http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2012/01/this_toll_hike_could_be_just_t.html
This toll hike could be just the beginning
Published: Sunday, January 01, 2012, 2:09 AM
Paul Mulshine/The Star Ledger
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In 2001, a guy by the name of Bret Schundler was running for governor. The Republican candidate’s platform called for the immediate removal of the Garden State Parkway tolls.
His Democratic opponent, Jim McGreevey, said he’d get rid of the tolls as well, but it would take seven years.
Schundler as much as called him a liar. “If I win, tolls come down; if I lose, we get high-speed E-ZPass,” he said.
McGreevey won and proceeded to prove himself a liar — in what may be record time for even a Jersey pol. The day after he took the oath of office, McGreevey went on 101.5 FM and told a caller that he had no intention of keeping his promise to remove tolls.
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This is news to “We, The Sheeple” / Nu Jerzee subset!
Anyone who thinks that either side of the duopoly can be trusted is sadly delusional.
And the politicians and bureaucrats are perfectly happy if “the cost of collecting that toll can easily exceed the toll itself.” The bureaucrats get paychecks and the politicians get loyal voters in those bureaucrats. No corruption in that!
Wonder if some one can figure out the percentages. What percentage of NJ voters are “voting under the influence” of the Gooferment money.
There’s interesting anecdotal stories that Teachers’ Union SPOUSES run for school boards where they live; not where their spouse teaches. No conflict of interest, right? Until you realize that rasies won in one district become the norm in others.
Could it be that we have more than 50% of the voters who have “a dog in the fight”?
No wonder “we” just can’t win!
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Reinke Faces Life 
In New Jersey, we have a State DOT and the NJT & GSP entity. Both with a hierarchy of well paid bureaucrats. The DOT has 80% of the total budget and roads. NJT&GSP the rest. The politicians use the “bonds” as the reason there has to be this artificial separation. The bonds are refunded to keep them in force. IF they were to be paid off, then those objections would be moot. Several gubernatorial candidates have opined that this is a scam. The State Government could assume the bonds since it’s the State’s liability in reality. And, that turning it over to the DOT would result in an absolute savings to the State Government, the NJ Taxpayers, NY toll payers, and toll payers in general. There’d be no loss in road workers; just a lot of out of work “managers”. Pension costs would go down. The negative and the reason it will NEVER happen is that politicians and their in-laws will lose a plum.
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Gee, what a novel approach, if we eliminated the tolls, we wouldn’t have to pay all those toll collectors, and maintain the toll booths! Now to be practical, there would still be expenses in order to maintain the highways…but that would be a lot less and could be budgeted through the general taxes.
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