Critique on 'Raising Your Voice' from "The American Dream"

Hello. I agree that if all young voters were to vote, we would be able to make a great impact on the election turnout. However, we all know that most people our age aren’t interested in voting simple because politic isn’t one of our priority at the moment. Most college students do think that politic are boring and the idea we get that politicians are all corrupted comes from the movies we watch. Most movies these days portray government officials as the bad guys so this gives young people the impressions that they could not be trusted. The right to vote is a choice and willingness to vote requires personal motivation. Most college students don’t vote because they lack the motivation and having the belief that by not voting, it wouldn’t affect them. This is one of the major misconceptions because voting does affect every single one of us, maybe not directly but it would affect us in some way. I believe that until all young voters are aware that each vote would make a difference and we all feel the need to participate in making an impact in our own lives, the percentage of young votes turn out would still be low.

Toll or tax?

Have you ever been told that toll roads are needed in Texas? In my opinion, they are not. Toll roads are designed to profits TxDOT, while putting an immense taxation on hard-working Texans. Governor Perry had asked the Texas Department of Transportation to develop new ways to finance the roadways. This is the first step to call for pro-toll legislation which allows more power for TxDOT. The information on toll way being the only solution to creating and improving Texas roadways is misleading.

Many of the toll roads use pre-existing roads such as Highway 290, 71, and 183. These roads have always been free and should remain as free roads. Majority of Texas residents have the misconception that TxDOT is operating with their interests at heart, but that is not the case. Millions of taxpayers’ dollars goes to the agency but yet we don’t know where it all went. There are still many roads that have never been improved. In addition to that, TxDOT keep requesting more and more money.

Officials had promised citizens that there will be no new taxes, but if toll fees not taxes then what is. And yet, government officials are pushing for more toll ways. According to the 2004 plan, any existing roads set to become toll roads would have free frontage roads built alongside. This not only won’t improve the condition of traffic, it would produce extra congestion. If the pre-existing freeways are turned into toll ways, it would be the same as demanding drivers to pay a toll on roads that were built before by their tax dollars.

Therefore, I believe that Texas citizens should stand up against any more pro-toll proposals. We shouldn’t have to pay toll on something we have built with our tax dollars before. And last of all, we have every right to know where our tax dollars go and who really benefits from it.