by Jonathon Scott

Created on: June 20, 2009   Last Updated: June 30, 2009

Often there is a simple answer to questions like these. All too often governments seem to select the "answer" that is simplest for them. Yes, by selecting the simple answer, it makes the role of government that much easier. By selecting the simple answer, they distribute the cost among taxpayers across the state. When done so, the 3.5 million residents of the state begin to pay for something, which many do not or will never use. Thus the problem that stems from this plan.

What makes this plan easiest, however, is the government will seldom hear a complaint about the issue. The hit on each individual's taxes is not enough to get upset over; it's not enough to write your representative about. What it is, on the other hand, is a glaring inefficiency.

Let's build a little scenario that will help show how utterly ridiculous policies such as these are. Assume that there is only one grocery store in the town you live and that everyone in that town does their shopping there. That sounds ok, right? Now let's take the scenario a step further. Everyone in that town, after the government policy is enacted, pays a set fee to shop at the grocery store (remember this fee is mandatory). Now everyone in the town pays the fee, in the form of a tax, and can use the grocery store freely, selecting whatever they need from the store and leaving without "paying", as the tax will take care of everything.

Uh-oh, now the problems start. It begins costing more and more to restock the store (no incentive to take only what is needed), some people require more than others, and even worse some people take all the good stuff. But wait, can it get any worse? Well sure it can. The way the store is set up, anyone can shop there regardless of whether they live in the town and pay the fee. Now more people use the store than normally would and the people using it get more groceries than the normally would. Can you begin to see how this is unfair?

Now of course this is a highly exaggerated scenario, a government would never commit to a policy such as this. The correlation from this scenario and the topic of road usage is far too similar, though. The entire population pays for roads while very few use them. The incentives that state supported roads create are often quite the opposite from what is wished and outsiders receive most of the benefit using the roads without ever paying anything for them.

"How is this fair," many will ask. The only response to that question is, quite simply, that

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