Dems are taxophilic and GOP abhors taxes, right? New battle...

[AllyCat]

Shrub wants to charge tolls at the locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway, paid by the shipping companies and their freighters. And the Democrats (yes, the Dems!) and a republican from TN are fighting it.

-snip

Albert S. Jacquez, administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., defended the Bush administration's proposal to reinstitute tolls at U.S. locks, telling a House Transportation subcommittee that tolls on the Canadian portion account for no more than 3 percent of shippers' costs. And while the Seaway Corp. is concerned about any measures that could make the waterway less attractive to business, Mr. Jacquez said, cargo totals on the system were hardly affected after the Seaway Corp. eliminated tolls on the U.S. portion in 1987.

The proposal has hit resistance on Capitol Hill. Rep. William J. Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., noting that the Seaway was singled out among waterways for tolls, called the idea "an outrage." And the subcommittee chairman, Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Tenn., asked why the Seaway Corp. would raise tolls while it is running at 50 percent of capacity and trying to attract more business. Mr. Jacquez said the goal of the proposal is not to increase shippers' costs but to give the system more flexibility in funding and to make the U.S. agency run more like its Canadian counterpart, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.

-snip

Shipping interests have spoken out against the proposal. And Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee and a Seaway supporter, has opposed the idea. Reinstituting tolls will require legislation from Congress as well as negotiation with the Canadian government over how toll revenue would be allocated. Mr. Jacquez said the administration would address the issue of added shipping costs in the legislation, which has yet to be submitted by the administration.

After Congress abolished Seaway tolls, the agency's budget came from the national Harbor Maintenance Trust fund, supported by fees charged on imports. The administration proposes to fund the Seaway Corp. in fiscal 2006 with $8.28 million in tolls, plus $8 million from the trust fund.

-snip

(www.boatnerd.com in the News Channel page and scroll down to 3/25/05. Whole article by Marc Heller from Watertown Daily Times in New York, but subscription or payment needed to view.)

Oh, so there is a trust fund? Does that mean we can use that money for other things and stop hurting importers of slave-made goods from China? Having lived in Milwaukee, not a day went by that I did not see shipping containers with Chinese brands rocketing past my stopped car at the railroad crossing. Salties (foreign freighters) came into the Port of Milwaukee almost daily with loads of cheap, plastic crap destined for Wal-Mart and its ilk. Stuff made without U.S. jobs, union-labor, or safeguards for the people who made it for 12 cents a day.

My guess is that has something to do with Shrub's angle on this issue. That, and all that money in the trust fund to fight his little war.

The 8 seaway states (MN, WI, IL, MI, OH, NY, IN, and PA) are also trying to band together to stop exotic species invasion into the Great Lakes since the Feds won't do anything to stop it. This issue might be a good way to get energy and attention off that work and onto something more "newsworthy" like taxes.

[w4rma]

1. There are only 3 types of taxes that the Republican Party opposes.

The capital gains tax.
The income tax.
The estate tax.

They support any and all other forms of taxation.

[zbdent]

2. Repukes have controlled Ohio for quite some time

Just love what they've done.

State parks (paid for by your state tax dollars)? Now getting a $5 a day admission fee.

School funding declared unconstitutional in 1994. Still waiting for a good funding method, despite all their blathering about how they are so for education.

More? How about the state lottery system, which was supposed to fund the schools?