Outside the Beltway

“Long Live the King”?

Steven L. Taylor
27

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What fresh Hell is this?

Setting aside the fact that I thought that the GOP was the champion of local government, WTF is up with “LONG LIVE THE KING!”?

I know it is tired and trite to ask: but what if Obama had said that? Or Biden? Or Bush? Or, you know, any other president?

Here’s the story, for anyone unfamiliar via NBC News, Trump administration terminates approval of New York City congestion pricing.

In a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the federal government has jurisdiction over highways leading to Manhattan and that these additional tolls posed an unfair burden in motorists outside the city.

[…]

“Commuters using the highway system to enter New York City have already financed the construction and improvement of these highways through the payment of gas taxes and other taxes. But now the toll program leaves drivers without any free highway alternative, and instead, takes more money from working people to pay for a transit system and not highways.” 

Under the system, most cars entering Manhattan’s central  businessdistrict — from 60th Street all the way down to the southern tip of the Financial District — had to pay a peak fee of $9 from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

I have no strong opinion, but as a general matter, it seems like a reasonable solution to deal with the intense gridlock in lower Manhattan.

It will just lead to more court battles.

MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said Wednesday the New York transportation agency will go to court to fight any federal efforts to end the tolls.

“Today, the MTA filed papers in federal court to ensure that the highly successful program — which has already dramatically reduced congestion, bringing reduced traffic and faster travel times, while increasing speeds for buses and emergency vehicles — will continue notwithstanding this baseless effort to snatch those benefits away,” Lieber said in a statement.

[…]

“It’s mystifying that after four years and 4,000 pages of federally-supervised environmental review — and barely three months after giving final approval to the Congestion Relief Program — USDOT would seek to totally reverse course,” according to Lieber.

But hey, I guess the king knows best.

Update: From the official WH twitter feed:

The cover is a mock-up, in case you are wondering.

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27 responses to ““Long Live the King”?”

  1. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    Long live the joker is more like it.

    3
  2. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    What came to mind was a quote attributed to Georgy Gapon, an Orthodox priest in Russia, after the Bloody Sunday massacre: “There is no God any longer. There is no tsar!”

    1
  3. Bill Jempty Avatar
    Bill Jempty

    @Kathy:

    What came to mind was a quote attributed to Georgy Gapon, an Orthodox priest in Russia, after the Bloody Sunday massacre: “There is no God any longer. There is no tsar!”

    Played by Julian Glover in Nicholas and Alexandra. Glover is still alive and almost 90 years old. He has played mean to James Bond, Indiana Jones, the heroes of Star Wars, and Tom Jones.

    1
  4. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    Usually it takes generations of inbreeding to get leadership of this caliber, but we got it in one. That’s American exceptionalism!

    23
  5. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    The White House Twitter account has just posted a photo of a fake Time magazine cover showing Trump wearing a crown.

    1
  6. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    I cracked in another thread that one needs a program to keep up with the changes in conservative verities. Didn’t they used to be big on Federalism?

    3
  7. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    As a person who might someday visit Manhattan (but would never drive there) I guess I should thank the administration for making the MTA an even wiser transportation choice than it already was.

    3
  8. Michael Cain Avatar
    Michael Cain

    It will just lead to more court battles.

    He also signed an executive order saying that only the President and the AG can decide what a law means. The more paranoid among us assume that means bypassing the courts.

    6
  9. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @Michael Cain:

    This is not new, historically or now. There is a contingent of conservative legal scholars who argue Marbury v. Madison was wrongly decided.

    ETA: Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean someone isn’t out to get ya.

    So, you may be paranoid. But your fear may be justified.

    But it’s difficult to see SCOTUS gutting their own authority. Ah, nevermind.

    4
  10. ptfe Avatar
    ptfe

    This is so plainly outside his domain (the roads in question are tolled within New York State’s domain).

    Hochul needs to remove Adams immediately, and she needs to sue the shit out of the US government and name Donald Trump personally. Most of us have no direct recourse except in limited circumstances, but New York State should throw its economic power around to grind this pig-fucker down.

    11
  11. Jay L Gischer Avatar
    Jay L Gischer

    @ptfe: As a point of interest, any removal that Hochul can do would probably not be swift. The NY constitution says that she is supposed to notify the target, make charges, and allow the target to submit evidence and answer questions.

    From Wikipedia: In August 1932, Roosevelt forced Tammany’s hand on the corruption issue by convening a public hearing on the question of removing Walker as mayor. Walker resigned on September 1, following a State Supreme Court ruling upholding the governor’s authority to remove him for cause.

    It was used once since then, in 1974 to remove a sheriff who was taking bribes.

    2
  12. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    @ptfe: Trump could pull out the rug from under the CHIP act though. Micron has invested millions already in NY.

    1
  13. Michael Cain Avatar
    Michael Cain

    @Kurtz:
    The answer to the question, “How many divisions does John Roberts have?” seems to be 189 uniformed officers in the SCOTUS Police Force that report to the Court, not to the AG or the President. Sad!

    3
  14. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @Michael Cain:

    The EO is specific to independent regulatory agencies.

    Doubt there is a direct connection to Marbury v. Madison.

    Now my turn for paranoia: there is a reasonable chance that gets challenged at some point. But maybe not during this term.

  15. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @ptfe:

    this pig-fucker down

    Wait, did I miss a Black Mirror life imitating art episode?

    2
  16. Rob1 Avatar
    Rob1

    There was another image released by the White House along with the one shown in Steven Taylor’s post.

    https://bsky.app/profile/phoebepetrovic.bsky.social/post/3likmfbv35c2g

    At some point, this becomes more than trolling. We are at that point and maybe past the point.

    2
  17. Connor Avatar
    Connor

    It certainly is horrible that one of the most regressive taxes imaginable is going to be eliminated.

  18. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    I know the probable outcomes, but not the odds for each one:

    1) America becomes an authoritarian, iliberal state. Great if you’re male, white, cisgender, wealthy, and cruel.

    2) Armed revolt

    3) Civil war (with or without states trying to secede)

    4) Civil coup

    5) Military coup

    The bigger question is how much of the world will get hurt in the process. It may be other countries will accept the first option as the least worst, which it would be in the short term only.

    We might get lucky and the felon will drop dead, or catch a real bullet. Vance lacks the cult following and the personality, such as it is, the rapist has. Nor does he inspire fear. There would be a struggle to get the felon’s followers, and they’d likely split into factions.

    2
  19. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    @Kathy:

    We might get lucky and the felon will drop dead, or catch a real bullet. Vance lacks the cult following and the personality, such as it is, the rapist has. Nor does he inspire fear. There would be a struggle to get the felon’s followers, and they’d likely split into factions.

    I think the funny thing is that Musk, Vance, and a couple others all think they have the chops to step in if Trump goes down. Watching them all immolate themselves will be amazing one day. That’s definitely one center that won’t hold.

    2
  20. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    @Beth:

    I wonder how fascist they’ll go on each other, and engage in assassination and beatings.

    Unlikely, given these individuals tend to fight with money and lawyers. But when they get the impression they can break laws with impunity if no one enforces court rulings, well.

  21. Scott F. Avatar
    Scott F.

    I, for one, see this as a positive development. It has been evident since the escalator ride that Trump fancies himself a king. It’s also clear that the MAGAts want a king (as good ol’ Connor aptly demonstrates with his comment above). And Republicans legislators are content having a king that will execute the GOP wishlist without the bother of negotiating policy in an evenly split Congress. Why bother pretending otherwise?

    You see, the inconveniences of co-equal branches of government, the Will of the Governed, and the other trappings of our democracy are all dispensable, if Daddy can just make things as Daddy sees fit. They’re all confident in the knowledge that Daddy is one of them and wouldn’t ever self-serve. The King will let them know when America is Great Again and they’ll accept his word since a King would never lie to his loyal subjects. What could possibly go wrong?

    3
  22. charontwo Avatar
    charontwo

    As Trump continues to sink deeper into his “second childhood” the dementia strips away his filters and he not only lives his own best reality but, unfiltered, shares it with us subjects.

    1
  23. SC_Birdflyte Avatar
    SC_Birdflyte

    @Kathy: I see several possibilities. He may die of natural causes; if the 2026 midterms result in a GOP rout, he may be impeached and actually convicted; Vance could put together a coalition in the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment. If his sell-out of Ukraine results in Putin’s tattered army rolling into Kyiv, he may stop a bullet.

  24. Matt Bernius Avatar
    Matt Bernius

    @Connor:

    It certainly is horrible that one of the most regressive taxes imaginable is going to be eliminated.

    Call–explain how this is a regressive tax.

    And I thought you were all about the turnaround–have you looked into the positive impact of congestion pricing on NYC?

    Plus, as someone who is so concerned about the existential threat of deficits, it’s weird to suddenly be against revenue generating approaches that help close budget gaps.

    2
  25. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Matt Bernius: But the King did it and that makes it cool!

    1
  26. Modulo Myself Avatar
    Modulo Myself

    @Matt Bernius:

    As everyone who lives in the city knows, working-class people drive in, pay various tolls, and then 500/month to a garage for parking. It’s the wealthy who take public transportation.

    1
  27. Matt Bernius Avatar
    Matt Bernius

    BTW, as a side issue: unless I missed it, Eric Adams, who was a supporter of congestion pricing, has been remarkably silent on Trump. In fact, a question about it managed to end a press conference: https://www.amny.com/news/mayor-adams-ends-press-conference-02202025/

    Gotta love the silence that DOJ leverage can cause.

    1

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