California Free R1de

(From the Orange County Register)

California's toll road program has its fair share of violators...the majority of whom are government employees. Taking advantage of a program that was originally designed to protect law enforcement officers, many government employee's now enjoy immunity from traffic tickets via the Department of Motor Vehicles "confidential" license plate program.

The linkbeneath the road sign lists the "top 20" offenders. Ironically, the top person on the list works for the department of corrections.

I think Lew Rockwell sums it up best (From LRC blog):

Almost one million California cops, judges, prosecutors, and other high-paid parasites have special license plates that make them immune to road tolls and traffic-ticket cameras. Need I mention that these free-riders on the taxpayers make far more, and work far less, than the people they serve (for dinner)? Hooray for the libertarian Orange Country Register for exposing this outrage. It is just the sort of comprehensible crime that can subvert the coercives, especially at a time when they wants more taxes. Makes sense: the people are poorer in the recession, so make them poorer still so the ruling class can continue to live in the style to which it has become accustomed--the high-pay, high-pension, no-ticket, no-toll style.

In DC, things aren't much different. Of course, we don't have many toll roads, but the "do as I say, not as I do" motto still applies to our police. One thing that I'm starting to notice is how often police officers violate simple laws, such as illegal parking. Walk down any street in DC--especially during sporting events--and you're guaranteed to see a police car illegally parked.

I'm certain most people would agree that police need special privileges due to the dangerous nature of their jobs. But that's a dangerous position to have, especially when that belief extends to cover traditional rights such as gun ownership. Simple traffic violations are easy to ignore and write off as a "benefit" police (and other government workers) enjoy, but that slope is a slippery one, and the taxpayer never benefits from such practices.