Is it true that Transit Authortities will have to lay off 40% of their work forces? Is it true that there will be more cars on the freeways, because of the loss in funds to the transit authorities? I would really like to know the answers to these questions. What gives local and county governments the right to start raising taxes now so that they can try to cover the loss in monies that are they are going to loose when this I-695 does pass?

-- Benjamin D. Gay (bmjgay6291@cs.com), October 03, 1999

Answers

What gives them the right?

Liberals give them the right.

Of course 'once upon a time' government wasn't the slimy monster that it is today and things were normal and nice.

Now I-695 is attempting to tell these CRIMINALS... YOU ARE NOT GONING TO PLAY YOUR SNEAKY GAMES ANY MORe

-- maddjak (maddjak@hotmail.com), October 03, 1999.

Yes, (as the election day nears), government agencies, bureaus and services will ratchet-up the scare, fear, terror, and threats of government service collapse WHEN I-695 passes. The anti's have shot their wad, blown their cool, and have come unglued; what else would you expect.

-- Richard Henderson (grassroots3@earthlink.net), October 04, 1999.

No, there will be no significant loss of funds for transit. Instead of getting a share of MVET monies from the state, counties will collect property taxes on automobiles. Any loss of funds will be made up by raising bus fares and/or eliminating buses which are nearly empty. There could be some layoffs, no one said I-695 is perfect.

What gives your representative the right to raise taxes and fees? That's what you hired them to do.

-- Matthew M. Warren (mattinsky@msn.com), October 04, 1999.

Yes, most transit agencies will cut service, and jobs by 40-50%. Those people who lose their service will take to their cars. R-49 will be gone, no new roads. Also, investigate the Libertarin Party. That will explain some of the comments on this site. They want all their tax dollars back. They want to destroy government. They think it should be ok for a 40 year old man to have sex with a 14 year old girl, as long as she is"consenting" Prostution should be legal and on every street corner in every neighbohood. All drugs should be legal. It should be ok for your airplain pilot to do a little cocain before the flight, as lond as no one gets hurt. You need to understand who your talking to here, the scum of the earth. O, hi westin and crew!

-- (mkpow62@silverlink.net), October 04, 1999.

The scum of the Earth???? Whoa, Mike! I think that you need to assume the lotus position and chant your finest mantra for awhile. You are a "little" overwrought.

-- Craig Carson (craigcar@crosswinds.net), October 04, 1999.

"Instead of getting a share of MVET monies from the state, counties will collect property taxes on automobiles" Actually, probably not. From today's PI

: Are there any more legal questions surrounding I-695?

Government lawyers and other legal experts say if voters repeal the motor vehicle excise tax, the personal property tax on vehicles would go back into effect.

When the Legislature passed the MVET, it exempted vehicles from property taxes. Repealing the tax would repeal that exemption.

I-695 supporters say the initiative would prevent the state from imposing this property tax without voter approval.

Even if government lawyers are right, it appears unlikely the state would reimpose the property tax. The Legislature would find it politically difficult -- if not impossible -- to allow a car tax to go into effect after voters repealed it, said Senate Majority Leader Sid Snyder, D-Long Beach.

And County assessors recently called on the state not to reimpose a property tax on cars.

http://www.seattle-pi.com/local/fact04.shtml

-- Craig Carson (craigcar@crosswinds.net), October 04, 1999.

Mike

"Yes, most transit agencies will cut service, and jobs by 40-50%. Those people who lose their service will take to their cars."

Did the tooth fairy tell you this or did you read it at the metrokc propaganda site?

To the original poster, I would agree there probably will be *some* cuts in service and correspondingly *some* extra cars on the road. I suggest you read metrokc's press release on the issue. While you're reading the release, I hope you think critically about the statistics they're presenting and draw your own conclusions about the accuracy of their estimates.

"R-49 will be gone, no new roads."

I believe you just said there will be "no new roads". Would that be forever or just next week?

"Also, investigate the Libertarin Party. That will explain some of the comments on this site. They want all their tax dollars back. They want to destroy government."

I presume you'll be able to show us all how they want to destroy government. I'd also be curious to see where they say they want "all their tax dollars back."

FWIW, you might want to take a couple hours (I get the feeling you'll need every bit of two hours) and think about how creation and destruction are paradoxically related.

"They think it should be ok for a 40 year old man to have sex with a 14 year old girl, as long as she is consenting."

I think this is already legal in some states.

"Prostution should be legal and on every street corner in every neighbohood."

While I agree they believe in legalized prostitution, I'd be curious to see your argument that they want prostitutes "on every street corner."

"All drugs should be legal. It should be ok for your airplain pilot to do a little cocain before the flight, as lond as no one gets hurt.

This ignores the fact that airline pilots would presumably work for a company that has an extreme financial interest in employing pilots who don't use drugs.

"You need to understand who your talking to here, the scum of the earth."

Don't take this the wrong way, but after reading your (resisting the urge for a grammar flame) rant above, I find the above sentence ironic.

Rhetorical: why do I believe I'm debating the liberal version of Travis?

-- Brad (knotwell@my-deja.com), October 04, 1999.

Transit will lose money.. how they deal with this is yet to be determined.. the transit in this area will lose just over 50% of it operational money. How many will be laid off is unknown, but if 695 does pass (and I hope it fails) transit will be forced to go to the voters and ask for a small sales tax increase to continue. This will take time.. and once approved will again take time to collect before it can once again bring services back to a level needed. Transit is but one thing that will take a hit. 695 cuts deep into county and local operations. I'm not talking about a small cut in state funding.. I'mn talking about how this effects local governments. pro 695ers can spoout about the itty bitty 2% cut.. which is a load of bull.. check with your city/county/fire/transit and see how much is being cut by gutting the MVET..

-- Moonhunter (moonhunter47@yahoo.com), October 04, 1999.

Moonhunter.. you a velly funny guy!! You know I was at a bakery the other day and I found a bagel that was the image of Gary Locke. Wanna buy it?

Mike. NOWHERE except on the pure unadulterated lying websites and newspaper articles is anything stated about what is going to be cut or destroyed.

Even the deified Washington State Government can only issue true proclamations. And those proclamations state "x could happen, or y could happen, z is a possibility"

Do you know why? Because there is NOTHING written in stone (or on solid gold tablets if you are a faithful follower fo famous Joe Smith) that says ANYTHING WILL happen. Anything that does happen will be from a conscious CHOICE of your gods in Olympia.

And as far as libertarians or other people who believe in freedom??

Your comments in that matter and all the other matters remind me very much of one of our Canadian Geese who has it's foot caught in a fence..

You make an awful lot of noise and produce half your body weight in feces daily..

-- maddjak (maddjak@hotmail.com), October 04, 1999.

Speaking of body weight, maddjak, aka Jack Fagan, that was a mighty phlattering foto in the Sunday Times of you & Tim & Monte shuckin' & jivin' & foolin' all the fancy folk downtown out of their money playin' 3-card Monte.

ASCII-simulated Road Rage and Dick's Deluxes can sho nuff drive a man to an early grave. But it's not to late. You can start by using restraint and rhetoric instead of orthographically inventive flame throwing, then drive PAST Dick's Drive-in tonight and go get yourself some tofu burgers at PCC.

It's not too late for you, Jack! There's still time to change!

Uwajimaya's a good alternative, too. Seeing how you've added Asian racial slurs to your already copious inventory of invective, you could lower your cholesterol AND get multicultural sensitivity training in the same pit stop!

Y'okay, Jack? What's wrong, did I HURT your FEELINGS?

Oh, mista maddjak -- SO SOLLY!

-- Riberar Hakka (chunking@sosolly.com), October 04, 1999.

I saw him too... Size-Huge

I can understand why he wants $30 for tabs now... with all the stress he puts on his car everyday, the repair costs must be brutal!

-- behemoth witness (bigass@hotmail.com), October 05, 1999.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION The use of public transportation for the journey to work has declined consistently over the past several decades. According to Census data, the transit share declined from 12.6 percent in 1960 to 5.3 percent in 1990. Even more significant is the fact that the absolute number of commuters using transit also declined from over 7.8 million workers in 1960 to nearly 6.1 million workers in 1990. This occurred despite a 39 percent increase in population and a 78 percent increase in the total number of workers over the same time period. FROM A STRICT POLICY PERSPECTIVE, IT IS REASONABLE TO QUESTION WHETHER CONTINUED INVESTMENT AND SUPPORT OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IS AN APPROPRIATE AND EFFECTIVE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS. This policy question is acknowledged and considered by many in the literature. Development patterns that exist in America today are not conducive to wide-spread transit use.

http://www.bts.gov/ntl/DOCS/CAUS.html

-- zowie (zowie@hotmail.com), October 14, 1999.