Returning the 91 Toll Lanes to “the People”

There was an interesting semantic wrinkle in discussion of the 91-express toll lanes – at least one participant, Assemblyman Rod Pachero (R. Riverside) saying “returning them to the public” should be a top priority (ORANGE COUNY REGISTER 12/21/99). The newspaper used similar language saying lawmakers were being asked to “buy it” (the Express Lanes franchise) “for the commuters” of the two counties.

What kind of thinking is this, that somehow the 91 Express Lanes are not presently available or open to the public? These lanes ARE available to anyone who pays the toll, so they are already available to the public, including commuters. This notion that only facilities owned and operated by a government entity and paid for via general taxes are truly public is sheer Bolshevik demagoguery, the kind of language used by socialists to justify government takeovers and expropriation.

Maybe we got the politician’s name wrong. Maybe he’s Red Pachero?