citizens of Texas. As they say, even a broken clock is right twice a day, and this is one of those times for Hutchison.
Senator Hutchison has introduced S2019 in the Senate. If it becomes law, this bill would:
* Prohibit collecting tolls on any federal highway already constructed (that is not already a tollway).
* Prohibit collecting tolls on any federal highway bought back by a state after the bill becomes law.
* Include the toll prohibition to all bridges and tunnels on the interstate highway system.
This is a good bill. I commend Senator Hutchison for introducing it, and I hope she can get it passed. The only thing that could make it better is if it prohibited construction of the Trans-Texas Corridor -- now that would be a great bill!
This is standard wingnuttery corporate welfare.
ReplyDelete1. Have the public do the initial capital investments.
2. Turn the profit over to private companies,
3.Bail them out when it is determined the private industry spent nothing on capital improvements.
4. Collect huge donations from said private industry.
TxDOT and Senator Kirk Watson, are now pushing a double tax toll scheme that shifts freeways in Central Texas to tollways.
ReplyDeleteThe Watson/TxDOT toll plan also diverts $700 million tax dollars - intended for free roads - into toll roads. It is important to note that freeways have NEVER been shifted to tollways in the history of our country.
Conventional toll roads across the country have always been built on new land with investor dollars (after the public expressways had been built) so drivers have a choice between the public highway or the toll road. They are taking what is ours to charge us forever, as the tolls will never be removed even after the road has been paid for 100 times over.
Read more about it here:
http://salcostello.blogspot.com/
Thanks
Sal "The Muckraker" Costello