So the State Department of Transportation and a bunch of elected officials calling themselves an advisory committee think that charging we-the-people a toll to use one of the lanes on Interstate 405 is a good idea. Their idea is that people should have to pay extra to ride in a lane where the traffic actually moves during rush hour.

Well “toll” is just another word for “tax,” and, of course, these two tax-supported entities think it’s a grand idea and will move forward on the proposal.

What else are they going to say, that a new tax is a bad idea? Not on your life.

Let’s not forget we have tolls in our future on the State Route 520 bridge, and no doubt they’ll add the I-90 bridge, too, and we’re also paying for that airport train-to-nowhere when we pay our car-registration tax even though we voted for and passed $39 tabs initiatives twice.

And what happened to the revenue from that big increase in the gas tax Gov. Chris Gregoire inflicted on drivers immediately after she was oh-so-narrowly elected to her first term?

Is all that new gas tax money being used to improve our roads or is it being wasted on inflated salaries and Cadillac health benefits for State Department of Transportation personnel, elected officials and all the rest of them feeding of the public’s trough?

Tim Lederle