If Missouri is the “Show Me” state, Michigan must be the “We’ll Believe Anything” state. I mean, we actually elected a man as governor who laid out absolutely no specifics on his vision of governing our state. Although he loved to proclaim himself a non-politician, he rolled out every vague platitude and aphorism about “strengthening the state” and “increasing employment” that every first time candidate hopes will satisfy disinterested voters, but in his case they actually did.
And while there are a number of articles to follow about how his unrevealed plans were to strap the poor and middle class with the bill for enacting his vision, for now let’s discuss how his new “Fix the Roads” refrain is one more stab at a chance to punish the innocent to pay for his inequitable budget balancing strategy.
It’s not that the roads don’t need the work. Lord knows that if you drive across this great country you’ll notice that Michigan has just about the crappiest roads around. I haven’t visited all 50 states and I suppose Alaska may be worse, but for the 28 or so states that I have traversed we’re the worst. I definitely agree that the roads 
need fixing.
But…
My car didn’t ruin the roads. Neither did yours. This article claims that it would take 10,000 cars to do the damage one 18 wheeler inflicts on the roads. USA Today believes the correct number is 9,600 cars required to do the same damage, but points out that their assumption is based on the legal weight limit posted for most states at 40 tons. But, as of 2008, over 500,000 trucks with permits allowing them to carry more than 40 tons pounded the nations roads and bridges. If you really want to read an analysis, the University of Kansas did an exhaustive study on a stretch of Kansas highway that concluded the damage from large trucks amounted to roughly $.02 per truck per mile. (see page 122).
So wait a minute. One-term Rick wants me to pick-up the tab? He wants me to pay $1.2 billion to fix roads that I didn’t ruin? (By the way, isn’t $1.2 billion roughly the amount One Term Rick told businesses they didn’t need to pay in taxes henceforth? What a guy, eh?) He wants to raise gas taxes by $.14 per gallon but wait! According to MarketWatch (page 2 of 8) Michigan already has the 7th highest gas taxes in the country.
It seems pretty clear who busted the roads but One Term Rick prefers groveling to businesses since he’ll need a lot more cash this next election when the good citizens of Michigan know exactly what a Tough Nerd means…tough on the middle class.
At this point I’d rather One Term Rick let let the roads devolve to gravel than kick in one more cent for his plan to reinvent the State of Michigan on the backs of the poor and middle class. If the people that broke the roads refuse to fix them, don’t come asking me for the money.
Well let me say right now I welcome your wide, unbiased opinion.
And let’s state the obvious first. Imagine Jennifer Granholm proposing a $2 billion tax increase on the citizens of Michigan and cutting taxes on the largest corporations in the state and saying that education funding may go up a tiny bit but by god we’ll fix the roads. You would have wildly supported that?
I don’t think so. And I know why we don’t want to talk about how we got here because in a state that already had mediocre roads, John Engler increased the amount of recycled asphalt that could be used in road construction/repair. As Sarah Palin would say, “How’s that road thingy working out for ya?”
Also, as a matter of fact, a number of north west counties some years ago decided to convert paved roads to gravel because there wasn’t enough money to maintain them and I remember no outcry from politicians on either side of the aisle.
When Granholm wanted to raise the beer tax a nickel per case ($.0021 per beer) the GOP blew a gasket. They found a micro-brewer in Grand Rapids that threatened to leave the state with his six employees if such a tax was enacted and they made him available to every news outlet around. But now sticking the taxpayers for a couple of billion to shuffle into the deck is no problem?
Yes, trucks bring stuff to Michigan and take stuff out of Michigan. So if we make them pay more they’ll stop coming here? And please don’t make the argument that it’s better for us to pay our money to the state directly rather than slightly higher prices in the stores. In the end my wallet doesn’t know the difference but the trucks will find a way to be more efficient than the state will.
You saw the statistics on truck damage vs. car damage to the road. How about whatever the increase trucks are asked to bear, every car in Michigan will pay 1/9600th that amount?
Come on. Jennie never considered such a windfall for the state on the backs of the taxpayers. She couldn’t even get the beer tax increase passed. I understand the folks in Lansing are a few clowns short of a circus but they better find a way to fix the roads without reaching into our pockets because One Term Rick and his cronies will find a very rocky road of a different sort in 2014.
Hmm. Seems a very narrow, biased perspective.
Those trucks, those you might blame for poor conditions? They’re only here because they’re bring products, goods, or services that you consume. Yes, we can discuss the appropriateness of our legal weight limits. Doing so does not change today’s reality.
I am currently in Austin. There are beautiful roads–everywhere–and new road construction, highways primarily, everywhere. It is reflective of a region with stronger economic vitality. They even have police on patrol (you cannot imagine how many).
Michigan is in a Catch-22 situation. The roads need to be fixed. Doing so provides incentive for more business to migrate to Michigan. Avoid fixing the roads, and business, and the related economic vitality, will stay away. It is pretty simple.
One thing is clear: Letting the roads turn to gravel? Simply irresponsible and achieving less than nothing. Doing nothing is NOT an option.
As for one-term-Rick? I hope it is not so. I believe Gov. Snyder has achieved more in his first few years, his first year even, than his predecessor ever did–let alone imagine. Our governor, with a supportive legislature, has done a lot to put this state back on a sound economic footing. The days of kicking the can down the road, of wallowing in self-pity (as you endorse), are over.
As for the gas tax? Well, the best thing for it is that it is a consumption based tax. So the those trucks that drive more than you, will pay more than you. There, is something you can be happy about. Or, do you honestly prefer gravel? The alternative then is needing to purchase more graders (something you’d also likely complain about).
An “Editor’s Pick” article? Rubbish.