A gas station attendant adjusts a sign on Dec. 12 in Tolleson, Ariz. (Ross D. Franklin, The Associated Press)
Re: “Capitalize on low fuel prices by raising Colorado gas tax,” Jan. 5 editorial.
Here in Colorado and around the country, the left has seized upon the possibility of raising fuel taxes. Gas is down, so folks won’t mind, right? Actually, we do mind.
Fuel taxes, ostensibly for road repair and construction, have been aggressively collected for many years. This money has, in polite terms, been “mis-allocated.” Our elected representatives (and senators) in both parties cannot be trusted to do the right thing. More good money after bad won’t fix this, when these folks will take it to build more bike paths and put it toward still more failed green-energy schemes. With what passes for our legislature, we rejoice at the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Itap the only thing that keeps Colorado from becoming California or Illinois.
Please spare us any notion of sunset provisions for when fuel goes back up. The only thing more permanent than a “temporary” tax is death.
Pat Desrosiers, Denver
This letter was published in the Jan. 8 edition.Itap true that our transportation infrastructure needs work and raising gas taxes would help, but such measures alone are like giving cheap drugs to an addict. The addict here is the governmental entities that make little effort to spend the funds that they currently receive wisely or with any accountability for fraud and abuse. So following a standard set with Obamacare (where some of its funding comes from reductions in Medicare/Medicaid fraud), I propose that for every dollar of tax raised to help the transportation infrastructure fund, we require equal reductions in waste, fraud and abuse. If the goals can’t be reached, the next year’s tax is reduced to match only the previous improvements in spending efficiencies.
If we’re going pay to help the addictap life improve, then the addict also needs to take steps to end its addictions.
John Hebert, Loveland
This letter was published in the Jan. 8 edition.
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