California Grabs Cash And Cripples Consumers With Latest Gas Tax Hike

Governments across the country have taxed the commuter to pay to maintain infrastructure - that is not unusual.. YOU would expect the need to be greater where they have 10,000 earthquakes in a year.

NY - tends to tax commuters from outside of NY (NJ and CT) by raising Bridge tolls, some of which are now over $15 a day for a car. They do this so they can maintain the low Subway fares.

blue state hell cash grabs satisfy their need to believe they are smarter than everyone else while paying their shitty constituents who are the public assistance handout crowd and non working slackers and trash. its common to all blue states and the larger they are the worse and more obvious its becomes. to all but the sheep who live in them and continue to get soaked by more taxes.

@OneofOne... Red districts have the lowest education amongst voters. I used to wonder how this could be. Thanks for clearing that up you POS. You are part of what is wrong with America. Also, the people receiving the most welfare and handouts are from the trailer parks, probably where your people are from.

Road money in California is ALWAYS diverted to welfare for illegals.

And today I read Kamala Harris wants to put $100 billion aside for blacks to buy housing?!?
Every dollar spent on a rap CD should be counted as reparations.

Someone has to pay for all the free social programs, politicians' favorite pandering programs and to make up for lost income due to corporate exodus to other states. Its only going to get worse (flower) children.

The USA spend $586B on defence in 2015. That figure is now $750B. Surely there is enough money to go around to keep roads and bridges in good repair. Throwing all the money into defence and off the books black programs doesn't keep anyone safer nor keep the infrastructure from crumbling.

It keeps Canada safe and from having to spend much on defense. You should thank us. Peace thru strength!

@CC You engage in the typical apples-to-oranges illogical reasoning of the Fascist-Socialists.

@FAQMD - You don't really know your facts and I hope you are not an MD. There is a story that is quite recent of women driving to Canada to buy insulin for their children who have Type 1 diabetes. In Canada the very same drug is 10X cheaper than it is in the US. They spent $1,200 vs $12,000.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.5126041/americans-stage-caravan-to-canada-to-buy-cheaper-insulin-1.5128109

The for profit medical and insurance system (as well as the greed of drug companies) is bankrupting America. And no, there isn't a line of cars with people driving to the US for care. It's a myth like so many others perpetuated for no other reason that greed.

There are powerful forces at work already from the ad I saw on This Week in Washington on Sunday. Driving home the usual lies about waits and losing your doctor to get ahead of the fight for Single Payer Health Care that will dominate your election in 2020.

100's of Millions will be spent to protect the Billions in profit that will be lost by corporations with a move to this people centric system that so many other G20 countries have. And as they might be backed into a corner, it may get very ugly. Be an informed voter. The lives of your children and grandchildren will be shaped by your vote in 2020.

@CC You're a fascist-socialist leftie.

CommyComments

BULLSHIT. My sister needs 2 new hips and the waiting list in Ontario is 3 YEARS to get this done and she was told this last Wednesday. Today she booked her flight to Phoenix to get them both done next week as she can't wait 3 years with debilitating pain. My preference was for her to use the Cleveland Clinic (best damn medical network in the USA) but that would have taken a few more months to book.

If my family has ANY dire medical needs we will get private services in Toronto (cash service) or go south to the greatest country in the world -Murica whom has the best medical system if you have the money or health insurance to pay for it and we don't mind dropping coin for quicker or gooder services.

You have typical Canadian small dick syndrome whereby you feel the constant need to bash the US in order to make this steaming dog pile of a socialist country seem better -IT ISN'T so smoke some BC Bud and chill the fuck out.

Yet Newsom still wants to build high speed rail in the middle of nowhere

California does not need high speed rail.

Californians DESERVE ALL that the corrupt liberal government does to them.
And there is lots more abuse coming their way! Welcome to socialism. '
Look at Venezuela and see how California will look like in a 10 years.

Except socialism did not kill Venezuela, dictatorship did.

Let's keep voting democrats so we can continue to pay higher taxes! We just love giving our money away to the government.

Did anyone else notice the colosal take down of Canadiancomments communist at the hands of FAQMD???????

Once again, you already stated the answer you want to hear. You don't want to hear anyone else. You aren't capable of tolerating that someone can see it differently. You aren't genuine.

grr wrong segment. That's for CC

@FAQMD - Glad my comment kept you up most of the night and the only comeback is quoting what is going on in China and Russia instead of looking at the UK or Australia. If you did you would see that the USA health system is the highest cost in the world with the worst results (coverage of its people).

You fail to explain why US drug prices are up to and over 10X higher than they are in Canada. Why are US citizens paying so much??

You also ignore the benefit of being able to walk into a hospital with a health card and getting stitches, antibiotics for a cold or getting a kidney removed. Nobody in Canada is pay $15,000 a year for health "insurance" like they are in the USA. And nobody is going to go broke and sell their house because their wife has cancer.

PS- Some doctors in Canada what to be free to bill and earn as much as their US counterparts. The system doesn't let them so they have been bitter at times. Your CMA quote bears out this fact.

@80HO - If the US had proper taxes - state and federal and didn't spend so much money on other stuff there would be lots of money for roads. That was my initial point. But as roads are usually a state venture California and or any other state should be maintaining its own infrastructure even it from time to time it needs Federal assistance for larger projects.

"proper taxes" = radically higher taxes

"other stuff" = welfare programs

The USA needs to radically gut its social assistance programs and let people fend for themselves.

@MD As a guy who knows a thing or two about funds and finances if you could trade a $20,000 family health insurance bill and instead pay $7500 in extra income tax/sales taxes over a year to pay into a single payer health plan for all, why would you not make the switch? What would stop anyone from doing so besides the fear of the unknown? It's better even if nobody believes it.

As for tax in Canada we pay GST/HST on most goods save for food. 13% combined. Gas is about $1.25L these days so about $4.70/Gal like in the EU. These things may seem horrible to some but these taxes are what funds a functioning society that looks after the health of its citizens. We also pay what looks like 1/3 the property tax people in the USA pay.

@CC You pretend to ask a question. You obviously do not want to know my answer because you move straight to a rebuttal of what you think I will say.

If you ask a question, you pose it, then shut up and wait for an answer.

You aren't genuine when you ask questions because your agenda is ALWAYS in the way.

@MD - Feel free to respond and not name call. I would appreciate knowing your take.

@cc see above

Saying that you are not genuine is not name calling.

Don't engage in the bullshit of pretending you want civil discourse because you are one of the most conspicuously intolerant and judgmental people here.

I repeat. You're not genuine. You have already provided the answer you wanted to hear.

@MD- Agreed but you did call me a Communist and a Fascist in this same thread. I don't call people names as a rule. Nor do I ever see any good factual retorts. Just denials and name calling as a rule. You can say I am not genuine all you like but if you don't have a good response, just say so.

Happy 4th of July holiday!

@CC given what you espouse politically, you are a fascist "...a follower of a political philosophy characterized by authoritarian views and a strong central government — and no tolerance for opposing opinions..." That's 100% you.

Socialist, I need not even explain.

Thus, calling you a fascist-socialist a statement of fact. If you think it's name calling then you need to get honest with yourself.

Besides, today fascists are the jack-booted-thug, freedom-of-speech-hating, racist-race-baiting, anti-Semitic Lefties that your words and behavior exemplify.

I'm merely a foil in your play.

As for a response to your initial question--that you provided the answer to that you wanted to hear--I do indeed have a cogent response, but there is no point in giving it because you're just a shout-and-pounce type that starts spewing text that you CTRL-C CTRL-V because it's the boilerplate BS again and again. You have no original thoughts and rely on the propaganda of the fascist-socialists that you suck up to.

When you can be genuine, I'll respond.

@MD- Believing a central democratically elected government can do good things isn't fascist or communist. It's just smart. Towns and Provinces can't always afford the infrastructure of services they need. In Canada big investments are split 3 ways and co-funded by 3 levels of government to move them forward. Health care is much the same and wanting your neighbour to have the care they need is humanism, not communism. But feel free to think of it any way you like.

Lastly as one who is never short of a response or an insult, you have not responded with a suggestion for a better US health care plan or a suggestion on how the US can better fund its need for new infrastructure.

I am not here to win people over or make new friends. We see the world differently and I am more than happy to have a Tim Horton's while I sit on my soapbox and listen to the red-meat GOP responses that dominate this website. :)

(1) You missed the point by an astounding margin.

(2) You keep pontificating but do not engage in listening, so why should I answer you? You aren't listening and you're incapable of conceding you're wrong.

(3) You are hubristic to assume I owe you an answer just because you asked it. Conversely, NOT answering you does not validate what you said.

(4) Reality: EVERYONE here is impolite to everyone else--including yourself--and you are a hypocrite for pretending to be a kinder gentler person.

If you seriously want to ask a question, you ask that question then shut up and LISTEN.

CommyComments

Property taxes 1/3 of the US? Give me a break! My daughter who lives in Augusta GA pays 1/4 of what my mom pays on a similar 4 bedroom house in the burbs on 1/3 acre lot. My house taxes are $14K/year for a 20 acre lot with a private lake (2 acres land -18 lake). Similar properties in MI, OH, PA and other states would be 1/4 of the cost. NY state property tax is nuts though...My house in Pompano Beach FL was $442/year 16 years ago and Homesteaded so where the hell are you getting your numbers from? Fake News!

@QEW - Not fake. I was looking at a job in Boston a few years ago. House the same size as mine in the suburbs in Nashua. $400k. Came with $12,000/Yr in property tax. 4X what I pay. I am sure it is less in Iowa and other locations. But that is where the job was.

CC FYI and for Spies readers. NH (Nashua,NH) has no income tax and no sales tax. So property tax is how they fund the place. Had you looked at $400K house in Mass property tax would have been a lot less. Working in Boston you would pay Mass flat 5% income tax regardless of where you live. And your healthcare would come with that job and you'd have access to some of the top rated health institutions in the world. Dana Farber Cancer Institute has an stated objective of seeing potential new patients in one day. There is a reason most Americans want to keep their doctor and health plan.

Well California has had financial and budgetary problems for years. Its over populated, suffers from harsh environmental conditions. Further it has a state legislature that make partisan politics in Washington seem like Utopia. Further California seems to have limited options to solve their financial problems. You either have to tax or severely cut services. At least with a gas tax people still have a choice as to what they want to drive to mitigate the cost. No one says you can't drive a Ford F600 if that's what you feel you need. But then you have the choice of also driving a Honda Civic if you want to help mitigate the cost of the tax. That becomes entirely up to the individual. Bottom lining it. California is a state in need of financial help and its got to find a way raise that. A gas tax is one option good or bad.

The irony of California is that it is usually the 5th largest economy in the world (or some such laudable position) but it it perpetually teetering in insolvency each year at budget times. California needs to gut welfare because it spends more on welfare than the next 5 most populous states COMBINED. November 2020 will be when things will get tough for California.