Public Safety Or Revenue
Feb 3, 2011 Political
Whenever a red light or speed camera is installed the local government tells us it is for the safety of the driving public. The cameras will decrease accidents and will make people drive more safely. It is hard to say one way or the other if the cameras reduce accidents but one thing is clear, they increase revenue and that is the real reason for having them.
The government claims that the cameras are for safety and revenue is not a concern but when red light cameras stop producing revenue or the amount drops drastically the cameras are moved to another location. If safety was the first concern then the cameras would not be moved. This has happened in the People’s Republic of Maryland.
In Maryland they also leave the speed cameras in construction zones. The cameras, designed to keep speed down to protect construction workers, are left on all the time including the many hours that construction workers are not present. The stated purpose is to protect construction workers but the real purpose is to increase revenue.
These cameras are multiplying in the state of Maryland and they are multiplying for one reason, to increase revenue. Government is very good at starting a program and then increasing the scope of the program to further encroach into our lives. Seat belt laws were once a secondary offense but after a while they became a primary offense. This is now happening in Baltimore County. Speed cameras were placed near schools in order to keep the speed down and children safe.
Now that people are driving slower in these areas the government has decided that it will start using more cameras and they will be moved from one location to another.
It is not about safety, it is about revenue.
I just wish they would stop pretending they care about safety and tell us the real goal, raising money.
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: lies, Maryland, red light camera, revenue, speed camera
There’s An App For That
Jul 17, 2009 Political
Red light and speed cameras are a source of controversy because they snap pictures of what appears to be an illegal act which is used to send a fine for a predetermined amount. There is no real chance to fight the ticket and the accused is not able to confront the accuser.
The people who install these things claim they are there for the safety of the public. Officials claim the cameras keep people from running red lights or speeding. But there are no points associated with the fines and insurance companies are not notified so there is very little deterrent effect. Most folks would rather pay the fine than have it on their license and reported to insurance. The reason that there are no points and no reports is because these are designed for one thing only and that is to raise revenue.
The cameras are placed by jurisdictions in order to raise MONEY. They do not care about public safety, they care about getting money. Cameras that do not bring in enough revenue are removed or relocated. If it was about safety they would not move them for failure to generate enough revenue.
If it was about safety one would assume that people going the speed limit and stopping at red lights would be a good thing no matter why they are doing it. Not so in DC where the police chief is upset because folks with iPhones are using a service that alerts them to the locations of speed traps and traffic cameras. Cathy Lanier calls people using such devices cowards. Why is it that the people who use such devices to stay out of trouble are cowards while the police use devices to detect speeders? If using a device makes one a coward, what does it say about the police?
More importantly, if this is all about safety then why is the chief worried about people being alerted that they need to watch their speed? DC is a small place but has 290 cameras, nearly 10% of all traffic cameras in the US (based on estimates). Having this many cameras means that people will be alerted a lot in DC. This will keep most of them driving the speed limit in order to avoid a ticket. If public safety is the main concern then isn’t this a good thing?
No, the real reason that the cameras exist is to produce revenue. People who avoid the cameras are avoiding contributing their fair share to the cause and the officials do not like that one little bit.
Why would they be upset if it were a public safety issue? Do we really care why people slow down as long as they do?
Radar cameras in DC generated a billion dollars of revenue during fiscal years 2005 to 2008.
It is all about the money.
Maybe we can replace the police chief with an iPhone. Is there an App for that?
Source:
Washington Examiner
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: iphone, public safety, revenue, speed camera
Democrats fail to control government spending
May 13, 2008 Political
The Democrats promised to have an open government and to clean up the mess left by Republicans after 12 years of control. The Republicans brought the mess on themselves by turning into Democrats and increasing the size of government and the associated spending. Now that the Democrats have taken control spending continues to escalate even with record revenue to the treasury.
April saw an increase in revenue fueled by the tax deadline, a date where Americans demonstrate their lack of freedom by paying the government the fruits of individual labor. A total of $403.8 billion dollars was taken in by the government in April but spending for the month was higher than in April of last year. The deficit will get worse in the coming months as rebate checks go out, many to people who paid no taxes to begin with.
The federal government does not have an income problem, it has a spending problem. The politicians simply cannot control their spending habits and that means they need to take more and more of our money. Record revenues cannot keep them from spending more than they take in.
When Republicans were in control everything was blamed on them. The Democrats are now in control and this increase in spending comes on their watch. The size of government continues to grow and the Democrats continue to spend. Their open government is filled with back room deals and shady tactics allowing them to hide what they are doing.
The fact that we pay taxes is bad enough but the idea that they keep taking more and fail to control spending is even worse. We are supposed to be a free country but Americans did not enjoy their own money until April 23rd this year (it would have been later but the “rebate1” checks moved the date to the left). Everything we earned up until that date was required to satisfy our tax bill for the year. That means Americans, in effect, belong to the government and are forced to work for the government. Forced. The money is taken, not given and that means we are anything but free. We ended the practice of owning people and forcing them to work for free. The government must not have gotten the memo.
Instead of being a government of the people we are a government that enslaves the people. If the average employer took money from his employees he would go to jail. We are the employers of those in government and yet they confiscate our money.
The Democrats are in charge and government is growing. That does not relieve Republicans of any responsibility because government got bigger under their control as well. The only way to fix this problem is to vote every one of them out of office and start with new people and fresh ideas. We need to vote in people, regardless of party, who will limit the size of government and cut government spending. Otherwise we need to abolish the government and start over.
The spending problem is not new but the Democrats made a big issue of all the things that happened with Republicans in charge (even though the Democrats were just as guilty). That being the case, it is now time to hold the Democrats responsible for what is happening on their watch. The price of gasoline was $2.19 when they took control and now it is approaching $4.00. All of the economic woes happened since they took control and they are to blame for them. During the 2006 elections the economy was not an issue and the Democrats trumpet that they won because people are fed up with the war. The economy was not a major part of their platform, it was all about Iraq. Since they took over the economy has slumped and their promises to the anti war crowd have gone unfulfilled (not that I’m complaining about that).
Congress has the power to control spending, it is their Constitutional duty. They can blame the president but he signs or vetoes what they come up with. President Bush certainly added to the problem by losing his veto pen when his party was in power and spending increased. While he has found that pen, little has changed since Democrats took control. They continue to spend like drunken sailors on shore leave (my apologies to sailors). They are spending even more than the Republicans they criticized.
It is time for all Americans from both parties to band together and vote every incumbent out of office. I did my part and my Representative lost his primary. He will not be in office again and can cause no further harm (and he was a Republican). If you care for this country then vote them all out of office and let’s replace them with people who will do the job and do it right.
They refuse to pass a law limiting their terms but we have the power to do that ourselves by voting them out.
If we stay the course and add more Democrats to the rolls without replacing those who are already there we will get more big government and more spending which will lead to more taxes and further erosion of the dollar. Filling the place with Republicans without replacing the ones who are there will not be much different.
Source:
Yahoo Finance
1 The checks are not really rebates. A rebate requires a person to spend money in order to get a portion of it back. Many folks who are getting checks paid no taxes at all. The scheme is actually income redistribution.
Tags: big government, Democrats, Pelosi, revenue, slavery, spending, taxes