New way for government to feed on itself, but who will win the Game of Chicken?

The fact that two county commissioners - Tim Bubb and Doug Smith - could impose a new tax on citizens without giving them a chance to vote on it seems to be the new way for government to feed on itself. No input from voters needed, thank you.

Likewise with the imposition of an auto tag tax to be considered again by Newark City Council. No need for voters to decide, thank you (though voters spoke clearly and negatively in a referendum to former Mayor Bain's first attempt to sidestep them on this tax).

The Advocate has done a spectacularly thorough job of reporting that Smith and Bubb have a majority's grip on this sales tax bite and that the Mayor Diebold and some city council members are just slobbering over the prospect of getting a yet another auto tax past the voters.

Voters have been well-informed by the Advocate this time, for the first time in many years. In the articles Commissioners debate sales tax and City Council mixed on increasing license plate tax reporter Amy Picard has laid it all out for readers on these complex matters.

The only omission has been any reference to the history of all this and how voters are being avoided by government representatives. Namely that Bubb and Smith jammed the sales tax through, that Bain tried to stuff voters for the tag tax, it got referendum-ed, council came back and reinstated a $5 tax anyway, and now they're talking about doing it again, maybe for more.

It is incredible that they would consider trying to get away with this crap. It's not just the addional cost of living in this area, but because it's being done without a vote.

The reason they've been getting away with this screwing is because voters don't know about it, don't care about it, will not say anything, and won't remember it until next election.

Or will they? It's the ol' game of chicken - bureaucrats vs. voters - bureaucrat-scammers lose if voters remember; they win if voters forget. I wouldn't place any bets on the game, but we voters are - thanks to better Advocate reportage - getting smarter all the time.