Rendell's Post-Election Tax Increases

Re-elected governor Ed Rendell is doing exactly what we expected him to do during his second term in office: raise taxes. He campaigned on the issues of helping the lower class, yet his current veto of the local services tax revision, as well as yesterday's proposed raise in the gas tax, are things he never brought up while trying to get re-elected.

A bill that would reduce the tax burden on workers had passed through the state congress was vetoed by Rendell. The bill sought to break up the $52 annual local services tax into smaller, monthly deductions. As it stands right now, the first paycheck of the year gets this $52 tax taken from it, even if that means you go home with six bucks left. So rather than take a large chunk of every worker's first paycheck, the bill hoped to spread that out to lessen the blow.

Rendell would rather go against both sections of state congress and make workers pay that tax in one sitting.

But his assault on our wallets isn't ending there. The Tribune-Review reported yesterday that our governor is considering an 11.5 cent increase in the gas tax, which would give us one of the highest gas taxes in the country. While Rendell has yet to decide if he plans on pushing for the increases, it was his transportation committee, which he formed in 2005, that recommended the increase.

In an interview on a local Pittsburgh news station just a day after he won re-election, Rendell was asked if gas prices would rise now that the election was over. He assured the audience that they would.

What would be happening to all of the money from the increased gas tax? Well, it would be poured back into PennDOT so they can continue doing a terrible job fixing out roads. It would also go to our terribly inefficient public transportation system. Some of the proposals from the committee aren't actually bad, like partnering with private companies to help our transit system; however, the report on the whole is a far cry from what free marketeers like Glen Meakem propose for our fair commonwealth.