Melvin Ladousier: Gas tax proves politicians don’t care about the poor

California legislators are short-sighted elitist intent on one ideology – tax and spend. By passing an outrageous tax increase on fuel, they have demonstrated that they have no regard for the average citizens of this state. Adam Gray sold out his constituency for a meager $100 million dollars to complete the campus parkway to the UC, saying it will draw industry and major distribution centers to the area.

Merced county is an agricultural area whose citizens sued to block Walmart from building a distribution center employing 1,200 workers here. Two major tomato-packing factories have shut down within the city and moved to more business-friendly areas. Why, when Californians already pay one of the nation’s highest fuel taxes, have our roads deteriorated to some of the worst in the nation? Does high-speed rail ring a bell?

This tax is going to hurt low income families by raising the cost of living. All of the additional delivery fuel costs from trucks that carry goods to stores will be passed onto consumers, who will also be paying significantly more to travel to and from work.

The bottom line is that our road-use taxes on fuels have been diverted from projects into the political pork and re-election propaganda.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Melvin Ladousier: Gas tax proves politicians don’t care about the poor."