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Opinion
Mark Trahant: Is there no trust in the government?


"Do you trust your government?

That's the most important question that supporters of Initiative 912 want answered.

'Together we'll send Olympia a message they won't soon forget,' sponsors say on their Nonewgastax.com Web site. 'There are no actual plans for the major projects the gas tax hike is supposed to fund. We are being asked to pay billions in new taxes for projects that haven't been designed yet. The bureaucrats want the money and THEN they will tell us what we get -- if anything.'

If anything? The message is we cannot trust government at all. This is about 'they.' They did this. They will take your money and give you nothing. They need a message.

I am a regular listener of talk radio and it's interesting to me how many people are using I-912 to complain about issues that have nothing to do with a gas tax (that can be used only for roads, bridges and the ferry system). Callers complain about mass transit -- we spend too much on that (they say). They don't like the geographic balance (Seattle gets too much). And they prefer specific, legislated instructions on a specific transportation plan.

There's no trust given to either the Legislature or the Department of Transportation."

Get the Story:
Mark Trahant: This I-912 is a bad idea -- trust me (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 10/23)

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