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Lunsford Responsible for High Gas - Big Exaggeration
Jeff Wiggins Dear Editor:
Whoever said truth is often the first casualty in political warfare must have had Sen. Mitch McConnell in mind.
His ad blaming Bruce Lunsford for contributing to high gasoline prices in Kentucky is “a big exaggeration.” Those aren’t my words. “Big exaggeration” is how the nonpartisan FactCheck.org Internet website characterizes the ad.
“At most, prices are 12.1 cents per gallon higher as a result of the 1980 tax change that was favored by Democratic candidate Bruce Lunsford,” FactCheck says. “That’s less than 3 percent of gas prices today, and actually less than the rise in general inflation since 1980.”
Lunsford was part of Gov. John Y. Brown Jr.’s administration in 1980.
McConnell’s ad also claims that “Gas prices are soaring and Kentucky ’s gas tax just went up again” because “nearly 30 years ago, Bruce Lunsford lobbied for automatic gas tax increases.”
There you go again, Sen. McConnell. “In fact, Lunsford can’t be blamed for more than a very small portion of the prices pictured in this ad,” FactCheck says.
Not only does McConnell’s ad twist the truth, it also doesn’t say that states need gas taxes to properly maintain roads and bridges. Gas taxes help make travel safer for our families.
Remember last August when an Interstate highway bridge fell into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis , killing and injuring many people? If that doesn’t underscore the need for keeping bridges in good shape I don’t know what does.
I don’t mind paying a few cents more a gallon for safer roads and bridges. Those few cents also help provide jobs for road construction crews. That helps the economy.
So thanks Bruce Lunsford for helping make our roads and bridges safer and for providing more jobs for Kentuckians. And shame on you, Sen. McConnell for trying to fool the voters again.
Jeff Wiggins President, Western Kentucky Area Council, AFL-CIO
Paducah , Ky.
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