Most of us worry about the cost of power – having experienced rapidly rising prices for electricity, natural gas, and gasoline. At times, world events raise these costs very quickly. Some folks have already made the transition to generating most of their own power at home (through solar panels) and who drive electric cars. These folks must have made a meaningful investment to achieve this independence from rising prices, but the rapid increase in the price of gasoline sure must make their investment in renewable energy seem a good decision now. No shock at the pumps – their fuel is free (assuming they have sufficient solar panels at home). And little worry about data centers demanding tremendous amounts of electricity, driving the rates up for everyone else still relying on our electrical infrastructure.
Surprising to me – although perhaps just a political stunt – was the call from some Republican politicians in Virginia to discontinue the state gasoline tax (at least for a while) to partially offset high gasoline taxes. These gas taxes are used to support statewide transportation, including our highways, bridges, and public transit. Of course, no one enjoys paying taxes, but everyone enjoys good highways, safe bridges, and having a reasonable commute. If we remove the source of infrastructure funding, deterioration is inevitable. And to remove these taxes now as a temporary measure to combat higher costs ignores the long-term inevitability of the price of gasoline continuing to rise.
Surprising too is for these Republican legislators to ask Virginians to let our infrastructure deteriorate because of federal government decisions. The federal government is supposed to help the states – not the other way around. We pay our federal taxes, and expect things such as emergency response, support for Medicaid and SNAP, and assistance to our state agencies. These vital services all have been stopped or reduced – yet there is a call to help compensate for higher prices caused by federal government policies? Weird.
And let’s get real. The Republican led government in Washington has adopted policies and practices, and taken actions, which increase the cost of living, including gasoline, while driving up the national debt. People have every right to be supportive of these policies, but it would be fair for them to acknowledge and take responsibility for the associated costs.
In Virginia, the Democratic legislative majority has made an obvious effort to reduce the cost of living, and to do so in a moderate way. Evidence of its success is that many bills were passed with bipartisan support. To ask this legislature now to support the costly Republican position in Washington by removing money earmarked for needed infrastructure is wishful thinking. Much more reasonable would be for policies decided in Washington to incorporate the associated costs. Asking the Virginia legislature, and Virginians, to open their checkbooks to support controversial Washington policies financially is unrealistic and unreasonable. If you want something, you have to pay for it yourself.
