216,000 dollar speeding ticket!!!!!

[JKDGabe]

what would be so unfair about saying everyone pays a fixed % of their monthly earnings for a ticket? ... small-timers go to jail because they can't buy their way out with good legal advice.

 

I guess I'm just a pessimist and believe that pulling in $ is what the majority of tickets are about. There are a few places/people that feel that's not the driving force but I believe the majority are more concerned with filling the coffers than safety. I've watched how most LEO's tend to target the poorer class for the above mentioned reason but the targets will change when the rewards do. Rather than making it harder on everyone why don't we look for a way to make it easier on everyone while keeping public safety standards high? ie: repeat offenders get some jail time. No bail. Everybody gets careless sometimes but the crazy/repeat nuts would begin to think twice.

 

 

What really suprises me is how many average-income people are willing to defend the rich as if they are a persecuted class. Give me a break, they don't need any more cheerleaders. Last year, if you made over a million dollars a year, you got an extra $85,000 rather than the $300 that most families got, if that. The rich pay less in taxes now proportunately than any time in the last 100 years. Less tax money hasn't slowed down government spending either, and so the answer has been to borrow from social security to the tune of $120 billion last year alone. Yep, your social security payments are going to finance today's spending instead of your retirement, so while some get a nice big tax break, the average worker gets an uncertain future in return.

 

Perhaps the government should spend less and the average person should take more personal responsibility huh? Of course, if you'd rather live under communism there's always China.

[Heavy Z]

You've made some respectable points. I know there's room for corruption, and I'm glad to see you're receptive to the idea that things could be improved. At the very least this type of system would usher in a whole new slant for the tv show "cops" to play on...

Perhaps the government should spend less and the average person should take more personal responsibility huh?

What a wonderful idea! The biggest roadblock holding us up is that we can't seem to stop spending and so we keep having to pay more and more of our taxes for interest on the debt - some $400 billion or so this year(close to the entire defence budget or about 1/4 of the total budget) just in interest without paying down the debt! You probably paid close to $1,500 in taxes to cover your share last year with nothing to show for it. Your share will double within 10 years at this rate, gaining ground roughly 2 billion a day. Both Alan Greenspan and the World Bank lambasted us recently to get our financial house in order, I guess we'll see what happens.

Of course, if you'd rather live under communism there's always China.

Hah, I suppose it's hard to resist throwing something in like this. If you hate commies it must really burn you to see $1.5 billion American dollars going to live in communist China every day, some never to return and others coming back as loans with a bit of interest. Maybe you've percieved my concern for our budget as more than it is, I love it here so much I'd rather put the problems on the table to discuss rather than trying to pretend our way clear of the troubles ahead. Anyway, happy motoring and thanks for the response.