What do you think about 422 becoming a toll highway?

Please visit rep Maloney’s website and make your opinion known by filling out the “Your opinion matters survey” here: http://repmaloney.com/

What we had to say…

“Route 422 is the only roadway for many people leading to more industrialized towns and cities. I grew up in Boyertown, PA and my only option for a job with an acceptable salary would mean I would have to commute as far as King of Prussia or the city of Philadelphia (hour plus commute without traffic).  Most of the residents of these suburbs along 422 also face the same issue.  I have watched the traffic steadily  increase through the years on route 422 as the suburbs become more populated and more families are forced into a long commute.  This roadway is not constructed properly to add toll booths!  This would only increase traffic and other issues on route 422. The construction process alone in order to equip the route with toll booths and staff to man them would cost the government or the tax payers and arm and a leg. Middle America has virtually disappeared and this is just more evidence of why that very notion exists.  The state of PA is one of the highest taxed states in America! The government needs to source an alternative to making 422 a tolled roadway, period.” - Christina Paster (me)
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“In this area hard working Americans are already struggling to get by. Jobs are scarce and many are dealing with 1.5 to 2 hour commute just to have the opportunity to work.  What does that look like?  We sit in the bottleneck that is 422 only to slowly make our way east to sit in the parkling lot that is 76.  Eventually we make it to work – of course we lose about 3-4 hours of our day that could have otherwised been spent enjoying our famlies. There is absolutely no question in my mind that tolls booths are only going to exponentially increase this problem. Not to mention, we are already squeezing our personal budgets to account for the ever-growing inflation of necessary goods – gas, groceries, electric.  You name it. Salaries are flat and the cost of living is rising. Our wallets and, quite frankly our patience, have been pushed to the limits. We have nothing more to give.  Let me put it to you this way, for many the implementation of a toll on 422 won’t mean simply sacrificing a daily cup of coffee. It’s going to mean putting off bills until next month, less food on the table, and pulling our little ones from programs like little league or dance class simply because we can no longer afford the dues. Like the government, we are maxed out. The only difference, we can’t implement taxes and tolls to recoup what we’ve lost.” - Michelle Paster

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The Disappearance of Bees

-”We all moan and groan about the loss of the quality of life through the destruction of our ecology, and yet each one of us, in our own little comfortable ways, contributes daily to that destruction. It’s time now to awaken in each one of us the respect and attention our beloved mother deserves.”- Ed Asner

Another interesting article: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39200

Happy Holidays!

Holidays are a time for cheer and quality time with your family, but they are also a time for reflection.  I sit back and think of what I’ve done or accomplished in the last year, only to become displeased on how I’ve allowed things to pan out.  All of my accomplishments within the last year are affiliated with my committment to work.  Have I forgotten about the small pleasures of life?  Have I lost my sense of self?  How have I grown so distant from the friends I used to hold so close?

A year full of weddings and engagements, times that called for celebration with my friends and family, but instead of celebration I focused on the fact that I was growing old.  With the new year coming, I’m planning on reforming this negative energy into something positive.  Instead of looking at the birth of a wrinkle in disgust, I’ll see it as a visible footprint of all the great things that I’ve been blessed to experience in my lifetime.  I’ll see it as another accomplishment; surviving another year of struggle, fortunate enough to still have my mother by my side.  I’ll see it as a new beginning, a reminder that my time is limited, so I better remember to enjoy it.

Over the past year I’ve become increasingly saddened by the constant relocation of my close friends to distant cities across the world.  Only now do I realize that I should revel in these changes and be happy for the success of those who’ve brought me so many instances of joy throughout my life.  It’s also allowed me to realize how truly lucky I am to have the people who truly will be with me through thick and thin – my family, my rocks, my sisters.

Happy holidays everyone! Hopefully you can take the time to reflect on what’s truly important in your lives. 

“Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change – this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress. ” – Bruce Barton