In an article in today’s Opinion Journal, University of Rochester Law Professor Steven Landsburg ridicules (rightly) the notion of progressive punishment for speeding tickets and charging different prices for the same service based on an individual’s income:
If the Finns wants to have dumb traffic laws, it’s their business. But this dumb law is derived from an equally dumb principle, and the dumb principle infects political discourse in the U.S. So it’s worth spelling out the principle and what’s dumb about it. Here’s the principle: “Equal pain for equal acts.” A $50 ticket is less painful for a tycoon than a janitor, so the tycoon should pay more to equalize the suffering.
I can tell that Mr. Landsburg has never been to the worker’s paradise that isthe People’s Republic of West Virginia University. Parking is an abject nightmare, and while the administration has not resorted to forcing us to all drive Trabants, they have tried a new pricing scheme for parking permits that would make those in the former Communist Bloc states gush with pride.
From the February 8th edition of the school’s paper, the Daily Athenaeum:
An increased flat-rate fee of $10 a month was originally proposed but was tabled by administration in favor of a percentage-of-salary fee, which, according to both Fisher and Kelley, will increase the fee for some and reduce it for others. The plan would have charged faculty and staff 0.29 percent of their salary next year and 0.44 percent the following year. The percentage would increase during the next few years. Employees who earn less than $10,000 will not be required to pay a fee…
All together now:
From each according to his abilities……