I-976, the newest car tab debacle

“Buy the ticket, take the ride,” or so wrote journalist Hunter S. Thompson in his book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

While the context of Thompson’s comment was certainly different, on the surface it’s perfectly relevant for I-976, the newest car tab reduction effort placed on next month’s ballot by serial initiative activist and anti-tax campaigner Tim Eyman.

His fourth effort to reduce the cost of taxing licensed vehicles in the state, if passed, would pull a $2 billion rug of funding from under transportation-related budgets over the next five years alone.

The fund for rural arterials t...