Measure M – Up on a poll
According to a recent LA Times article, a new poll about Measure M shows that we in the OC support it strongly! Measure M, for those of you who didn’t know is the “Tax Me! Oh, please! Oh, please! Oh, please! Tax me” Transportation initiative.
Now, there are some people you just don’t trust. Pollsters are some of them. In this case, the poll was conducted by the OCTA – our county gurus of how to fuck us mass transit – who are likely to benefit it this measure passes. Can you say “conflict of interest”? Can you say “Stinking Liars”?
Sure, the sales tax would only remain a half-cent higher. I admit that’s not much
Honestly? I don’t think we pay enough in taxes. I just wish my tax dollars were spent more efficiently and wisely.
We could definately use more mass transit in OC. But unless/until the NIMBYs decide that they’ll accept that lightrail system in their backyard, buses are pretty much the way to go. We’ll never see a subway, lightrail is unlikely, and while I’d love a monorail, I don’t see it happening in my lifetime.
What do YOU suggest we do?
What do I suggest we do? Get rid of the 1/2 % tax and force public transportation (and AMTRAK) to profit or die trying.
I’m not a NIMBY, I’m a GAPIMBY (Go Ahead and Put it In My Back Yard). Because that’s the only way some big lumbering train is going to of any use to me.
People complain about spending hours on the road because of congestion. Compare the hour-plus (not including the 15 minutes waiting for the stupid thing in the rain) bus ride it would take for me to get to work to the 20 minute drive. Aside from people who live and work on the same segment of a single bus route, does public transit work for you? If you ever use your car to get to work, you’re disqualified from answering that question.
I pay plenty in taxes, so speak for yourself. Tax dollars will NEVER be spent more efficiently and wisely, and giving more reduces the efficiency and wisdom exponentially. (Is that a truism?)
I don’t think you’re looking at one of the public transportation “big pictures”: many people NEED public transportation to get around. There are tens of thousands of people in OC alone who can’t afford a car, aren’t allowed to drive (because of age or crime), or are disabled. Public transportation allows these people to both get to jobs and to spend money they make – take them away (or charge much, much for them) and the economy as a whole suffers.
First of all, none of the classes of people you mentioned are entitled to my property based on their membership in that class. Especially criminals. But, do you think that if the public transit system disappeared that those people would have no recourse? In the absence of the government monopoly, private transit services would spring up to fill the void. Some of those people would decide to take a job closer to where they live. Some would walk or ride a bike. Some would carpool. Some would spend their hard-earned money closer to home.
But if public transit combines efficiency, time savings, and pollution reduction, it shouldn’t need the massive subsidies we lavish on it. But we do throw good money after bad to help a tiny portion of the population and it still demands more, so it seems to be a net drain on society rather than a benefit.
We make no demands on public transit to be efficient or effective. We don’t encourage bus riders to take fewer trips, even though taking a bus for no productive reason also contributes to pollution and congestion, and wastes natural resources.