Frozen pennies, broken promises

The state Senate is expected to permanently raise the gas tax tomorrow. They call it "freezing the pennies," but this tax increase highlights many wasted opportunities in the 2009 General Assembly.

The case for this tax hike is much stronger than it was for the gale-force hot air the legislature hit us with last month. The Road Fund really is in the red. But better planning could have provided the necessary funds. It is too late for most of that now. Politics as usual wins again.

But the point that should be made as this happens is that those of us who pay the bills would be much more willing to go along with hard choices to fund necessary government spending now if our lawmakers were more open and honest about their fiscal activities.