'This is their Hail Mary': California GOP bets on gas tax repeal

[DonViejo]

By CARLA MARINUCCI and JEREMY B. WHITE 07/05/2018 06:55 AM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO — California Republicans are banking on a ballot measure this fall that the embattled state party believes can stave off a Democratic wave in November — and perhaps even spark a GOP revival in the run-up to 2020.

Carl DeMaio, the former San Diego city councilmember announced this week he’s raised more than $1.1 million online for his campaign to repeal the 12-cent a gallon gas tax backed by Gov. Jerry Brown — and polls suggest it may be heading for a November victory.

DeMaio, now a San Diego radio talk show host, insists he’s seized on a “kitchen table” issue that has energized voters across the spectrum — California is home to the highest average gas prices in the nation, according to a recent study.

The repeal effort — known as Proposition 6 on the November ballot — has also attracted backing from state and national Republican leaders including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. They are counting on it to energize enough voters to save a handful of endangered California GOP House members — which could prevent the House from flipping Democratic.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/05/this-is-their-hail-mary-california-gop-bets-on-gas-tax-repeal-694790

[procon]

1. Imbeciles.

California does not have a big mass transit system, but the bits we do have is paid for by the gas taxes. We depend on private cars for travel and that means thousands of miles of roads, freeways, bridges and tunnels that need to be built, repaired and maintained, and we're behind, so we need more funding from the gas tax, not less.

[ansible]

3. Gas taxes are regressive and fuck over poor people more

We already pay the most expensive gas in the country even without this tax, it's almost $4 a gallon now

[procon]

5. Hogwash.

No, we don't "pay the most expensive gas in the country" that a Republican talking point spouted by rightwing websites.

Even poor people use some means of transportation, all of which rely on roads at some point in the circuit. Poor people also shop, and all the goods and services they buy arrive via roads.

Sure, we pay taxes to minally maintain our infrastructure in California, but it's still not enough to keep up repairs or do the necessary upgrades to modernize the whole system. Other states do less, replacing their crumbling roads with gravel, or selling off key routes to profiteers because people are shortsighted and don't want to pay for a 21st century existence.

Look at the fuel taxes in any other industrialized country and then see what transportation services they provide to their citizens in comparison to the US. We complain like bratty children who want all those nice shiny new toys, too, but we don't want to invest in the responsibility to make it happen here.

[LanternWaste]

6. Throw some more at the wall... with enough, something's gotta stick. n/t

[R B Garr]

2. They were successful in recalling Josh Newman D-29, so

it looks like they are invested in this. This is their reaction to any tax increase. Luckily California is solidly blue, but this kind of reaction to new taxes is still out there.

https://ballotpedia.org/Josh_Newman_recall,_California_State_Senate_(2018)

[gratuitous]

4. 12 cents a gallon!

My goodness, that blows up the price of a 10 gallon fill up by one whole dollar and twenty cents! Sweet Jesus, it's a wonder California hasn't seen guillotines springing up like dandelions across the Golden State. Can you imagine the absolute horror of filling your tank, thinking it's going to cost $38.80, but instead, it's $40?!?! Women fainting, strong men weeping, and children crying like they're in an ICE detention facility.

And those fucking Puerto Ricans have the nerve to complain that they're still without electricity a year later. Wusses.