What's wrong with America: 'Why should I pay a toll for someone else's bridge?'
Source: The Stranger
Full title: "Why Should I Be Paying a Toll for Somebody Else's Bridge?" or Everything You Need to Know About What's Wrong With America
Opposing a proposal to toll the I-90 bridge as part of the funding package for the 520 bridge replacement, Mercer Island resident Denise Joffe resentfully asks: “Why should I be paying a toll for somebody else’s bridge?”
Huh. Good question Denise. And why should I pay taxes to pay for somebody else's freeway park lids, or to educate somebody else's children, or to put out somebody else's house fire, or to fight somebody else's war? Why should I pay taxes (or tolls or fees) to pay for anything that doesn't directly benefit me, or for any policy I disagree with?
Maybe, Denise, it's because we all live in the same community?
It's this narrowing of our sense of community that I think is one of the most destructive trends in American politics. The sense of national identity and purpose that once bound us together in the interest of a larger common good has gradually eroded into local squabbles over subarea equity and levy equalization and whether users of one bridge have an obligation to pay for another bridge just a few miles away. It makes for an every-man-for-himself free-for-all that might have thrilled Ayn Rand, but that threatens our ability to collectively invest in the public infrastructure and services necessary to assure our future welfare and prosperity.
Read more: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/31/everything-thats-wrong-with-america-in-a-nutshell
= new reply since forum marked as read
but I sure do like being around educated people 
I feel educated people are in my best interest 
Big Mac, the Mackinac Bridge which takes Interstate 75 between the two Michigan peninsulas.
I remember taking the ferry across the straits while the bridge was being built when I was a youngun'.
It is a beauty. But do not speed when the winds are high, especially over the middle lane gratings. Two vehicles have been blown off the bridge and plunged to their drivers' deaths far below in the deeps of the straits. Since then, speed limits are strictly enforced.
It's still a beauty.
Why should you have to pay for this bridge, Denise? Because you are a citizen of King County, of Washington State, and of the United States of America. And that makes the 520 bridge your fucking bridge just like the I-90 bridge belongs to the hundreds of millions of taxpayers who helped pay for it, but will never lay eyes on the damn thing.
Indeed, if there's anybody who should embrace a communitarian approach toward regional transportation infrastructure, it is Mercer Islanders.* Mercer Island, no matter how wealthy it is, could not have afforded to span Lake Washington on its own. Indeed, it is its largely federally-funded bridge that helps make Mercer Island real estate so valuable.
This guy has already given in to the bagger mindset, just wanting it to work. It is possible Denise can't afford it, but he doesn't mention that. To put the burden of the toll on those struggling to travel to work paying for roads that should be from the general fund, is wrong.
Previously tags, license fees and other taxes paid the way for these but they were cut down by the 'starve the beast' libertarian initative-for-hire Tim Eyeman. That was actually on his business office at one time, but at that time, I didn't know it was the Grover Nordquist motto.
Last year, WA rejected an income tax on the wealthy, another of his initatives, as bagger radio screamed bloody murder. And just approved charter schools. We are going down the red state road.
The state is half liberal- social democrat- DINO and GOP- teabagger- libertarian. I am unhappy they forced the DOT - but the GOP method of obstructing anything but privatization of schools, emergency services, social protection agencies, public works, roads and parks has been so effective that a deal was made. They refused to consider any traditional funding for badly needed infrastructure. Liberal voices are being silenced and minimized in media and meetings.
Park lands have been ceded into private hands and ranger staff cut. Some of the communities of so-called liberal bastions around Seattle are onboard with all this privatization or many things and levies are having a hard time passing for schools and other public services. They still do pass now, but the margins are narrow. All elections are closer than they should be for a 'blue' state because of out of state influences. We have had two blantant attempts at stealing the Democratic majority in Olympia and the candidate for Governor last year was onboard with schemes to rig the votes and steal votes. Now we have a GOP SoS and some GOP are trying to rig our votes for the electoral college - may they fall on their faces.
Before, the citizens of the state paid for mass transit and roads for all, and it was the rural red areas that destroyed mass transit in their areas. It made living in the suburban areas great, as the author of the article said. Many of those folks benefit from high paying jobs in Seattle. There will be some maintenance, but in some of the areas, there is less support and the routes and hours have been cut. This was not the desire of Democrats, but the GOP.
Tim Eyeman's initiatives did a lot of this, including the latest one that passed, which is going to put WA in the same boat that CA was for years, unable to levy to pay for needed services. The author's argument is right in a way, but we already lost this war. Myself, and many others will no longer be able to drive across Lake Washington to do business because we can't afford doing this.
I know people having huge problems who once were able to count on public transit to get back and forth to work on the Eastside (the area discussed at link) and having to wait hours for a bus - and sometimes they have to call people to come to get them when the bus is not running as the hours have been cut down. Now those coming get to them pay a toll. Others are unemployed and cannot afford to pay tolls in addition to their other financial problems. So they are losing opportunities from this.
The area discussed, IIRC, and the 520 bridge, not the proposed ones, are getting a free ride from what was federal and state tax dollars in the past. They may want to live like the people in Belle Isle in Michigan and keep the rabble out. The rightwingers are balkanizing the state, sounds like the beginning of another Michigan to me. Sorry, but that's my very negative opinion on this. Others may see this in a more positive light, but I don't. To hell with Ayn Rand and all her fans.
Thanks newsjock for the OP. I agree with your premise and want more of what you do. But am deeply worried about these trends. Here is a link to the regional online blog, horsesass.org on some of this:
http://horsesass.org/?p=31193
According to a story at the KOMO News web site and picked up by Publicola, Republican volunteers are going door to door in east King County offering to collect people's ballots:
It was Wednesday night that two men showed up at Steve McDonald's door to let him know they'd take his ballot to be counted.
"It was Halloween. There's a lot of tricksters around the neighborhood. I was thinking it was a joke, but they had a very serious look on their face," McDonald said.
The men offered to mail his ballot for him. As it turns out, McDonald had already voted, so the men left. Still, he said it was an odd experience.
"After someone leaves, you're kind of like, did I just get bamboozled? I didn't get bamboozled because they didn't take my ballot, but they sure knew a lot of information about me," he said.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/As-election-nears-state-GOP-using-unique-tactics-177044901.html
McKenna Camp Paying People to Collect Ballots; KC Elections Advises Voters to Send Ballots In Themselves
It's a novel idea, to say the least, to entrust a political party to handle ballots. King County is a Democratic stronghold, and with 1.7 million voters here, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee is counting on strong turnout in King County—though, we can't imagine he'd be happy about Republican foot soldiers working as ballot couriers.
http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profiles/publicola/articles/mckenna-camp-paying-people-to-collect-ballots-kc-elections-advises-voters-to-send-ballots-in-themselves
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10821047
Good rapid response by King County Dems and WA State Dems to ballot theft
Washington State Democrats Chair Pelz Calls on Secretary of State Sam Reed to Denounce GOP Ballot Collection Tactics
Seattle -- Today, the Washington State Democrats called on Secretary of State Sam Reed to denounce the recently announced practice by the King County Republican Party of sending Republican operatives to collect ballots. The Washington State Republican Party and the campaign of Rob McKenna have recently been recruiting unknown paid canvassers to go door-to-door collecting ballots, leaving their delivery in the hands of partisan political operatives.
Reed, who recently gave $50,000 to the WSRP, should encourage the Republican party to direct voters to return their ballots through official means, either by mail, at a drop box, or at a mobile drop box. As Secretary of State, Reed is responsible for ensuring the independence and integrity of our elections, and this tactic by Republicans threatens that.
"This looks like a campaign that doesn't know how to run a get out the vote program and is panicking," said Washington State Democrats Chair Dwight Pelz. "Voters in King County have many ways in which to return their ballots, including by mail, in a drop box, or in a mobile drop box. Republicans should be encouraging people to return their ballot through official means, as we and the County have done, but instead they are creating a situation fraught with the opportunity of voter fraud."
"We've learned a lot about Rob McKenna's ethics this week -- from taxpayer-funded trips to Disneyland, to going door-to-door taking people's ballots away from them. This isn't how we conduct fair elections; Rob McKenna's campaign should cease this practice immediately."
The full text of the letter is below:
By Email and U.S. Mail
Hon. Sam Reed
Secretary of State
416 Sid Snyder Ave. S.W.
Legislative Building
Olympia, WA
Dear Secretary Reed:
I represent the Washington State Democratic Party. It has come to our attention that the King County Republican Party is informing voters that they can and should drop off voted ballots not at county election offices or U.S. mailboxes, but instead a temporary pick up locations staffed by Republican party operatives. Worse, these actions are being taken in direct contravention of guidance from the King County Elections Department. http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections.aspx.
This initiative is as ill-considered as it is unprecedented. There is a reason why nonpartisan election officials conduct our elections and the prospect of having partisan operatives collect voted ballots and return them to the elections office is chilling indeed. It is especially concerning in light of press reports from around the country about deliberate efforts by Republican Party officials to disenfranchise Democratic voters by collecting and then destroying their voter registration applications. See, e.g., http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57535950/man-charged-after-tossing-voter-registration-forms-in-virginia/.
Worse, state law makes it a felony for a person to either directly or indirectly offer anything of value to a voter in exchange for a vote. RCW 29A.84.620. The collection and delivery of ballots at the expense of the Republican Party seems a plain and clear violation of that statute.
As Washingtons chief elections officer, I ask that you defend our tradition of nonpartisan election administration and call upon the King County Republican Party to immediately cease and desist from this, frankly, badly misguided effort and consider appropriate legal action if that becomes necessary.
Very truly yours,
Kevin J. Hamilton
KJH:wbs
cc: Katie Blinn, Co-Director of Elections
Announcement by King County Elections
http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/voting/ballotdropboxes/bdblocations.aspx
King County Elections strongly discourages giving possession or responsibility of your ballot to anyone other than USPS or official King County Elections drop locations.Voters may use the online ballot tracker to confirm that King County has received their ballot.
http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/ballottracker
The activity of collecting ballots for delivery is not prohibited by law.
King County GOP is collecting ballots at multiple van drop locations in King County
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/politicsnorthwest/2012/11/04/democrats-complain-about-new-king-county-gop-get-out-the-vote-tactic/
“This initiative is as ill-considered as it is unprecedented,” Kevin J. Hamilton, a Washington State Democratic Party attorney, wrote Saturday to Secretary Reed. “There is a reason why nonpartisan election officials conduct our elections and the prospect of having partisan operatives collect voted ballots and return them to the elections office is chilling indeed.”
Reed did not immediately return telephone and email messages Sunday seeking comment.
In a news release, King County officials said the county “strongly discourages giving possession or responsibility for ballots to anyone other than USPS or official King County Elections drop locations.”
County Executive Dow Constantine, a Democrat, and Elections Director Sherril Huff held a news conference in West Seattle this morning to advise voters not to give their ballot to anyone they don’t know.
Send an e-mail to Secretary of State Sam Reed urging he stop paid Republican canvassers collecting signed filled out ballots of voters. This breaks the chain of custody of ballots and opens the process to abuse and fraud. His e-mail is elections@sos.wa.gov . Send a copy of e-mail to Sherril Huff at King County Elections. elections@kingcounty.gov . Thanks.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10821079
Republican voter suppression scam in WA State
From my email--
Voter suppression: Eleanor Munro of the MDC read an email message at the request of MDC Director Joan Burton. Ms Burton’s daughter received a phone call from the Washington State Democratic Voter Identification Committee (which does not exist) noting that because of printer errors she should not vote until she received a new ballot. She wanted to warn members of this effort to keep Democrats from voting.
FBI Voter Intimidation Hotline: 202-514-1888.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10821019
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10821034
Police report says break-in at Democratic Party HQ suspicious
SEATTLE (AP) - A preliminary police report suggests an Election Day burglary at the headquarters of the state Democratic Party might be something other than a routine break-in.
The majority of items taken belonged to important campaign workers and the burglar attempted to make it look like a random crime, the report states.
Police are still investigating and won't speculate on why the office was targeted.
"Unless we know who the suspects are, it's kind of hard to figure out a motive," spokesman Mark Jamieson said Thursday.
Workers arriving about 5:30 a.m. Nov. 6 found the front door smashed. Police secured the building and found offices ransacked. In addition to the Democratic Party, the building held offices for Jay Inslee's campaign for governor and Organizing for America, the campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama.
A window had been broken to get into a director's office and confidential files were rifled through and moved. Other offices that were hit included the media coordinator and fundraising section. A trash can was dumped and used to haul away the stolen property.
More at Link:
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Break-in-at-Democratic-Party-headquarters-in-Seattle-suspicious-179514771.html
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Sorry that's probably TMI, but we've been shocked by what's going on there. Of course we've been under attack since Bush took office - really under attack, financially, every other way from the GOP and they show no signs, between the churches taking people RW of stopping anything. It's insidious.
And I'm sorry you're losing a good one....
