Otherwise, the money just isn’t there. Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), who sometimes plays at being a moderate, so far is the champion moron on this issue; after proclaiming that the governor’s proposal was a “nonstarter,” he mumbled to a reporter that maybe they should tax electric cars and alternative fuels instead to pay for the roads.

Yet a number of Democrats and liberals have been saying pretty stupid things themselves, yowling that they don’t want to pay so that the governor’s rich friends can have nice roads.

“Raising car registration fees is regressive! We have to block these taxes now!” they say. Well, yes. They are a little regressive, though one presumes you pay much more to get license plates for a Bentley than for a Ford Focus.

But do you think this governor and this Legislature are suddenly going to agree to redistribute income? Reality check: Poor people suffer more than rich ones from bad roads.

Let’s say a giant pothole breaks an axle on your car, and also on one of the luxury vehicles Dan Gilbert tools around in: Who is going to have a harder time paying to fix their car?

Duh … that would be you. In this case, letting the perfect sabotage the good would be about as stupid a thing as we could do, since every year, the cost of fixing our roads gets worse.

Here’s a news flash: Life is not fair. Getting through it takes negotiation, compromise, and most of all, grown-ups.

Jack Lessenberry opines weekly for Metro Times. Contact him at letters@metrotimes.com.

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