"We're on a road to nowhere, come on inside..." - Granite Grok

“We’re on a road to nowhere, come on inside…”

After reading the lead story in yesterday’s Laconia Daily Sun (pdf) about the latest bailout/stimulus/recovery monies headed for the Lakes Region, I couldn’t help but recall one of my favorite Talking Heads tunes, “Road to Nowhere” from the “Little Creatures” album:

“WELL WE KNOW WHERE WE’RE GOIN’
BUT WE DON’T KNOW WHERE WE’VE BEEN
AND WE KNOW WHAT WE’RE KNOWIN’
BUT WE CAN’T SAY WHAT WE’VE SEEN
AND WE’RE NOT LITTLE CHILDREN
AND WE KNOW WHAT WE WANT
AND THE FUTURE IS CERTAIN
GIVE US TIME TO WORK IT OUT…
We’re on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Takin’ that ride to nowhere
We’ll take that ride; I’m feelin’ okay this mornin’
And you know, We’re on the road to paradise
Here we go, here we go!”

And indeed, here we go… down the road of fiscal ruin and the ongoing plundering of the very citizens the politicians claim to want to protect so dearly.

It all starts with the gas tax and its main purpose, which is to fund our state’s roads, bridges, and highways, with some allocated to local communities for the same items. In many instances, matching and/or majority funds are given for things like bridges and traffic signaling devices. A healthy infrastructure throughout the entire state benefits everybody, and the users—those who operate motor vehicles—are the ones that pay via the tax on gas or fuel paid at the pump. I have never advocated any permanent elimination of this federal (although I did support the moratorium when prices eclipsed four bucks a gallon) or state tax, and, if operated properly, I don’t mind paying tolls to drive on certain highways. The reason is because the collecting of gas taxs and the highway tolls is technically a “user pays” system, whereby those that use roads and bridges—the motoring public—are the ones paying for them. Of course, what skews this system is when the politicians, bureaucrats, and the busybodies get their hands on the monies collected for roads and infrastructure… and then stretch the definition of such items. Thus, the users feeding into this system end up getting stiffed out of the maximum return for the fees they are paying.

We all now know that the NHDOT is running short on funds, and, in addition to recent and upcoming toll hikes, they are about to receive monies from an increased gas tax ultimately totaling fifteen cents– unless Governor Lynch vetoes the plan.

 

Those paying attention will recall that the fiscal woes faced by the highway division of state government did not just start with the onset of the sudden and unannounced recession that began about a month or so prior to last November’s elections. As noted in this post, in late August, 2007, the Daily Sun reported on the governor’s apprehension of a toll and, one assumed at the time, an increase in the gas tax:

"The state needs to examine how it is spending its existing highway construction money before talking about raising more revenue," Gov. John Lynch says. "We have to be more disciplined," Lynch said Wednesday. "We can’t do everything, nor should we do everything." Additionally, he said, "Before we consider the need for additional revenue- which I don’t think is there- we need to manage the funds today, which we are not doing well."

And then, a month later, he acquiesced, stating,

“I think this is an urgent need here in New Hampshire, and as I said, to do nothing is not only unacceptable, but I believe it’s irresponsible.”

Among the recent projects slated to be funded with DOT dollars is a sidewalk on Alvah Wilson Road in Gilford. Much like the completed Belknap Mountain Road sidewalk, this project is funded with a small percentage of local taxpayer-provided “seed money,” with the bulk coming from the state… you know, “everybody’s” money. This is a sidewalk that goes from a major state highway upon which no child should walk, to the high school, with one neighborhood road feeding to it. The town has no means to plow such a sidewalk. At present, the road is extra wide with an area for walking and/or biking—easily plowed. I spoke against both sidewalk projects when they came up for votes at the Town Meetings, citing such things as an unfair drain of gas-tax created highway funds, taking it away from more proper and necessary infrastructure projects. My argument was to no avail, and, why not? After all—it’s “free” money from the state. Why not take it? Of course, the answer to that question becomes abundantly clear against a backdrop of a cash-strapped NHDOT seeking higher tolls and gas taxes.

But now—not to worry—because we’re going to get… STIMULUS MONEY! And so is another good-intentioned, but hardly road infrastructure-related project: the so-called WOW! Trail. Tell me… if I was opposed to both the WOW! Trail and the Gilford sidewalk projects because they were improper uses of fuel tax dollars, should I feel better now that both are apparently getting these funds instead from the federal government, as reported in yesterday’s Sun, thanks to the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)? Great… Instead of simply ripping off the hapless motorists of New Hampshire for projects of dubious general value, we are instead sticking it to our children’s grandchildren’s children in the form of the future National debt.

“We’re on a road to nowhere; There’s a city in my mind; Come along and take that ride; and it’s all right, baby, it’s all right…”

Not me. I refuse to “take that ride.” Because it’s not “all right.”

 

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