re: #63 TedStriker

OT: I’m sure that someone has likely posted this WaPo article, but I’ve been chewing on it for the past couple of hours while at work and it makes my blood boil:

WaPo: How municipalities in St. Louis County, Mo., profit from poverty

So what’s the answer? It would appear from reading the article that poor people should not, after all, have to carry insurance. Nor should they need to have licenses. Nor should speeding laws apply to them. That just won’t do.

Finland has found a way to finesse these difficulties. Traffic violations are penalized by a percentage of the offender’s income. Rich guy pays big fine, poor guy pays an amount which stings just as much in proportion to his pocketbook.

But still, in Finland, you can’t just flout the law. You are not excused from the duty to obey it, to not speed, etc., by poverty. You pay the same percentage fine as everybody else. It’s just—-you’re not ruined by it. Not if you take any care at all to drive safely and legally.