I felt compelled to write this after reading Brandon Darnell’s report on the Sacramento’s City Council’s 5-4 decision in favor of requiring non-resident drivers to foot emergency bills. You can view his article here I find this to be complete nonsense (not the article, the decision). Especially when reading some of the responses from the City Council and others. The Fire Chief states that it’s not to bring in revenue, but to recover costs? He’s joking right? What else is this but a new revenue stream? Top that off with the old school mentality of budgeting, especially in a government environment. Towards the end of each fiscal year budgets are reviewed to ensure all monies in the budget

Sacramento is seeking to recoup $300,000 - $500,000 per year after the passage of a new fire cost recovery ordinance – commonly referred to as a “crash tax” – Tuesday night. The City Council voted 5-4 to charge out-of-town drivers who are at fault in auto accidents within city limits to recover expenses related to Fire Department responses. Drivers could be billed from $435 for a basic “scene stabilization” to more than $2,200 for a “scene stabilization” involving more advanced issues such as hazardous materials and helicopter transportation, according to a staff report. “I have some very serious legal concerns, and moral concerns about this,” said Councilman Darrell Fong, who joined co

Here's the bit: there's this guy in Sacramento who's active in veterans rights, alternative transportation and the environment, who started this campaign called drive55.org, meaning you don't drive faster than 55 mph. I interviewed him for my radio show and mentioned him a while back in my "Best of 2008" radio interviews which appeared here. He thinks that American motor vehicle operators should drive no faster than 55 miles-per-hour. Period. If your vehicle is human-powered (not by body fat) I guess you can go faster. Tim Castleman is a man of patience and vision, who is taking a common sense approach to one of America's most volatile debates. In the '70s in order to preserve oil and bl