The Association of British Drivers (ABD) is calling for the UK government to get their thumbs out and start building some more damn roads already, and bloody well do something to improve the safety of the ones they've already got [paraphrasing]. "Major roads like the A1 still have dangerous crossing points in the central reservation, instead of proper graded junctions. It is outrageous that people continue to be killed in these places because the British Government refuses to invest in decent roads." As I discussed with ABD's affable spokesman Paul Biggs, the government is being pulled in two directions. On one hand, environmental pressure groups are pushing The Powers That Ride in Limos to legislate against car use (or at least tax the Hell out of it). On the other, the pols need new roads to stimulate the economy (so they can collect more taxes). And the winner is… stasis. "The government have listened to frankly silly suggestions from the anti roads lobby that 'roads create traffic' which is considered a 'bad thing', and so improving the roads has become taboo. On the contrary, removing roadspace and obstructing the roads is supposed to make traffic magically disappear, with no ill effects on people's lives." Supposed?
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Taxing the hell out of the British public is what British politicians DO.
The only difference between “gas” prices in the states (at about $3.15 per US gallon in my town) and the price for “petrol” that my sister in law pays in Scotland (at about $8.21 per US gallon equivalent) is – taxation.
Yes, but there’s a good reason for fuel taxes. if anything, it’s the easier way to control traffic-generated emissions. Much better than the debated CAFE increases in the U.S.
Remember, taxes are not necessarily bad. it’s their judicious application and the way the revenues they generate are used that matter.
I’m sure the U.S. wish they had more funds for bridge repairs after the Minnesota incident.
Unfortunately, Mr Glenn126, that’s the UK for you! Just like the US are considered to brutal in their free market system (Got no health care? Out on the streets, pauper!), the UK are taxed like a biatch! What makes the whole thing even worse is we don’t know where the money goes! Actually, I’ve got a clue, it sounds like “A rack”.
I’d love to use public transport, instead of my car, if I could trust it. But it’s slow, it’s unreliable, it’s privatised yet still asks for subsidies from the government and the management of public transport is appalling! I wonder if GM have secretly been running UK public transport…….?
Yes, Katie, I’ve lived in the UK twice, once for two years (in the USAF) and then later, for seven years (my second son was born in Ipswich).
I used to walk to work because the bus was so slow, I might as well have walked and so saved my money. There was no point trying to drive to work, there was not enough parking spaces. We did get a car, mostly for going to get monthly shopping (unlike most Americans, being that I was a USAF veteran means I know how to budget with being paid only once a month – Americans usually are paid every two weeks or even weekly). We also enjoyed our car to visit family and friends and holidays, as well as weekend jaunts to the castles, beaches, sights, etc.
But wowzers, every autumn the cry would go up “not another 15p on petrol, 10p on cigarettes and 10p on a pint!” (For me, only the first hurt the pocketbook since I didn’t smoke and I’m teatotal).
As for the medical thing, well, my youngest son – soon it’s his 20th birthday – just got a nice pay raise at his work. He now makes $9.50 per hour as a cook. But since he is not in college, our medical insurance will no longer cover him – and while there is a low-cost charity subsidized medical insurance plan for low paid able-bodied working people living in our three county area (info available at the food pantry at our church), it only extends to single men if they make $9.25 or less. Obviously, this just is teaching many people that – it doesn’t pay to work. Hence the fact that our (and all other local) food pantries are now serving twice as much food to the poor as it was a year ago.
So my son will be without any medical insurance by the new year. And there is nothing I can do about it.
Even voting for HillBillery won’t change it. All we’ll get is higher costs, worse service, higher taxes, and a higher death rate. I can say that categorically because Canada’s “universal” health care is so bad that Canadians routinely get 2nd or 3rd mortgages to come south and pay cash for urgent operations in order to stay alive, instead of die waiting for their number to come up for surgery or transplants in Canada. (Canada does not allow 2nd tier private health care as Britain allows). I strongly suspect we’d have the situation if we get “Hilarycare” – and it’ll be a disaster.
At least we can say that 75% of us DO have excellent medical coverage and insurance, and pretty large portion of the 25% who don’t are covered by Medicaid (i.e. federal government charity care). What’s I find abysmal, however, is that the illegal aliens among us routinely are provided full Medicaid service usually reserved to the genuinely poor, while the working poor, legal Americans, like my son, get – nothing.
As for taxation to pay for our roads, well, the liars in state and national capitals all over the world make promises, promises, promises about funding this and that with taxes and essentially, it is no different here.
Case in point, as someone mentioned, the Minnesota bridge. But on a more day to day level, if you come to Michigan, Katie, you’ll need to brace yourself for some of the worst roads in the United States. They nearly are bad enough to belong in a 3rd world country.
Having spent the last two months in the UK, I second the observation that the government here simply hates motorists. They collect enormous revenue through the fuel tax, and instead of setting up a “highways trust fund” or using some other accounting scheme to make sure it is mainly (or at least first) applied to road purposes, I have the feeling that it is simply dumped into the general revenues pot. The road and highway infrastructure here is surprisingly modest in scale and scope.
In fairness, however, I must admit that while the UK needs to build new roads, expand existing highways, and eliminate some of their bloody-minded roundabouts (through the use of grade-separated interchanges), they have done a fairly good job of maintaining the existing roads, such that potholes and dangerously choppy surfaces are far less common over here than back in the US. All the same, this may be due to the climate, which experiences far fewer hard freezes than comparable American regions face.
@ AKM
Actually, there was plenty of money available for infrastructure upkeep without raising taxes. Unfortunately, the US Congress can and does divert money to more important projects like bridges to nowhere, new highways that provide jobs and photo ops and other pork projects. In fact, I would wager that any new taxes specifically dedicated to bridge repair would also have riders parceling funds out to other worthy endeavors like the Sparta Teapot Museum and Alaskan berry research.
glenn126:
Many Americans come to Canada to get better medical care for free because their spouse is Canadian, and therefore save many thousands of dollars. From people I’ve spoken to, the quality of health care is much better here in Canada than the States, not to mention it’s available to EVERYBODY – no exceptions. I don’t mind paying extra health care taxes, because the money is going to good use.
But, gas tax… that’s another problem. In Canada, I think about 3% of the gas tax goes to roads (but the gas tax was made to pay for the roads…) In the US, I think about 30% of the gas tax goes to roads, and last I read, close to 100% of the gas tax in Britain goes to roads. If this is still accurate, then it’s no wonder the UK aren’t building more roads – they’re using all the money they have to maintain the roads they have.
Glenn126,
The healthcare system is the UK isn’t that bad. At least people get seen, without asking for payment details! The roads are in pretty good condition, too. But the report is right. We need more roads. There are 25 million cars in a country the size of California. We need to utilise the space better! And if someone tells you that the UK is losing all their countryside and all the woods are disappearing, don’t believe the hype! There is so much woodland in the UK, I swear I saw a gibbon in my garden, the other day!
with regards to Michigan roads, I’ve been told this about many States’ roads. I’m going to be driving in California in January (I’ve asked AVIS for a Ford Focus to see how bad it really is!) and I’ve been warned to look out for potholes.
@ Iprocter1982:
Canada has the best health care system in the world, as long as you never get sick. Ask anyone who’s had a life threatening illness. Canadians pay outrageous taxes to support a slipshod system that has no competition in the marketplace. American’s pay for heath insurance in a system where hospitals actually compete for your business.
So what do you think is better? Free market or socialized healthcare managed by the same bunch of bureaucrats that run the DMV?
The roads and everything else in our society suffer due to excessive taxation. But hey, we’ve got “free healthcare”.
Be careful what you wish for, Comrades.
The long-term solution to the roads problem is to stabilize the population.
A friend sent me this, it’s appropriate to the subject. And we aren’t even talking “Trillion”… only (US) Billion…
The next time you hear a politician use the
word ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about
whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending
YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,
but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into some perspective in
one of its releases.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were
living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and
20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let’s take a look at New Orleans It’s amazing what you can learn with some simple division . .
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number, what does it mean?
A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of
New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you
each get $516,528.
B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.
C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family
gets $2,066,012.
Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! … Are all your calculators broken??
Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.
Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.
If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax hi m until he’s good and sore.
Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
‘Taxes drove me to my doom!’
And when he’s gone,
We won’t relax,
We’ll still be after the inheritance TAX!!
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Su rcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Su rcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What happened? Can you spell ‘politicians!’
And I still have to ‘press
1’ for English.
I hope this goes around THE
USA at least 100 times
What the heck happened?????
(Interestingly, if you actually stop to read the US Constitution – apparently something none of our politicians ever have done – you’ll note some interesting facts. The Dollar is (supposed to be) an ounce of silver (physical) coin, or gold equivalent, nothing else is legal tender, and nothing is said about paper money or “the Fed”. Taxation was (until 1913) solely by import taxes and excise (federal sales) taxes. Nothing else was needed. -Glenn)
The Canadian medical system is a mess. Just what you would expect from the government. Read this and open your eyes.
“Over there I had three specialists come into my room every day and talk to me,” said Laporte, who stayed at Henry Ford Hospital for seven days, though he has yet to the see the bill that OHIP will pick up. “At six in the morning I would have an intern give me the latest tests. I would see the specialists even on the weekend. I was at the hospital in Windsor for three days and I saw the cardiologist twice.
“Over there, the hallways are packed with people: doctors and nurses. It’s almost like being in a mall. When they rolled me back here around seven at night, I thought they were rolling me into a morgue. There were hardly any people.”
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=4285ba53-9e64-4bf6-b52c-bcc09eaefca1
I am not quibbling with Glenn’s general point, but one should be careful throwing around big numbers. A billion days ago (when no-one walked on two feet, according to the above) was roughly 3 million years ago.
Our upright hominid predecessor Australopithicus afarensis, of which Lucy is the most famous member, lived from roughly 4 million to 2.7 million years ago.
Carnivorous dinosaurs were walking the earth on two feet probably a couple of hundred million years before that. (Oddly, all the carnivorous dinosaurs were bipeds.)
Why do these TTAC comments always devolve into a healthcare debate?
Do comments at healthcare sites always devolve into arguments about cars??
They have healthcare sites with people discussing stuff? I would like to have a link to one to see what they discuss, if it’s interesting or bedtime reading.