Federal investment and integrity | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: Jim Bispo's weekly column appears in the Beaufort Observer.

    We hear the Anointed and a lot of his Dem cohorts talking about the need to "invest" in our infrastructure.(i.e. spend money on their pet projects). A great many of the things that the Anointed One talks about "investing in" are roads, bridges and the like - funded from the gas tax. Don't tell me - more shovel ready projects.. At the same time we are being told that the Highway Trust Fund that was advertised as being specifically earmarked to fund roads, bridges, and the like is about to run out of money. We can only wonder why so much of the gas tax money is being diverted to quite a few other purposes (virtually all of which are only peripherally connected with highways and bridges) while at the same time we are complaining that the Trust Fund is running out of money. So how does one solve that issue?? Simple. Increase the gas tax. Never mind plugging the "leaks" by restoring Trust (i.e. integrity - another word not so many politicians seem to know or understand) to the Trust Fund. Never mind that raising the tax is regressive in that hurts the poor more than the well-to-do. That would be the same "poor" the Dems perpetually claim to be looking out for. Of course... But this is different... Maybe we could provide a tax credit (refundable of course) to everyone below a certain income threshold who also owns a car. That should take care of the "poor" - and surely it would buy a few more votes for the Dems. (It would also likely get more of the so called "poor" into car ownership - with or without insurance)

    There is another way of looking at this situation. Here's how it works now. The Feds establish a gas tax. The states collect the money that it produces and send it to Washington. The people in Washington then turn around and send some of it back to the states - presumably based on need - but frequently to "favored" states. In the meantime, quite a lot of the money collected is "siphoned off "as what might be called overhead in the private sector. Here's a couple of things we could do to make our highway money go a lot further. First: Quit allowing it to be used for extraneous things (even though they may be peripherally related to roads etc.). And second: Cut the Feds out of the tax collection and distribution pipeline.. Let the states collect the tax as they currently do, but let them keep whatever they collect and use it for roads, bridges and the like (not including bike paths etc). That would save the money a long trip (i.e. to Washington and back) and yet make the money go further. Hmm... Leave the states to manage their own highway program. As things currently stand, it isn't clear that the states get the kind of "help" they really need from the Feds. I'm not sure if it is the Transportation Department or the Congress that needs to be pulled up short to fix this situation. They probably both do.

    I'm not sure which Federal Department funds the U.N. (or at least the disproportionate share of the UN that we pay for), but whoever it is needs to have that funding severely restricted. Yes, there are probably some things that the U.N. does that are beneficial (ICAO comes to mind). But the majority of programs the UN "manages" amount to little more than "playing office" or serving as a "piggy bank" for a lot of crooks who have been eating out of the UN trough far too long. Normally, I wouldn't really care about them wasting money like that, but it is largely American money they are wasting so I do care...

    Speaking of integrity...You've got to admit, the Israelis are really bad. They keep bombing (i.e. destroying) what are reported as being UN schools, libraries, apartment buildings, and the like in Gaza.. Surely targeting the UN schools and all those other types of facilities doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Hamas terrorists set up their rocket launch sites at the schools, libraries, adjacent to apartment buildings, etc.. Of course not. Clearly the Israelis simply aren't sensitive to the need to avoid civilian casualties. At least that is what we are hearing from a lot of the American (and foreign) press. Do you suppose the Israelis providing advance notice of their counter attacks has anything to do with the abuse being heaped upon them?? In any case, the schools, hospitals, apartments etc. will all have to be rebuilt. Likely by the U.N., or at least with U.N. (read mostly American) money.

    It would be interesting to hear the justification for spending U.N. money in Gaza.. Do you suppose it's because the folks in Gaza are so poor that they can't afford to take care of themselves?? Of do you suppose after Hamas spends so much of their money on rockets to fire at Israel they don't have enough left for schools and all those other things?? It is long since past time for the UN to quit bankrolling terrorists (like Hamas). It is also long since past time for the U.S. to quit bankrolling the U.N.

    D'ya Think??