Why are tolls so difficult to remove? Because...

Tolls create a large number of patronage jobs for politicians to hand out.
Tolls only abuse a small group of voters.
Tolls bring in lots of revenue - NJ's 3 toll roads bring in more than the state gas tax.

Quite simply, politicians ignore us because they can. It's a perfect political trough - unfairly taxing a minority who can't do anything about it at the polls.

But removing tolls should be a question of right and wrong. Billions of dollars have been squandered collecting tolls, tons of pollution have been added to our environment, and countless man-hours have been wasted. So far the politicians have been wrong.

Both major candidates promised to remove the tolls from the Parkway (...and all three if you count Senator Franks). The only difference between the two was how long it was going to take. Schundler said he'd do it in a year, McGreevey said it would take seven years. How could we lose, right?

Oh yeah, one of them could have been LYING.

Governer - What do you want in a Governor? Will he reduce our taxes by eliminating needless bureaucracy and patronage jobs? Will he make our roads safer and air cleaner? Does he think that everyone should be taxed fairly and equally for their roads? In short: Does he believe in tolls?

Legislature - Keeping track of who is for and against tolls. Great voting guide! CAT will continue to talk to our legislators and post our findings.

NJ's Budget Woes - Is it a good time to remove tolls? Frankly, now more than ever we have to start trimming the pork from the government, and tolls are one of the fattiest cuts around. When the economy was good, we got expensive new tolls. And now that the economy isn't so good, Governor McGreevey still wants to add even newer, more expensive tolls. So if not now, then WHEN?

Hall of Shame - Columnists, editors, politicians, etc. who are shamefully wrong.

Hall of Fame - Columnists, editors, politicians, etc. who speak out against tolls.

Political Email Humor - An email joke that is eerily applicable to our politicians.