Federal fuel tax
The last time the federal fuel tax was increased, Bill Clinton was in his second term as president. Fuel prices since then have more than doubled, increasing the cost of maintaining our roads, bridges and transit systems. The best thing about a federal gas-tax increase is that it benefits all states without creating a price advantage for one state over another.
If the fuel tax were to increase at the federal level, it would help in limiting demand, but at least our departments of transportation would have more money to maintain our roads. For transit systems demand increases as gas prices increase, but their expenses increase too, often making it necessary to cut service at the very time it is most needed.
A modest increase in the gas tax of five cents could be split with two cents going to transit and three cents going to maintain roads and bridges. This would greatly increase funding for transit while also increasing funds for maintenance of the roads and bridges both transit and the general public depend on. The modest increase in the fuel tax would also create more jobs for construction companies, and the vendors who supply both the highway and transit sectors of the economy.
Investing in transit helps reduce traffic congestion, air pollution and fuel consumption, while at the same time increasing mobility options for all; an improvement an aging population can surely appreciate.
CHRIS TURNER
TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR, AppalCART
Boone
Benefited
In reference to the local demonstration against economic disparity ("Protest 'occupies' Winston- Salem," Oct. 16) it is no surprise that a law student from Wake Forest University would say about the protestors: "They're against big corporations and corporate greed, but that's the life they've had. They grew up with it. They've benefited from it, and they haven't proffered any alternatives."
Strange that the people said to have "benefited from it" are the ones who are losing their homes, who can't get a job and who can't afford an education. It is always the ones that have benefitted from corporate greed that find fault with the folks that get hurt by it.
This did not just happen. The corporate "Big Boys" have been working at taking back "their country" every since Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the New Deal to govern for the people. It is 75 years later and the corporate "Big Boys" have taken the country back. To hell with the people.
MITCHELL M. BOSS
King
Next time
When you next interview the people of Occupy Winston-Salem (" 'This is a people's movement,' " Oct. 9), please ask them, and report to us, what kind of jobs they are qualified to do to make a living.
HARRY AND MARTHA HARKEY
Winston-Salem
The last time the federal fuel tax was increased, Bill Clinton was in his second term as president. Fuel prices since then have more than doubled, increasing the cost of maintaining our roads, bridges and transit systems. The best thing about a federal gas-tax increase is that it benefits all states without creating a price advantage for one state over another.
If the fuel tax were to increase at the federal level, it would help in limiting demand, but at least our departments of transportation would have more money to maintain our roads. For transit systems demand increases as gas prices increase, but their expenses increase too, often making it necessary to cut service at the very time it is most needed.
A modest increase in the gas tax of five cents could be split with two cents going to transit and three cents going to maintain roads and bridges. This would greatly increase funding for transit while also increasing funds for maintenance of the roads and bridges both transit and the general public depend on. The modest increase in the fuel tax would also create more jobs for construction companies, and the vendors who supply both the highway and transit sectors of the economy.
Investing in transit helps reduce traffic congestion, air pollution and fuel consumption, while at the same time increasing mobility options for all; an improvement an aging population can surely appreciate.
CHRIS TURNER
TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR, AppalCART
Boone
Benefited
In reference to the local demonstration against economic disparity ("Protest 'occupies' Winston- Salem," Oct. 16) it is no surprise that a law student from Wake Forest University would say about the protestors: "They're against big corporations and corporate greed, but that's the life they've had. They grew up with it. They've benefited from it, and they haven't proffered any alternatives."
Strange that the people said to have "benefited from it" are the ones who are losing their homes, who can't get a job and who can't afford an education. It is always the ones that have benefitted from corporate greed that find fault with the folks that get hurt by it.
This did not just happen. The corporate "Big Boys" have been working at taking back "their country" every since Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the New Deal to govern for the people. It is 75 years later and the corporate "Big Boys" have taken the country back. To hell with the people.
MITCHELL M. BOSS
King
Next time
When you next interview the people of Occupy Winston-Salem (" 'This is a people's movement,' " Oct. 9), please ask them, and report to us, what kind of jobs they are qualified to do to make a living.
HARRY AND MARTHA HARKEY
Winston-Salem
LTE #3.... "ask them, and report to us, what kind of jobs they are qualified to do to make a living'.
ReplyDelete-the 1st Amendment has no "employment qualification" clause.
-go ask them yourself. Stop trying to get other people to do your bidding. Take a little personal responsibility. If you don't get your answer, don't blame the newspaper, don't blame the OWS people, blame.....
The 1st Amendment also doesn't guarantee one a job either. So let's don't get so righteous about Mr. and Mrs. Harkey's question.
ReplyDeleteStrange how OWS people aren't blaming Obama and he's the one that bailed out the banks and corporate america when they were about to go bankrupted. Wouldn't it make sense that they blame Obama a little? No..........they're not going to blame Obama because they are nitwitted liberal Democrats that voted for him.
It just never stops.
IQ…………….Classification
ReplyDelete140 + ……….Genius
120-140……Very superior
110-120……Superior
90-110……..Normal
80-90……….Dull normal
70-80……….Borderline
50-70……….Moron
20-50……….Imbecile
0-20………..Idiot
0 or less……Buckyland
Benefitted...Over the last few decades, what the majority of us have benefitted from is an economy built on several interconnected bubbles. Primarily real estate, private debt and discretionary spending that was allowed by the first two. The bubbles have popped and no one is immune.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bucky on LTE #3. One of the demands being made at the Occupy events is for jobs. While, as Bob says, there is no requirement of job qualification to protest, there is a job qualification requirement to get a job. Sadly, many college graduates did not consider the marketability of their degrees as they pursued them. Art History and Women's Studies degrees, among many others, just don't qualify their holders for many jobs.
ReplyDeleteand how many Bo that are protesting have those degrees?
ReplyDeleteBucky, TARP was signed into law by George W. Bush on October 3, 1008
ReplyDeleteDon't stereotype Bo. It's unbecoming.
ReplyDelete2008
ReplyDeleteBob....do you need to borrow a calendar? It's actually 2011:)
ReplyDeleteso it is
ReplyDeletetime flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: Road maintenance doesn't come cheap. With pothole season coming up, I would not be opposed to paying an extra nickle in gas tax to keep our roads and bridges in good working order and provide jobs as well.
LTE 2 & 3: Interesting dichotomy going on here. One placing the blame for the high UR, particularly among the young on corporate greed and the other on the young themselves. Class warfare is often mentioned generally in regards to outrage at the haves, but the reaction to the OWS crowd has indicated a strong opposition to the have-nots as well. With 10% of the population owning 75% (or whatever the number is) of the wealth, the odds would dictate those doing the complaining on either side would be part of the 90% who own the other 25% (or whatever). In other words, they are all in the same boat. So, while the bottom 90% are at odds with each other, the top 10% are sitting pretty. Unfortunately, an economy in which only 10% can fully participate isn't sustainable, so in the long term, it's in corporations' best interests to hire in order to broaden the consumer base and keep the profits flowing.
As usual, Bo is stating his prejudices rather than facts. Degrees in "women's studies" amount to fewer than 500 per year in the US, an irrelevant number statistically. Degrees in the mainstream humanities areas, including art history, qualify their holders for a far wider range of jobs than any other field. Many of the best companies in the US will not hire business majors, because business courses demand little critical or any other thinking, as proven by the fact that business is the number one major among college athletes. Biz is crip.
ReplyDeleteCollege is not supposed to be job training. That is why we have community colleges. It is supposed to produce an educated person, capable of analyzing a situation and creating a reasonable solution to a complex problem. Unfortunately, most of the lesser colleges and universities cannot find enough students capable of tackling a major in English, history or psychology, so business has become the answer. It is NOT a college education.
Rush is such an IDIOT. He voted for Obama, and now he wants to tell everybody how smart he is. How pathetic!
ReplyDeleteRush, you're an idiot.
I call you an idiot as often as I can.
An idiot, dolt, or dullard is a mentally deficient person, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way.
Bobby.....why don't you tell the 'whole' story about the TARP money, and who used it, and who passed a stimulus bill and where all that money went?
ReplyDeleteThat's right, it went to banks and corporate America. So the nitwitted OWS protesters voted for a president that bailed out the very entities that they deplore. But are they going to blame themselves for their nitwitted votes for Obama, oh no. They are liberal nitwits. They'll never take the blame for anything.
"Unfortunately, an economy in which only 10% can fully participate isn't sustainable, so in the long term, it's in corporations' best interests to hire in order to broaden the consumer base and keep the profits flowing."
ReplyDeleteThat nails it. Part of Henry Ford's genius was to pay his workers enough so that they could afford to buy his cars. Unfortunately, our modern Galtian overlords don't know what's best for them in the long-run. It's all about "gimme gimme gimme" "now now now".
Bucky, I know where TARP and the stimiulus went. You know better than anyone how well read I am. I don't know who you think you are fooling.
ReplyDeletemaybe some of those at fcso watch, but nobody here.
ReplyDeletethe leader in the Republican field, Herman Cain, while an incredible story of living the American Dream, is a nightmare. Is he going to build an electrified fence around Uz-beki-beki-beki-stan stan before or after he trades the prisoners at Guantanamo for a hostage? And the 999plan is a plan to create the 99.9%
ReplyDeleteThe way the cultist wing and the moron wing of the Republican Party went after each other last night, that wasn't a debate, it was debasing.
ReplyDeleteBobby....you might want to brush up on your well-reading skills.
ReplyDeletehttp://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/obama-to-promote-trade-deal-tout-auto-bailout-in-detroit/
Bobby..I will agree with you on one thing. Perry is done for. Especially after it came out last night that he was Al Gore's campaign manager.
ReplyDeleteIt "came out" weeks ago that Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was Al Gore's campaign manager. People like Buckover didn't know about it because they don't know much about anything.
ReplyDeleteAs predicted, the GOP primary race has become a 3-ring circus of utter nonsense. Hilarious.
ReplyDeleteCain wants to build an electric fence along the Mexican border and has blamed the unemployed for being unemployed. Really, Hermie?
But Michelle babe is still my favorite...Leno should do a special edition of Jaywalking featuring her every night:
"Now with the president, he put us in Libya. He is now putting us in Africa. We already were stretched too thin, and he put our special operations forces in Africa," she said.
Really, Michelle? He put us in Libya. Then he put us in Africa. Next thing you know he'll be putting us in that dastardly South Carolina continent, right next to Libya. Dunce!
A New Jersey high school teacher is under investigation after she allegedly posted a message on her private Facebook page that she opposed homosexuality because of her Christian faith.
ReplyDeletehttp://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/daily-dispatch/christian-teacher-under-investigation-for-opposing-homosexuality.html?test=latestnews
_________________
I guess we're finding out who the real haters and bigots are, and they are not Christians.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has chimed in on the controversy saying that he found Knox’s comments on her personal Facebook page “disturbing.”
ReplyDeleteI didn't stereotype anyone. I said that asking for qualifications is a fair question for those looking for a job. In my day it was art history that was an unmarketable degree. Women's studies is a good example now, irrespective of how many have that degree. I don't know what the Occupy folks have for degrees, and I didn't express an opinion. I just noted that the right question was being asked.
ReplyDeleteBo is beginning to remind me of JohnG, who once he had made one of his outrageous statements, would repeat it endlessly, no matter how wrong it was.
ReplyDeleteThe number of degrees in women's studies is low because there is low demand for that specialty. But since that specialization usually leads to a degree in history or literature or sociology or psychology, there IS a demand for the specialty or it wouldn't exist.
As to art history, studies have shown that people with degrees in any area of the humanities have little trouble finding jobs. The Wall Street Journal was so surprised at this "news" that a few years ago they published an article entitled "The $64,000 Question", which pointed out that people receiving degrees with a specialty in art history had no problem finding jobs, that the average starting salary was $35,800 and that the 10 year median was $64,900. In that respect, they were doing better than people with bachelors in anthropology, biology, criminal justice, education, health care administration, psychology and sociology, although they were well behind those with just a bachelors in philosophy, another area that I imagine Bo thinks of as a waste, whose 10-year number was $81,200.
Good evening, folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE1: I would be quite happy to pay more in fuel taxes. One pays for what one uses. Yes, they might be considered regressive, but then paying for what one uses is regressive, whether it's roads, clothes, beer, movie tickets, food, whatever. Our infrastructure is in perilous shape, and we cannot borrow to repair it.
LTE2: Yes, some of those in the OWS displays are unemployed, which is all the more reason for them NOT to be in the demonstrations, as they should be seeking work. But, many of the OWS movers are the TB's who have Che Guevara posters in their quarters, and who believe that communism is swell, and that it just hasn't been tried correctly, nevermind all the dead bodies. Yes, I have seen the pic of the WW2 vet in the protests, but he's one guy. And the unions are supporting the OWS protests, so the belief in enforced collectivism is well represented.
LTE3: At first glance this LTE appeared to be a fine example of non sequitur, but I think the writers mean that those out of work should be seeking work, not sitting on their butts raising leftist consciousness.
I note a report that at one of the ongoing OWS protests, the biggest problem the partipants are having is from thefts. Figures, "social justice" does not recognize private property (except for a few chosen nomenclatura). At least thieves do not cloak their thievery in PC self-righteousness.
The Rev. Kelly Carpenter
ReplyDeleteThe Rev. Kelly Carpenter is a minister at Green Street Methodist Church. He has been a leading force in his congregation’s activities to promote inclusiveness and help those in need. Under his guidance, his church has become active in the Winston-Salem Institute for Dismantling Racism, which builds teams to dismantle internalized racism and systemic racist structures, and C.H.A.N.G.E. (Communities Helping All Neighbors Gain Empowerment), an inter-racial faith organization that trains people for action in the public arena.
Taken from the City of WS Website
_______________
Mr. Carpenter once called our former District Attorney, Thomas Keith, a racist over a statement that was never made by Mr Keith concerning the Kalvin Smith case. After he learned the statement was never made, he never publicly apologized.
This was a shameful award that never should have been given to Rev. Carpenter. He's one of the 'haters' that continue to call people racists based on unjustified reasons.
Rev. Carpenter should be a reuniter not a divider.
I hope all Methodist ministers are not the caliber and type of Rev. Carpenter.
Here is what Tom Keith said:
ReplyDelete"If you're African-American, you're six, seven or eight times more likely to have a violent history. I didn't go out there and put a gun in your hand and say, 'You commit eight crimes, and I'm a white man, I'll commit one.' That's just instincts, that's just how it is."
Keith never denied saying it because he did say it. His excuse was one of the great refuges of liars and bigots "I was quoted out of context."
Really, Tom? What context would justify such a clearly racist statement?
Like George Wallace said many times: "Some of my best friends are Neegrows." Same old BS.
What was the context? It was about Keith's opposition to the Racial Justice Act, passed by the NC legislature based on proven studies that blacks receive the death penalty far more often than whites for similar crimes. Keith has devoted his "retirement" years to opposing the Racial Justice Act. Who would be opposed to such an act if it had any hope of balancing the scales of justice? Maybe somebody secretly wearing a sheet and a dunce cap.
Rush....you idiot....You ALSO have misquoted Keith's statment.
ReplyDeleteI call you an idiot as often as I can.
An idiot, dolt, or dullard is a mentally deficient person, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way.
You can read the TRUTH at this link:
http://www.digtriad.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=130035