In reference to a proposal for a toll to fund repairs to Interstate 70, your editorial board wrote “What happened to no taxation without representation?”

In the state of Missouri, we have a system called “representative democracy.” It means everyone gets a vote on every issue by proxy, i.e. we elect someone to make the votes for us. Our representative votes in the legislature on various proposals like tax increases, including tolls on public highways. This is the definition of taxation WITH representation. The word representative is right there in their title, “state representative.”

The system the editorial board seems to prefer is direct democracy, where every person votes on every issue. The main drawback of this, as is obvious from the state of California’s finances, is that people ALWAYS vote to lower their taxes and increase their services. The voters of Missouri would vote to repair I-70, but vote against the toll, or increasing the gasoline tax, or any other taxes proposed to raise the money for it. This would force the state to cut the budget elsewhere. Experience has shown that the governor prefers cutting education spending more than other programs. Congratulations, in order to save out-of-state students 10 to 20 bucks per trip, you’ve just increased tuition on ALL STUDENTS another $100 per semester.