I previously posted about the latest rash of scandalous photos coming out of Afghanistan showing U.S. military atrocities under Obama’s command, and wondering if the media would pick up on it the way they did when it was Bush’s army… Well, here’s a twist I wasn’t expecting: yes, one of the U.S. media, Rolling Stone, [...]
Jeffrey Goldberg, a correspondent for the Atlantic, cast a spotlight on yet another disgustingly overt example of pure bias in the mainstream media, particularly at the anti-Semitic Reuters newswire. He points to a Reuters news item which contains the following despicable sentences: Police said it was a “terrorist attack” — Israel’s term for a Palestinian [...]
In the [sparse] reporting of the Palestinians’ massacre of the Fogel family, several newspapers stand out with their distorted sense of “balance”, i.e., where they feel overwhelmingly uncomfortable describing the barbarity of the Palestinians without at least taking a swipe or two at the Israelis, no matter how patently irrelevant or disgustingly disrespectful it comes [...]
Bloomberg’s “Crash Tax”
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While reading last month’s issue of AAA’s Car & Travel magazine, I was surprised to discover that Bloomberg (with the FDNY behind him) is now trying to push a “crash tax” on anyone involved in a car accident, with such taxes ranging from $365 up to $490, depending on the severity of the crash.
The article mentioned the slippery slope of this harebrained scheme, as did this post by Gothamist, whereby this tax could lead to other taxes, like taxing shopkeepers who call the police to come apprehend shoplifters at a higher rate than other shops. In short, where would the line be drawn? When does it end up becoming “pay for service” for some of the basic services we expect from our city and from the taxes we already pay??
One repercussion of this that neither Car & Travel nor Gothamist mention (nor any opinion piece I’ve read yet), is the significant concern of increased hit-and-runs. Faced with an inevitable wallet gouging of several hundred dollars, you can be sure that many people will opt for the quick getaway—from the accident and from the unnecessary additional financial loss.
Mark my words: with this tax, the incidence rate of hit-and-runs will skyrocket.
Thankfully, though, the city council appears to be working hard to defeat this initiative, as reported in the Gothamist post mentioned above, as well as other numerous sources, like the Wall Street Journal.
Here’s hoping that this ludicrous initiative dies a quick and painless death.