Is it ethical to run a commercial that is misleading? The one I am going to examine has to do with the gas tax debate. A certain group has been running a commercial that talks about New Jersey State Senator Steve Oroho (R) who is one of the authors of a new gas tax bill.

Let’s begin with the idea that our bridges are all about to fall down like the example in the commercial. In this advertisement the announcer says in a foreboding baritone, “These aren’t just bridges waiting to be fixed; they’re tragedies waiting to happen.” Implying that our bridges are not safe and this is not the case at all.

Though this state has many bridges that are labeled as structurally deficient, it does not mean that they will fall down. Using the definition supplied by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, this label means that a bridge needs repair to either its deck or the structural supports above or below the roadway. This is not an emergency situation, however, and the repairs are not necessarily needed immediately. Also, the Interstate 35 Bridge (the one talked about in the ad) did not fall down due to poor maintenance, the National Transportation Safety Board said, but rather because of poor design.

Now how about the claim that the Oil Industry is not paying their share? Well what share are they talking about, they are talking about repairing our roadway infrastructure and Big Oil has nothing to do with this.

And how about the claim that out of state drivers are not paying their share either for our roadways? Again they do pay the gas tax if they buy gas here in New Jersey and any tolls that they encounter, so the ad is telling us lies.

But, how about the claim that the Transportation Trust Fund is going broke? Well the fund is not in a stand alone account; it is in the General Fund. So it could go technically broke I guess, but in reality it can not! All that has to be done is to just juggle the States’ books and take some money from another part of the budget to pay for road repairs. Another lie!

Now how about the claim that our property taxes will go up if the gas tax is not raised? Again another lie, the gas tax has no direct linkage that would cause our property taxes to go up.

What is going on is a group(s) that wants to get more money from the state for its members on the backs of this state’s citizens. What a bunch of crooks and greedy people they are!

In conclusion this ad and ones like it are just trying to manipulate you into thinking that we need a gas tax increase when we do not! The answer to the question I asked in the beginning of this blog is that it is not ethical to run a commercial that is misleading to mislead the public into thinking they need to raise taxes. What we do need is a through accounting where our monies are going, so we can see what is really being spent and how. I am quite sure that there is a large amount of wasting of our tax dollars and it has to be stopped!

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike