Croc

YES IT IS!! And it looks like Measure R did as well in LA County. .5% in sales tax now goes to transportation, and LA County sales tax is now 8.75%. It was nice to see decisive support in the end--the San Gabriel Valley and East LA were against it because the initial projects were all for the Westside...well where is the infrastructure deficit located?

No kidding. Transportation infrastructure is my field. And unlike many other fields with their issues, there is a real consensus on the gas tax.

Everytime you buy groceries, you drive to the store. You use the roads. Even if you walk, you're using road infrastructure: the sidewalk. But if you walk, you never pay the gas tax. So tell me how California is punishing its farmers so unfairly, and why they haven't revolted. I'd be fascinated to know. Uh, no. I get it, you don't like taxes of any kind. But you're not offering any alternatives. "Come out of the general fund" OK cool...but from where is the money coming INTO the general fund? Also, infrastructure needs steady maintenance, or else we have Minneapolis all over again. Wouldn't putting infrastructure as an adjustible line-item in the budget leave it more vulnerable to funding irregularities than it already is now?

Eh. Loved how they suddenly went from Upper 4th down to Flower, and in the next scene were in Brentwood.

Then enlighten me, please. Worked quite well as long as the tax kept being raised to keep up with inflation. Worked well until 1981. No, I'm advocating for a percentage-based tax instead of a flat tax. Can't disagree there, but where will the money come from? Until you can identify a reliable, alternate source of funds, the gas tax is it. Really? It seems to me that it came about as a way for drivers to pay for the cost of roads. If the gas tax were to go away, what would you propose in its place? Drivers use roads, contributing to wear and tear. This needs to be paid for.

So what are you saying, we should just stop funding transportation infrastructure because things may cost more? That's ridiculous. Sure, trickle-down occurs. But with gas low again (who wants to take bets on how long this will last?), and the prices of goods not dropping, what's the deal? As I already said, CA has a percentage component to its gas tax, and the world didn't end. Prices on basic items haven't skyrocketed, and in fact, my grande iced coffee at Starbucks is cheaper in LA than it is in Indianapolis! I know this happened back in 2007, but it's important that we don't forget what happens when necessary repairs aren't made because the gas tax hasn't kept up with inflation: Is saving $0.13 on that cheeseburger REALLY worth it?

Voted last week, but today is going to be nervewracking until I can ascertain that everything is as it should be. Then it will be a massive bender. Oh the joys of having no class on Wednesday...

We don't say that at our chapter. But seriously...transportation infrastructure is my field. Thankfully CA is the only state that has a percentage component to the gas tax. It still needs to go all percentage, though...it just doesn't fund anything these days.

I hope Prop 8 fails, but it is going to be VERY close, unfortunately. I hope you're voting for Prop 1A and Measure R, empowah. LA really needs both of those to go through, badly, despite what some in SGV have been saying. Yes, the Westside will be the primary beneficiary in the beginning, but continued revenue from R will help better link east AND west in the years to come.

The best option would be to convert the flat gas tax to a percentage-based gas tax, similar to a sales tax. This would solve two problems: 1) the diminished value of a flat gas tax (the gas tax bought a hell of a lot more in 1965 than in 2005) due to inflation and 2) the need to raise the gas tax to combat inflation-driven diminished buying power. A percentage-based tax would never need to be adjusted to the CPI as its revenue would be based on the fluctuating value of fuel. If you're referring to a truck in the sense of diesel truck traffic, the gas tax is different for commercial vehicles. If you're referring to the average construction worker, or someone else who tends to require pickup trucks, vans and SUVs for their job, then your argument is weak as nothing would stop them from getting a hybrid truck. Hell, give them a tax deduction to encourage a switch to a hybrid truck and I'd be fine with that.

How is the gas tax a separate issue? When the primary source of revenue for transportation infrastructure lies squarely with the gas tax (by a very large margin), there is but one issue.

Gas tax revenue is nearly the sole revenue source for transportation infrastructure repairs. Small portions are allocated toward improving public transit and freight movement, but the vast majority goes to road infrastructure. This money cannot be used for anything else, as the gas tax was implemented so motorists paid approximately proportionally to the amount of miles of roads they used. Now, with increased MPG, this is no longer the rule, but the basic principle generally holds true: drive more, pay more in gas taxes.

Until another DEDICATED source of transportation infrastructure revenue is GUARANTEED, the only real, viable option is to raise the gas tax. I can't put a price on a single life, let alone multiple lives, so closing the massive funding gap that began in 1981 with Ronald Reagan is of utmost importance; we can't have another bridge collapse due to deferred maintenance resulting from a lack of funding. We cannot afford to play catch up with our nation's infrastructure any longer.

I am so sick of the non-stop political coverage we've had for an entire year now...I can't wait for the day I can turn on cable news again and hear about something OTHER than the race to the White House. Just going out on a limb here, but doesn't it seem logical that the rest of the world didn't stop a year ago, and that there are many important international stories that should have been covered but weren't?

Yes, yes, and quite a bit, actually. I've never come across this ridiculous stereotype. The closest thing I can think of is that some British accents make people sound "smart," but that's certainly not all of them, and most certainly isn't implying that they ARE smarter or better-educated or anything. Unless you're confusing TV/pop culture with aatbloke, which is totally understandable.

How the hell do you figure that? That's one "stereotype" I've never heard.

Don't feel bad about it...think instead of the single mom working 2 jobs who can't afford to wait in line all day long and forgo her day's wage. The more people vote in absentia, the shorter the lines will be for everyone else.

*Prays for a Nissan-Renault deal to go through*

Cincinnatti isn't that bad. They have some nice topography, and a pretty cool Old Town area. Some good bars too. That said, there are many, many other places I'd rather go.

Because as we have clearly seen from Sarah Palin, when a complete unknown is running for office, they receive a very speedy and thorough vetting. Obama isn't an unknown. Anyone telling you or believing otherwise just has not been paying attention. Obama has been running for 2 years, and many could legitimately claim he has been running since 2004. He has already been a public figure for years, and his roots as a community organizer seem to preclude him from being some kind of Al Quaida plant. Do you think Al Quaida would have been invested in this man for all of the years he has been in the public eye on the gamble that in 20 years he'd be running for President? Really? Seriously? Also, if you don't think he's a Christian, and doesn't have a Christian bone in his body--which by the way, is extremely hypocritical for a Christian to accuse another Christian, not to mention against many, many passages in the Bible--how do you explain the Rev. Wright mini-saga? Do you think a Muslim would forgo services to go to church in order to take part in a multi-decade charade? Really? You worry about this? Ask your doctor if Xanax is right for you.

I agree with the reviewer that this should also be available with a 4. Honestly, GM is so backward in their hybrid thinking with regards to product segmentation.

My Jesuit HS did. It was the only "religious" class in the religion department, so I got lucky on that. It was great...8 classes were offered, and you had to complete 5 (1 per year + 1 elective). 9th: World Religions 10th: Making Moral Decisions (basically the whole class was determining if something was a moral, immoral, or amoral decision based on Judeo-Christian morality concepts) 11th: Social Justice 12th: Religious Theology and Philosophy OR Ignation Spirituality OR The Hebrew Bible Elect.: Relationships (MBTI, Enneagram, other personality type studies) OR Values in the Media (how things are represented on TV) Pretty secular for a "Catholic" school, huh?

Or Chevrolet, or Buick, or Cadillac. Pontiac isn't necessary. Don't get me wrong, I don't want Pontiac shuttered, but I'm just pointing out the realities present.

Which is ironic because the Japanese Super Mario Bros. II (Famicom Disk System--Japanese-only) was the best of the platforming ones IMO (released in America as The Lost Levels in Super Mario All-Stars, a modfied version appears in the Game Boy Color game Super Mario Deluxe as Super Mario for Super Players, and the original is finally available on the Virtual Console for Wii).

Wow...I'm pretty sure that was really just good-natured ribbing on stereotypes, not to be taken that seriously at all man. PCS lived in Texas, so I'm fairly certain he's aware of everything you just said. And before any Texans come at me with some crazy misplaced vitriol, I'M NOT TEH SERIOUSNESS FOR REALZ