Readers React: How gas-tax supporters are paying the oil companies they want to defeat

To the editor: I wonder if Gov. Jerry Brown, while he fills the tank of the state-provided Ford Crown Victoria he uses, ever thinks about how the oil companies will spend the money he pays for their gasoline. Surely he knows that some of it will be spent fighting the gas tax that the article says is a “key part of his legacy.”

You would think he’d see the illogic of that. It’s not just the governor. Many members of the state Senate and Assembly drive gas-burning cars, and all of them pay the oil companies for their dirty fuel, as do progressive members of the public who want this tax to stay on the books.

It’s very hard to win political contests when you are on the opposing side of a trillion-dollar industry, and it’s especially hard to win when you are helping to fund your opposition.

Paul Scott, Santa Monica

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To the editor: I’m paying dearly at the gas pump and for car registration fees. Yet last November, I hit a deep sinkhole just perfectly at a freeway onramp in Toluca Lake that jarred me so badly, my heart was racing from the jolt.

Turns out that “hit” required $8,000 in repairs to my suspension, and my back tire was damaged. I wrote to the city of Los Angeles with a copy of the bill asking for restitution or, at the very least, for the road to be repaired. I received a letter saying the applicable law had “determined the claim should be denied.”

Last I checked, the hole was still there. So I vehemently oppose the gas tax since I see no benefit to the taxpayer. In fact, I find myself dodging potholes everywhere.

Debbie Murray, Glendale

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To the editor: I would encourage everyone to calculate what this tax amounts to per year for their car. At 12 cents per gallon, a quick estimate to fill an 18-gallon tank every other week comes out to about $60 per year.

This is probably what some folks spend at their local Starbucks in two weeks. It does not seem like a whole lot of money to ensure continuing funds for road repairs and improvement projects.

This gas tax for our infrastructure needs was long overdue, and it should not be repealed.

Margaret Quiett, San Gabriel

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