First registration, now Route 1 - tolls are going up

As anyone who has been to the DMV lately to register their car, the registration rates have doubled now for the 1 or 2 year re-registration. It now costs $40/year to register your car once it passes inspection. Compared to Pennsylvania and other neighboring states, this is still a bargain.

For anyone who has driven up or down Route 1 lately, you probably have noticed the new electronic toll signs, which currently reflect the rate of $1/car. That, too, is going up effective Monday, Oct. 1, from $1 to $2 (but only on weekends) (for now). While this is great for our side of the tourist industry and should generate big money for the general fund, I think it's going to have the added bonus of increasing local traffic on 13. After all, it's just about as quick to take 13 as it is Route 1 anyway, despite the lights.

With the increase in tolls and car registration to generate money for the state, why not go ahead and create a toll of say, $10/car and $20/truck on the St. George's bridge. You can go over the main bridge anyway without having to pay the toll, so is the St. George's even necessary anymore? That will effectively pay to keep that old thing up - and realistically, the money the State saves if they tore it down could help prevent any future increases on the toll roads. Just a thought.

Tags: delaware tolls, delaware route 1 tolls

Biden's idea to decentralize Iraq gains some steam

Senator Biden has argued for over 18 months that any success in Iraq necessarily requires the country be split into three sections, each run by their respective religious group. The sections would be unified by a central hub in Baghdad. Sen. Biden's idea, first posed in an op-ed essay in the New York Times (USA Today condensed version here), is (in some respects) similar to how the Allies decided to split up Germany in the aftermath of World War II. And while some may argue that the division of Germany led to greater implications, it did solve the intermediate problems facing that country in those tumultuous times. And now, 60+ years later, Germany is a thriving hub of the European economy. Obviously they still have problems also, but that is beside the point being offered here.

Biden's plan is one realistic solution to the Iraq problem, and, not surprisingly, has gained tremendous momentum, particularly today when the Senate, by a 75-23 vote, passed a non-binding resolution echoing Biden's decentralization plan. Will this have a positive effect on the war? Perhaps. At the very least, it is a feather in Biden's cap that may help him begin to climb the mountain that confronts him in trying to gain the national Democratic nomination.

More realistically, however, it gives whoever the next president is, GOP or Democrat, a solid reason to appoint him as the next Secretary of State. Obviously, I realize that if the Republicans (speculatively through Fred Thompson) are able to keep the White House, it is highly improbable that any such party lines will be crossed. And why should they? As a non-sequitur, I will save my developing belief that we don't really even have a distinct two-party system anymore for another day.

Nevertheless, given the inability for the currently Democrat-controlled Congress to do anything productive since gaining both houses two years ago, maybe such a West Wing-esque party line crossing should be considered. And while our senior Senator has ruled this position out, I have to question whether he would turn it down if the opportunity presented itself 18 months from now.

Tags: biden decentralization of iraq idea, biden plan to split iraq, senate resolution to split iraq

Tragedy at Del State

I saw this on the news this morning and haven't heard much about it other than what has been put on the national news. Two students were shot, one seriously, at Delaware State University. While anything I would say about this would be pure speculation, I will simply provide the links and say no more. Given the tragedies that have already struck the campus prior to the start of this semester, this sort of thing can't be too great for recruiting. Nevertheless, it is very sad. Hopefully these "persons of interest" are caught soon.

At the same time, however, I wonder how the events of this morning will affect Race Weekend, since the racetrack is practically across the street and a quarter million Nascar fans are expected to pour into the Monster Mile to watch over the next 72 hours. This sort of perfect storm of sorts must be a state and local police nightmare, and a media field day. I can only hope it is relatively quiet.

Tags: students shot at delaware state university

Stalking the Smyrna mayor, or a modern rendition of the fox and the grapes

I normally try and stay out of the local politics within the state, but an article today caught my eye and warrants some comment. Apparently, the Smyrna Mayor, Patricia Stombaugh has been the focus of a private investigator's most recent assignment. Since the News Journal made cryptic nonsense out of this mystery, I turned to the Delaware State News to fill in the gap. Apparently, the mayor was under surveillance shortly after being elected into office earlier this year. Now, for the part that makes this story much more interesting. Why was "DE50," an obviously different anonymous Delawarean than this writer, so interested in the mayor? That's right folks - she wanted to make sure that the mayor was a bona fide Smyrna resident: "The reason for the investigation, according to the document, was to determine whether or not the mayor lived within town limits for the year prior to the election, a requirement to run for and hold the office of mayor as stated by the Smyrna town charter."

Now, I've seen a lot of ... questionable things done by Delawareans, but this one has to rank right up there. Isn't this sort of investigation, brought on by a private citizen no doubt, an incredible waste of time, money, resources, and other people's time (compensated obviously), all for the purpose of essentially "sour grapes?" The article goes on to speculate that the person that hired this PI might have been the former Smyrna mayor, Mark G. Schaeffer, based on the fact that he didn't return any calls to the reporter. I don't know if that's a fair leap to make, and I see it as yet another example of unobjectionable reporting that is plaguing the nation. But even assuming for the sake of argument for the moment that it is, doesn't it go right back to my original point that this sort of thing is a big waste of time for everyone involved? Not to mention the whole creepiness factor.

My more basic point would be this. What if this investigation did yield that she didn't actually live in the city? Is that really enough of a reason to throw what appears to be a rather small potatoes political position into a tailspin and wreak havoc? And even more to my point, who cares enough about this that she would spend that much money on it? I am purposely (and perhaps sarcastically) assuming that it is a female that would do something this ridiculous. If it did turn out to be a man, he should be embarrassed for wasting his time and the investigators. And if it turns out to be the former mayor, wouldn't the efforts to unwind your loss have been better focused on keeping you into that position in the first place? Most of this rant is pure speculation, but I see it a great example of petty local politics that serves no purpose other than vindictive child's play.

And speaking of mayoral elections that waste taxpayer's money, I see that our state capital just completed a special election to elect a new mayor to replace Stephen Speed, who was mayor of Dover prior to being named head of the airway sciences program at Delaware State University. This two-year term ends in May 2008, at which point, I can only assume they will have the real election. Instead of spending the money to find an interim mayor, why wouldn't the city of Dover (or any other city/state for that matter) amend their charter to appoint an interim person. Wouldn't that be a lot less expensive and effective for all those involved? Just some things to think about the next time Dover (or other cities) start asking for state money for something like more police.

Tags: dover delaware mayor election, patricia stombaugh investigated, smyrna mayor investigated

Back from Europe and traffic is not much better there than here

After a brief vacation, I returned to our small state only to face the usual barrage of traffic this morning. According to a news report tonight, fellow commuters (Delawareans included) sit in traffic nearly a week out of every year. What a waste of time for everybody. To relieve this traffic problem, many larger cities have enacted carpool lanes, or limited access pay roads that have charges that vary with the time of day. While Delaware has neither the infrastructure or population to warrant this type of change, the problem is still enough that maybe we should start thinking about more seriously about it.

Since an election year is coming up, I'm sure there will be an absence of tax talk for a while, at least in the more traditional senses. Instead, I offer two ways to generate income without raising the state income tax. I give these ideas in response to the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council is projecting as a ten percent drop in revenue for the annual budget and that signs continue to point to a general slowdown in the Delaware economy.

While I save the merits of building a larger Septa-type rail system to transverse the distance from Wilmington to the beach along the old railroad lines for another day, we could do something along the lines of modifying the tolls on Route 1 to be more similar to the Pennsylvania turnpike. Depending on how long you were on it, your toll would vary. This modified toll system would also have the benefit of generating income similar to, if not more than the 60-cent-per-pack cigarette tax that was passed last year. Plus you would have to hire some union workers to work these new toll booths, so that would put a few more people to work.

My second suggestion for whoever winds up getting the nomination for either party would be to consider upping the fines for traffic violations and other minor misdemeanors. I think running a stop sign now costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 plus costs, and if one of the red light cameras gets you, it's $75. Doubling or tripling these fines may have the dual purpose of deterrence and income generation at the expense of those who break the law. Obviously it works for all of the beach towns with their speed traps...

Tags: delaware economic and financial advisory counsel projections, delaware recession talk, charging more on route 1, toll increase on route 1, ideas to make delaware better, ideas of raising income in delaware