Home OP-ED By Re-electing Brown, Will We Put Handcuffs Back on Our Roadways?

By Re-electing Brown, Will We Put Handcuffs Back on Our Roadways?

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Fellow Californians:

After last week's overwhelming Democratic victory in California, capped by Jerry Brown's re-election as Governor, prepare for a major exodus of California businesses and residents to Texas.

Texas vs. EPA Climate Rules” – Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2010 Texas In climate politics, aims to be the anti-California http://www.latimes.com/news/

All the bad that we now experience in California was set in place by Jerry Brown 35 years ago. Shortly after being elected governor in 1974, he appointed Tom Quinn, his campaign manger, to be Chairman of the California Air Resources Board (CARB). See below.

It was extracted from a CARB link regarding the “Transportation Control Plan,” which Brown signed and brought forth more carpool lanes, “preferential treatment HOV lanes,” bicycle programs, mass transit and monitoring.

Remember, this was one of Brown's first acts as governor in the middle 1970s. If you like the carpool lane, you will love the “control” over your freedom of mobility that he has planned over the next four years.

Brown also did not plan any new freeways while governor — remember the term “highway planning”? — but now brags about opening more freeways than Governors Deukmejian and Wilson combined. That's because Jerry Brown did not plan any new freeways for either of them to open during their terms, like Reagan planned during his two terms. Now Brown falsely claims credit for opening “Reagan-planned freeways.”

Even worse than being forced into oppressive gridlock for not having a passenger in our car, we have to face the prospects of driving small, dangerous, lawnmower-powered cars getting 47 to 62 mpg cars.

Under Brown's authoritarian dictates pushing for more environmental controls, California will be the leader of smaller cars, ore carpool lanes and less freedom of mobility. Simply put, think “more control and less freedom” under Brown and the Democrats.

California needs to build a multitude of new freeway lanes so every licensed motorist can travel 47 to 62 “miles per hour” in the car of his or her choice. Then every car will automatically get more “miles per gallon.” We unnecessarily waste billions of gallons of gasoline sitting in gridlock traffic.

So what is it going to be? More of Jerry Brown's “control” over our personal lives and freedom of mobility?

Or are we going to fight back?

Remember, two things liberal / socialists do not want you to have — weapons to defend yourself against their authoritarian rule, and an automobile of your choice to drive alone, freely, to escape their authoritarian rule.

We can fight back by first taking back our freeways and demanding “Equal Opportunity Freeways.”

Then we can demand that California’s state government design and build new freeways that “we need,” while leaving the design and building of the automobiles that “we want” to the free-market automobile manufacturers.

We can also demand a high-speed MagLev Monorail System built above our freeways. If we do not fight back now, we will lose our freedom of mobility and our only hope will be to saddle-up whatever horses are left in California and head to Texas. Save California. Restore Reaganism!

MOTORIST EQUALITY RESOLUTION
Equal Opportunity Freeways

Resolution to open the discriminatory carpool / HOV lane and provide solo-motorists who drive standard automobiles with equal access, equal treatment, and equal opportunity on all of California’s public-funded freeway and roadway facilities at all times.

Whereas, our civil rights are granted equally to the individual and our laws equally protect the individual, it is therefore government’s responsibility to ensure that our rights and laws are protected equally and individually at all times; and

Whereas, “civil rights” is defined as “including the right to vote, the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a democratic society, such as equal access to public schools, recreation, transportation, public facilities, and housing, and equal and fair treatment by law enforcement and the courts,” (www.dictionary.law.com); and

Whereas,
many of California’s public-funded freeways have an exclusive and congestion-free Diamond Lane, also known as the “carpool” or “high occupancy vehicle” lane which grants special driving privileges and preferential treatment to a selective class of motorists; and

Whereas,
motorists who have as few as a single passenger, and said passenger does not have to be a licensed motorist, or motorists who drive alone in so-called “fuel-efficient vehicles,” are classed as “carpoolers” or “high occupancy vehicles” and are favorably rewarded with special driving privileges and preferential treatment on the congestion-free Diamond Lane; and

Whereas,
motorists who drive alone in standard automobiles are classed as “solo motorists” or “single-occupant motorists,” and therefore do not qualify for preferential treatment on the congestion-free Diamond Lane, but are unjustly penalized and left behind in suppressive and heavily-congested gridlock; and

Whereas, if a solo-motorist drives a standard automobile on the Diamond Lane, he or she is subjected to a discriminatory fine of $341 issued by the California Highway Patrol; and

Whereas, the Diamond Lane is discriminatory and unquestionably “separate and unequal,” which is contradictory to democracy’s fundamental principle of “equal opportunity for all and special privileges for none”; and

Whereas,
Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution stipulates: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of the citizens of United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law”; and

Whereas, Article 1, Declaration of Rights, Section 7. b) of California’s State Constitution stipulates: “A citizen or class of citizens may not be granted privileges or immunities not granted on the same terms to all citizens”; and

Whereas, Article 21, (2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948, stipulates; “Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country,” and Article 13 (1) stipulates “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state”; and

Whereas,
California has more than 22,500,000 licensed motorists and more than 75% of them drive alone in standard automobiles either out of choice or necessity, and are subsequently disenfranchised from enjoying the full benefits of equal protection of the law, equal access and equal freedom of movement on California’s public-funded freeway facilities; now

Therefore, Be It Resolved, California’s solo-motorists who drive standard automobiles hereby demand that California’s Governor take immediate action and issue an executive order and legal directive that unconditionally accomplishes the following:

“The State of California shall immediately open all lanes on all public-funded freeways and roadways, making them equally accessible to every licensed automobile motorist, whether they drive standard or fuel-efficient automobiles, thereby ensuring that all licensed automobile motorists driving on our public-funded freeway and roadway facilities shall have the same equal access, equal treatment and equal opportunity at all times.

_______________________________________                 __________________________________

Agreed Date Licensed Automobile Motorist of California         Date

State of California
AIR RESOURCES BOARD

Employment Development Department Building
722 Capitol Mall — Auditorium
Sacramento, CA

June 11, 1975
1:30 p.m.



ITEM NO.: 75-12-3

Consideration of California Transportation Control Plan (TCP) for the State Implementation Plan.

RECOMMENDATION

1. Suggest that CALTRANS, using the existing TCPs as input, write a TCP which incorporates the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) reducing measures recommended in Section III and the supporting programs recommended in Section IV of the following report.

2. Suggest that CALTRANS submit the revised TCP to ARB for adoption as a revision to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) prior to its submittal to the Governor.

SUMMARY

The Board considered CALTRANS' Draft Transportation Control Plan (TCP) at the April 16, 1975 workshop at the May 15, 1975 Board Meeting. The Board expressed concern with several aspects of the TCP and directed the staff to evaluate each TCP measure and to identify those measures that should be included in the TCP.

The control measures recommended for inclusion in the TCP have been identified in the following report under the following categories.

1. Transit Service Improvements.

2. Carpool Programs.

3. Preferential Treatment for High Occupancy Vehicles.

4. Park and Ride Facilities.

5. Bicycle Program Improvements.

Other measures recommended for inclusion in the TCP as support measures for the above five categories are:

A. Monitoring.
B. Parking Management Programs.
C. Commuter Rail Service

Mr. Rosebrock, a roadways activist, may be contacted at rrosebrock1@aol.com