A needed tax

In these days of alternative facts and Republicans genuflecting to corporate America, one can understand why Michael Butler of the obliquely named Consumer Energy Alliance is shilling for money (Feb. 25 letter, “A Misguided Tax on a Critical Industry”).

When the first words out of a Republican’s mouth are “it will save jobs,” you know their owners are afraid of losing another yacht and could care less about shedding a community’s life blood and thousands of jobs if the board can increase its share by a penny.

Please. Our state is hurting, and the slave-wage workers are sick of footing the bill for our legislators who come to the trough way too often when their corporate-focused mandates “surprisingly” fail to work out. Our state Republican “leadership” should check out the urban definition of insanity.

Motorists pay nearly $200 for a round-trip turnpike drive and now a $2 bridge-crossing toll while our Republican legislators play paddy cakes with the fracking industry, which gets a free pass to inject unknown-to-residents poisons under their homes while sucking up untaxed gas under those said homes. We pay $5 per tank more in taxes than anywhere else for the worst roads they can force us to drive on.

Our state needs funds, absolutely, but pandemically poor families can barely pay the rent while billionaire gas-suckers get to kill us for free.

Keep your one-sided “alliance.” It’s not good for us, not that you care.

TOM TOMKINS

Bethel Park