Dave Ross: Don’t criticize the man who’s giving you cheaper gas… if only for an hour
Sep 30, 2024, 8:13 AM

A customer pumps gas. (Photo: Marta Lavandier, The Associated Press)
(Photo: Marta Lavandier, The Associated Press)
The sponsor of the has been using a very clever tactic to win votes: the gas station takeover.
reports that initiative sponsor Brian Heywood will go to a gas station and pay the owner around $1,000 for the right to run the station as he sees fit 鈥 for an hour.
And what he does is 鈥 he instantly lowers the pump prices!聽 To demonstrate to surprised and delighted motorists how liberated they will feel if his initiative passes and the carbon fee disappears.
Like the Internet is always telling us 鈥 鈥淚t鈥檚 genius.鈥
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And yet, I see that some supporters of the carbon fees are claiming it鈥檚 unethical.
Really?
It seems to me if someone with a lot of money wants to spend it cutting gas prices for an hour, don鈥檛 CRITICIZE the guy 鈥 ask him to do it for TWO hours! Or all day! And ask him to adopt more gas stations!
This looks to me like a breakthrough in the whole discussion over tax fairness because it indicates that some of our wealthier neighbors MIGHT be willing to subsidize the highways WITH THEIR OWN MONEY! And if that鈥檚 the case, let鈥檚 not QUESTION their motives. Let鈥檚 ENCOURAGE them. And let鈥檚 be NICE to them.
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Because if you take a good look at the highway projects all around us 鈥 you know there鈥檚 no way we ordinary drivers can afford to build and maintain all that.
Here鈥檚 my prediction:
In a few years, cars will come equipped with toll chips standard.聽 Those chips will document which roads you use and for how long.聽 They鈥檒l feed that into the AI brain which will know what it costs to build and maintain the EXACT roads you use, and what YOUR share of the cost should be 鈥 based on how much you use them.
And just like you get a customized bill for electricity and water, you鈥檒l a customized bill for pavement. SO be nice to the rich people.
Because when THAT bill comes, we鈥檒l ALL want to be friends with a rich person.
Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.