Patrick’s chance to lead on the gas tax
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Hub Blog thinks that Gov. Deval Patrick should stop "pouting" and instead position himself to take credit for the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to eliminate highway tolls, abolish the Turnpike Authority, and raise the gas tax to help fund infrastructure improvements. (Hub Blog also compares Patrick's situation to that of Ulysses S. Grant at the Third Battle of Chattanooga, but I'm not enough of a Civil War buff to know whether this is a stretch.)
As for privatizing toll roads, I normally support privatization efforts. But this isn't true privatization — it's a way to sock Metrowest and other motorists with permanent tolls (and inevitable toll increases) in exchange for a one-time cash infusion. It's a transfer of taxation powers, not a transfer of services provided. It would screw tollpayers forever.