God, Guns, and NASCAR

I find it highly interesting, highly, that our nation's Republicans are chanting "No government health care," obviously decrying government intervention, yet when it comes to one of the most heavily subsidized programs in America, the funding for our National Highway System, somehow it's all OK.

The NHS is important, so our government says, for our economy, for national defense, and for mobility. I particularly like the one about national defense...ever since 1956 when it was first begun we've heard that our highways were a vital component to our national defense. Really. Really? What, exactly, have we had to defend against in the last fifty three years where some fucking road played a crucial part in protecting our way of life? In protecting our freedoms?

In my little opinion, it's our building of roads that has underwritten our defense budget. If we didn't have 3.4 million super-commuters in our car obsessed nation, consumers who spend north of 1 1/2 hours each day commuting, I'd wager we wouldn't be in Iraq. The ability of anyone with a pulse to motor down the highway is independent of whether they pay income taxes or not. A woman living in Oakland who commutes to SoMa to wait tables? If it's indeed true that 47% pay no income taxes, then nearly half of all those who use the freeway are only paying a fraction of what they use via gasoline taxes, which don't come close to covering the true cost of driving.

Yet, for some reason, Republicans are more than happy to overlook that subsidy. Yes, more than happy, because roads provide for the economy, for their defense from infidels, for their mobility. What God, gun and NASCAR loving Republican doesn't approve of that government intervention, huh? One would think they'd be marching on Washington to get government out of road building and get the free market managing, building, and maintaining our roads...but no...when it comes to the NHS, more government is more gooder.