A People's Compromise to get Income Stability - AND - Investment in a Massive Public Transportation Expansion

The Plan:  Reduce Car Insurance premiums through a one insurer, Government of Ontario Car Insurance Program - and at the same time - Raise Tax on Gasoline by 10¢ to pay for a Massive Public Transportation Expansion.

Here's my Tweet on this to the NDP, and the Liberals' Twitter Accounts (+ Anne Golden) on this last night:

Can @OntarioNDP win Public Owned Car Insurance for support of @annegolden18 ¢10 Transit Gas Tax? Would @OntLiberal agree? #WinWin #biketo
— Michael Holloway (@m_holloway) December 15, 2013

(https://twitter.com/m_holloway/status/412169995720736768)


What do you think of this compromise to get the NDP to support a Mass Transit Gas Tax?

I know the NDP doesn't support an Ontario Government Car Insurance plan - but they should - and this sounds like a do-able deal for voters!

What party (other than the extreme right-wing Ontario Tory party and the Haper-ites in Ottawa) - wouldn't support this?

In exchange for much lower premiums that a one-system, public owned insurance program would provide - drivers would not push-back so hard on a 10¢ Gas Tax for Mass Transit expansion.

Key to this is that the new gas tax money will go into a Mass Transit Fund - separate from all other expenditures (as the Golden Report proposes).

In this scheme - who Pays for Mass Transit expansion? ... Big Insurance Company Profits!

Companies who are gouging drivers with seemingly Cartel-high premiums and vicious tactics in claim disputes that are designed to reduce their settlement liabilities.

At the same time as not hurting working families who are tied to the car for one reason or another, it out-flanks the extreme-right-wing Ontario Tory Party by demonstrating in a real world way - how the efficiencies of a large government project can fund other necessary large government investments!

With this metric we can forgo the Corporate Tax Rate increase - because it's a drop in the bucket anyway - and just extend the program out for as long as it takes. The net cost of living increase is zero!

I like it a lot ... but then I should; it's my idea! :)

What do you think? Questions? Any part of this not clear?




mh

I invented hashtag #BTRto - Bicycle Traffic Reports(Toronto)

I had to go across Toronto; at night; to a bar; in the "Entertainment" District.  :\

I rarely leave my East End Leslieville. I rarely drink. I find the idea of cycling into the core of  Toronto on Thursday night absolutely insane! But the CycleTorontoVolunteers Appreciation Night was at King and Spadina, so OK. What the hell - you only live once!

I asked in Facebook if anyone thought my proposed route along the Waterfront was particularly insane. Someone told me Queen's Quay was a mess. So I just winged it. I ended up taking Queen Street all the way to Spadina and then alleyways down to King.

The next day I was adding Follows to @Ward30Bikes, and I came across David P Leonard's #DLWS (David Leonard Weather Service).

See: Toronto Wiki / #DLWS | http://torontowiki.org/%23DLWS

I already had a Bicycle Traffic Route Reporting Service on my mind; and all the construction detours in town that don't serve cyclists well; and I was thinking about News Talk Radio's car-centric Traffic Reporting ... and David P Leonard's #DLWS hashtag crystallized it!

A Crowd Sourced Cyclist Route Traffic Reporting Hashtag!!!

Here's what I'm about to Tweet in my @m_holloway Twitter account:

Toronto needs crowd-sourced Bicycle Traffic Reports: #BTRto
Tweet your route - help others commute. #biketo (Props: @davidpleonard #DLWS) 

That's the idea - might need some tweaking - we'll see if it resonates. Tweeting it now, and then I'll embed the Tweet below...

Toronto needs crowd-sourced Bicycle Traffic Reports: #BTRto Tweet your route - help others commute. #biketo (Props: @davidpleonard #DLWS)
— Michael Holloway (@m_holloway) December 7, 2013

Well the feedback is in. Apparently a local Talk Radio show CBCToroto's "Metro Morning" has already accomplished my objective with their #mmbike hashtag. Wondering how popular that can get amoungst people who don't listen to CBC Radio? Anyways, here's an embed of the feedback I got from my Facebook Friend and Twitter Cycling expert, Kevin Montgomery @kemosite

Thanks Kevin!

.@m_holloway @davidpleonard Isn't that what #mmbike is about? @metromorning #biketo

— Kevin Montgomery (@kemosite) December 7, 2013

mh

Testing a Twitter embed #WalMart

Fair Wages not Food Stamps for All Workers #WalmartStrikers @ForRespect #BlackFriday #Walmart http://t.co/AgSEeeWoA8 #Solidarity #uniteblue
— Heather Wood (@XenuLOL) November 30, 2013

This is part of a test of Twitter embed in various social tools. This blog auto-re-posts in my Google+ Stream - see the result of the test here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/106539188672607672565/posts/FJgzDQZUgNr



mh