Governor deals shady plan
Hold on a minute, Mr. Governor. We don’t doubt for a minute that the commonwealth’s two largest public transit agencies, SEPTA and the Port Authority of Allegheny County, are broke and in need of a fix. But your idea of sticking it every vehicle owner in Pennsylvania without them knowing about it is wrong, wrong, wrong. Mr. Rendell, if you ever hope to give your opponents little cause to keep calling you Fast Eddie, you would steer clear of all those lame-ducked ideas floating around the Capitol hallways.
We expected more from our governor than to muck up the waters. Your proposal to add a couple dollars here whenever anyone buys new tires or a couple dollars there when anyone is forced to undergo emission testing are just the kind of hidden taxes that we have preached against time and again.
A hike to the gas tax would be much more honest. At least folks fuming at the pumps would know who was sticking them up. Heck, there might even be drivers willing to pay a few cents more to pave a few more roads or to keep a few more buses (hence fewer cars) on the roads. We’d be willing to bet that after the initial grumbling, most people would even forget that it was Pennsylvania and not OPEC behind the latest price increase.
Your idea, Mr. Governor, of hiking fees on everything from new tires to rental car fees, hides the true cost of supporting Pennsylvania’s government. We can guarantee that the people behind the counter at Enterprise and the neighborhood tire store and under the hood at the local garage would take the brunt of the wrath for those increases.
Let’s be honest about the cost of doing business in and with Pennsylvania. What you were proposing isn’t just pocket change when it amounts to $110 million a year out of our wallets.
Yes SEPTA and the Port Authority need an infusion of state funds, partly because the state has failed to kick in its fair share all along. (A familiar refrain.)
We haven’t followed the SEPTA saga that closely, and you Mr. Rendell would know Philadelphia’s plight better than most, but we are extremely concerned about the proposed cutbacks to the Port Authority. Faced with a $30 million deficit, the agency plans to so severely cut back on routes that the suffering Pittsburgh economy would only be hammered further. Too many workers and businesses depend on the system to run as is. And the last thing that Pittsburgh needs is to add more traffic to its congested parkways or more cars searching for downtown parking. That will drive us all away. Mass transit is a function of government that needs a fair, sustainable method of funding. It deserves more attention than a few days work during an anything-is-game lame-duck session. Shame on you for thinking like those oily critters inhabiting the House.