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1. Name Withheld | January 9, 2013 at 11:02 am

   So McDonnell wants to pay for roads by eliminating the gas tax and increasing the sales tax. A few points:

   The gas tax is partly paid by people from outside Virginia who drive through our state. Count the trucks on I-81.

   The sales tax is paid nearly entirely by Virginians.

   The gas tax allows roads to be paid for by those who use them. It’s true that better roadways benefit everyone including those who do not drive, but the present arrangement just seems more fair.

   It’s just a way to transfer taxes that are charged to businesses (the owners of the trucks) to individuals.

   Higher gas taxes promote development of alternative energy and more fuel-efficient vehicles.
2. Scott M. | January 9, 2013 at 11:38 am

   @1 Name Withheld, you say, “The gas tax is partly paid by people from outside Virginia who drive through our state. Count the trucks on I-81.”

   I’m all for tearing down McDonnell because I’m a liberal and he’s ….well, not, but I also want to be fair. I have to point out, out of state drivers also pay sales tax while in Virginia. This may be as simple as buying something at the gas station or hotel stay taxes for the time they spend at the beaches.

   My understanding is they want to keep the tax on diesel so the trucks will continue to pay for road damage.

   The rest of your post is spot on.

   I’d further note, it shifts costs from those who drive big gas using vehicles, which we should be trying to curb, to the general population.

   One more point, this smacks of trying to appear to be doing something to address the problem without addressing the problem. Make a lot of noise, propose changes, maybe even implement changes, don’t address the problem.

   This joke is close but doesn’t quite address it the way I want.

   http://taffywilliams.blogspot.com/2011/07/write-3-letters-you-are-not-that-good.html
3. Scott M. | January 9, 2013 at 11:49 am

   I’ve said before there are some things that don’t belong in a market. Healthcare being one of them.

   Turns out the profit motive makes health care worse.

   http://anticap.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/capitalism-and-healthcare/

   …

   Hospitals run for profit are also less likely than nonprofit and government-run institutions to offer services like home health care and psychiatric emergency care, which are not as profitable as open-heart surgery.

   A shareholder might even applaud the creativity with which profit-seeking institutions go about seeking profit. But the consequences of this pursuit might not be so great for other stakeholders in the system — patients, for instance. One study found that patients’ mortality rates spiked when nonprofit hospitals switched to become profit-making, and their staff levels declined.

   These profit-maximizing tactics point to a troubling conflict of interest that goes beyond the private delivery of health care. They raise a broader, more important question: How much should we rely on the private sector to satisfy broad social needs?….