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pandora
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join:2001-06-01
Outland
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|  [RANT] Toll bill approved!
»www.greenwichcitizen.com/localne···12007703
Despite an outcry from Fairfield County legislators, members of the state's Transportation Committee recently approved a bill proposing that the state's planners consider ways to install electronic tolls at state borders in municipalities such as Greenwich and Danbury to fund transportation projects.
In an hour-long discussion, legislators from Greenwich, Norwalk, Stamford and Stratford spoke against the bill before the legislature's Transportation Committee voted 22-13 to approve it and send it to the Legislature for consideration.
"I'm concerned that this is a study on where the state will put tolls, rather than a further discussion of them," said state Sen. Antonietta "Toni" Boucher, R-Wilton. "My vote will be 'no,' to highlight the concerns I have."
The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain, chairman of the Transportation Committee, asked Fairfield County legislators for support, saying that a state report on border tolls would determine the feasibility and negative effects of reintroducing tolls and address financial, legal, and environmental issues.
**** more of the story at the link above ****
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Grumpy
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join:2001-07-28
99999
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2 edits | Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! They need to sit for an hour in line at any NYC bridge toll booth during any peak period, then tell us how electronic tolls are the cure all.
And where would we be without a good ol' million dollar study
»www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_11950385 | |
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MrFixitSC
Premium,VIP,ExMod 2001-06
join:2000-12-01
Moncks Corner, SC | Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! so we have to have tolls to pay for the study regarding tolls.. typical CT move, cant wait to get out.. | |
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meskinct
Mad Scientist at Work
Premium
join:2002-01-07
Danbury, CT
clubs: | So what does the gas tax pay for again? | |
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PeteC2
Got Mouse?
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT
clubs:
·AT&T Yahoo
| Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! Yep, meskinct touches my main concern: Once you add another tax, it never goes away...and no other taxes get reduced in kind. The folks in CT are getting cooked like boiling a frog: If you put a frog in a pot of cool water, and slowly turn up the heat, they will never even notice until they get boiled!
Also, anyone who believes that the electronic era will avoid the congestion that toll stops create...guess again! Yep, that is all that we need, more delays and congestion on our already over-burdened highways!
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DrStrange
Technically feasible
Premium
join:2001-07-23
West Hartford, CT | The only time I've ever seen a tax reduced was when Governor Lowell Weicker [with the help of the legislature] enacted the state income tax. The sales tax was 8% before the income tax. Weicker wanted it cut to 4.5%. The legislature cut it to 6%. | |
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PeteC2
Got Mouse?
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join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT
clubs:
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1 edit | Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! said by DrStrange  :The only time I've ever seen a tax reduced was when Governor Lowell Weicker [with the help of the legislature] enacted the state income tax. The sales tax was 8% before the income tax. Weicker wanted it cut to 4.5%. The legislature cut it to 6%. Yep, but considering that 2% "cut" was at the cost of having a state income tax, again, that was no real cut at all, rather an additional source of revenue that will never go away...
In fact, the sales tax may indeed be back on the rise, it is one of the measures being seriously considered...and my wife and I pay a pretty hefty state income tax to CT every year.
I am not arguing the various merits of an income tax versus sales tax...but I would have been more content had they replaced one with the other, rather than having both. The cost of living in this state compared to the services received is not a very good value whatsoever!
BTW, some may remember Weicker fondly...not I! He was a blow-hard and a great revisionist of history...he thought nothing of saying one thing, doing another, and acting indignant and offended when it was brought to his attention! Every once and awhile, someone dusts him off and asks his opinion about the current state of affairs in CT, of which he could really care less...and he always has some bombastic B.S. comment...trying to remind everyone how he "saved" CT from some grisly fate...
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Deeds, not words | |
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Rungel
Run A Mile Live Awhile GT2110's
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join:2001-12-05
Ya I'm Here
| Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! said by PeteC2
said by DrStrange :
BTW, some may remember Weicker fondly...not I! He was a blow-hard and a great revisionist of history...he thought nothing of saying one thing, doing another, and acting indignant and offended when it was brought to his attention! Every once and awhile, someone dusts him off and asks his opinion about the current state of affairs in CT, of which he could really care less...and he always has some bombastic B.S. comment...trying to remind everyone how he "saved" CT from some grisly fate...
[/BQUOTE :I agree.. What really got me at the time was the Kennedy's giving him some big honor. I forgot was it was now.. But it had to do with getting Conn out of it's hole.. So they shoved it up ours. --
'rocking the awakening mind'!
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disconnected
@snet.net
| This is the final phase of government power 'run away', or that exponential upward spiral in the grab for dictatorial power by the State. It happens near the end of every once-great nation's reign. Looks like it will happen here, within out lifetimes. | |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT
| Unbeleiveable. Between the crap going on in CT and the crap going on in DC...I'm at a loss. I'm tired of the government pillaging my money so they can spend it in the most ineffective means possible in order to "ensure" their reelection.
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Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less. | |
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Sr Tech
Premium
join:2003-01-19
New Fairfield, CT
·Charter Pipeline
| Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! said by Glenn :Unbeleiveable. Between the crap going on in CT and the crap going on in DC...I'm at a loss. I'm tired of the government pillaging my money so they can spend it in the most ineffective means possible in order to "ensure" their reelection. Glenn, I could not have said it any better my self.
What is the car tax for, was that not implemented when the tolls were removed? If so then why is the car tax not going away??? | |
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disconnected
@snet.net
| You can grumble all you want, but since voting doesn't work (both parties are Statists/Altruists, differing only in method) the only thing that works is if we all, en masse, withhold our taxes for a year. That would stop the government dead in their tracks, if faced with a solidarity of tax protest across the nation. But it won't happen because too many people believe there is a moral obligation to pay taxes. | |
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disconnected
@sbcglobal.net
| Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! For such a protest to work, it would take tens of millions stopping their payment at once. I doubt the government could do much when a third of the US population has gone on strike. But that kind of organized revolt will probably never happen. Most people have Altruistic beliefs and will sacrifice themselves to the Collective quite willingly. | |
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Phantom 2
On no he can't
Premium
join:2002-05-13
1 edit | I have to disagree that voting doesn't work.We have two options a the voting booth,either vote the same crooks back in or give someone else a chance.Voting the current scoundrels out sends a clear message that we've all had enough.We also have to get off the Republican and Democrat mindset.Both parties are the the same,both money spending liberals.I'm sure that we'll see other philosophies represented at the next elections.Let's give them a good look this time
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"For those who have fought for it,freedom has a taste the protected will never know" | |
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disconnected
@sbcglobal.net
| Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! I disagree. Voting does not work because Democracy doesn't work. Why, you ask? Because in a Democracy, there will be a time when the constituents figure out that they can vote themselves a handout. That is what has happened in the US in the last 75 years. Every Democracy throughout history has eventually failed. The US was intended to be a representative republic, not a democracy. Democracy amounts to 51% of the people deciding what to do with the property of the other 49%.
As for voting, either party is dominant and both are cut from the same cloth--both believe in Altruism and that the rights of the Collective outweigh the rights of the Individual. It is just a minor difference in the specific methods use, but otherwise both parties are the same, so voting is a sham. Oh, sure, you can 'vote' for a write-in candidate, but realisticly, who is going to win? The same statists as usual. | |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT
| I don't want to speak for Grumpy...I remember him posting that we should vote everyone who is in office, out of office; to send a clear message. It's starting to sound like a good idea.
I'm also open to term limits. And maybe making these position unpaid/little pay. Sure, people say that'll only allow "rich" people to hold the seats. But I ask you this: How many of our Congress Critters are "average" wage earners? Something tell me Nancy "I can't wipe this smile off my face, until the botox wears off" Pelosi isn't exactly shopping at Wal-Mart to help the family budget.
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Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less. | |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT
| Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! said by gregamy :said by Glenn :I'm also open to term limits. Dunno if you caught it, but there was a really good editorial on the subject in this month's "Connecticut Magazine" » www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news···24&rfi=6 That is an interesting article! Although, I can't say I'm too jazzed about the though of Chris "John Larson and I have the same hair stylist!" Dodd being our Governor. 
It did raise some good points though. Especially the part about government was never intended to be a lifetime career move. Scares the hell out of me that we have people who went to college in the 60's and 70's, smoked(I'm not talking cigs here kids!) their way through a "Liberal Arts" degree and Vietnam war protests who are now making huge policy decisions on defense and business...amongst other things. God help us.
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Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less. | |
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signmeuptoo
Folding and Crunching Not just Breakfast
Premium
join:2001-11-22
LOSTinSpace
clubs:
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T Southeast
| I apologize from what I am about to say, but it must be said.
I live in Tennessee. The standard of living here is MUCH poorer than that in New England. We don't have nearly the services and community care that states like Connecticut have.
Perhaps all of you would rather not help the needy, but not helping the needy help themselves, leaving them to starve and be homeless and have no health care means a tear in the fabric of society and a wearing down of the infrastructure.
It's also true of the roads, by ways, and what not. Example: They can't afford a damned bridge here so we have to live with a 6AM to 5PM ferry to get across a little river! That would never happen in CT.
Now, true enough, in this new pluralistic society we live in, there are more and more uneducated, ignorant, gang banging types in society, but they are a product of the indifference of society to a dieing educational system and dieing infrastructure.
Sure enough, we have no state income tax here in TN. But then again, of course we don't! Very few people making much money here, the pay scale here and the rarity of real jobs is horrendous. We lack the roads. We lack the museums and art institutes. We lack the theaters and venues. Even our grocery stores are pitiful in comparison to what there is in New England and California.
While you guys whine and complain about your expensive lot there, you continue to live there and reap the benefits of the higher standard of living and cultural benefits of that place.
We have "The Grand Ole Opry" Like wow, gee, how about that!
The sole redeeming thing about this place here is how clean Nashville is, but since I can never afford to go there or do anything there let alone live there, it's useless to me!
Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and California are expensive places to live. Deal with it, it's reality, you get what you pay for. Life there is MUCH better than here yet you complain because you must pay for it.
I agree that there should be EITHER a state income tax or a state sales tax, not both in CT. I agree that tolls slow down traffic. But the infrastructure is crumbling, even where you guys are. Your problem there isn't that you have to pay more, it's more that you all aren't putting your state workers and government officials feet to the fire better to get more OUT of that money.
Personally, I am FOR more taxes, but I am also for better oversight of government, something the voters are falling on their asses about, not only here, but there in New England and all over.
Germany, France, England, all have higher taxation, but the people get MUCH more out of their governments and see real results more often. Look at Germany: 1/3rd of the country is powered greatly by solar power already! It took the government doing things that didn't start out popular to get there.
Look, Taxes and Tolls are like marriage: They are a contract where we expect something in return. Men marry for sex and companionship in exchange for support and attention. Its conditional. People don't like to talk about the reality and like to just think in romantic terms.
It's the same with taxes and tolls: Stop letting romance get in the way of the real thing, the damned contract. Rally together and go to Hartford and force them: "Ok, give us tolls, but in return you better produce A B and C or you're out on your ass!" Call it "a contract with Connecticut".
I'm sorry, but I get very weary of seeing you guys constantly complaining about your lot there in the dear old Constitution State, my home, a place I love and terribly miss. While you all whine and want out, I'd give anything to come back and live there! Why not come to Cumberland City and live jobless for 3 years and see which is better!
Every time I go back to CT I marvel at what you all have. We pay 9 percent and 10 percent sales tax for the state and get shit for it here, and this state is run by heartless bible toting hypocrites.
Go ahead and flame me now, but I couldn't sit by and not say something.
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signmeuptoo
Folding and Crunching Not just Breakfast
Premium
join:2001-11-22
LOSTinSpace
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3 edits | Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! How? It costs money to move friend. And that isn't the point, the point is that things are much better in CT than you guys can accept.
What is funny is you are telling ME to move when I am telling you guys to move if you hate it so much there. I can't make this point without you trying to turn it back on me and my situation, which isn't important. What is important here is that if Connecticut was so bad, people would be moving en masse to Tennessee and such.
Please allow me to say it again: Life isn't bad where you are, why complain? You all live in just about the highest standard of living in the entire world. Your police are much less corrupt and it is much less likely that you will be jailed unlawfully (it's happened to me in Texas, and I've been falsely ticketed in Houston, and Milpitas, CA). You have the best eateries of anywhere save NYC and some parts of CA and Italy and Japan and France and perhaps Hong Kong. Your schools are much better, come here sometimes and check out how dumb kids are! Example: my neighbors here don't know what a hard drive is, let alone have never used a computer.
Connecticut is just fine and I hate to see you guys put it down. I suspect many of you have never really lived elsewhere or lived in bad conditions so you don't know any better, because if you did you would see how selfish you all sound.
You really want to see unfair government? Go visit my wife's country, which is a democracy, but a corrupt one, The Philippines. Try getting fair government and taxation there!
Seriously now. Some stupid tiny little tolls, slightly higher electrical bills to suppord advancements, and some taxes to keep the state afloat and you guys are up in arms. Let me tell you, the rest of the world will trade you for problems any day!
Connecticut is a FANTASTIC place. You need to appreciate all you have. This reminds me of when I was a child and I complained about what wasn't under the Christmas tree. Now I realize, although we didn't get the love we needed, we got mountains of gifts. In most places a toy is a ball of dirt. Sigh. | |
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Phantom 2
On no he can't
Premium
join:2002-05-13
| Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved! said by signmeuptoo : Now I realize, although we didn't get the love we needed, we got mountains of gifts. In most places a toy is a ball of dirt. Sigh. That explains it,right there...not enough love as a child
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"For those who have fought for it,freedom has a taste the protected will never know" | |
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ThirdShifter
Premium
join:2002-03-16
Vernon Rockville, CT
| If i had to pay for MA and NY, about time they both pay when they go through CT.
We need to stick it to them as much as we get it from them. Only thing i hope they can come out with is only non-ct registered cars pays a higher toll rate or maybe only non-ct cars pays tolls.
THat would be a workable solution and a popular idea in my opinion. | |
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Re: [RANT] Toll bill approved!
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