GOVERNMENT/CORPORATE BIG BROTHER LEADS TO HIGHWAY ROBBERY
By Domenick J. Maglio PhD   Neo Traditionalist


Local, state and federal governments are in deep financial trouble. As big corporations outsource and small businesses close, more citizens are becoming unemployed. Revenues dry up.  The choice of government is either to increase taxes or cut back on services and workers to balance their books.

Small businesses know they must maintain a profit to stay in operation.  By necessity they demand more of their workers and cut back on personnel to become more efficient.

Government bureaucracies have little motivation to downsize their kingdom.  It is the ability to tax at will that is a disincentive to streamlining and innovating.  Instead of trimming the fat they just increase taxes.

To government officials hidden taxes are the best taxes. These government bureaucrats are jubilant when they find another devious way to collect more tax money without having to have the approval of the people. They may not be efficient but they are innovative.

The list of these deceptive methods of increasing the tax base is creative. There are excise taxes, surcharges, payroll taxes and hundreds of items that call for a sales tax but how these came about is beyond our comprehension.  Floridians pay a hurricane tax when they pay auto insurance and numerous kinds of taxes lumped together when buying a gallon of gasoline.

The latest scam to get money is for government to outsource traffic violations and revenue collection to a corporation.  It is not about safety, it is about revenue. The National Motorist Association contends that red-light cameras are a detriment to motorist safety and have five studies to prove it.

The company sets up cameras on intersections in a city and reviews the tape for any traffic infractions. The city receives a part of every ticket paid, which can add up to a significant sum.  The company is in charge of the entire collection process and receives what is left of the highway robbery.  The local government and the company make out like bandits. The losers are often the unsuspecting, law abiding citizens.

The operation is sold to the public through newspaper marketing.  Articles are written about apprehending dangerous people blatantly speeding through red lights. There is no mention of other possible offenses like turning right on a red light, which is legal in the state of Florida. Hardly anyone would approve of this operation if the fact were known they could receive a $129 ticket weeks later in the mail for a technicality in turning right on a red light.

To play judge and jury the company uses cameras to videotape the intersection 24/7. The video of a turn on a red light does not tell the entire story.  Is an appropriate stop on or just after the white line so the driver turning right can see oncoming traffic?  How many seconds does it take to consider a stop, a stop? When cars are turning from the intersecting road, which means there is no hazard for the car turning right, does the driver have to come to a complete stop when a turning light has not been provided? The ticket arrives in the mail weeks after when the driver has no recollection of the specifics of the situation.

All decisions are determined at the business office of the corporation in another state. The only recourse to challenge the ticket is not in front of an elected judge but before a lawyer appointed by the city as a traffic-hearing officer. The process of making an appointment to question the ticket means calling the out-of-state money making company and after a prolonged wait, talking to a representative.

In this slick scheme the city administrators and sheriffs office are off the hook for being accountable for justifying the ticket. The company does its dirty work for a percentage of the revenue. Outsourcing the traffic violations works well for the city and the company but does not provide law-abiding citizens with an objective and unbiased hearing. The appointed hearing officer of the city has no accountability to the citizenry since he cannot be voted out of office as can an elected judge.

Government/corporate marriage leads to Big Brother. Government sanctioning of using cameras to raise revenue is a slippery slope.  Arbitrarily micromanaging of people’s behavior will result in greater control of citizens, fear and a loss of freedom and assets.

All citizens realize that government bureaucracy is hard to navigate and is time consuming. By adding another layer of a corporate maze it makes it even more difficult to receive justice.  The statement, You can’t fight city hall, should be changed to, It is harder to fight outsourced corporations hired by city hall than fight city hall directly.

Instead of being bilked out of our freedom and money Americans should demand cutbacks in government services, manpower and fee collection including traffic control. We must work harder to keep our money and freedom by carefully examining the proposed laws our legislators want us to finance and endure.

Freedom takes our vigilance and sacrifice.