American Public = cash cow

In other news, water is wet....

I read this story and I had to laugh.  As a former NJ resident, I thought all roads had toll booths until I was 12 years old.  Here in the SF Bay Area, tolls have been on all of the bridges since they were built, but on the roadways is a relatively new item.  Of course, that hasn't stopped them from charging exorbitant rates.  They just crow on about how convenient they have made it with the FastTrak devices, removing your cash at the speed of light.  Despite being in IT, I am not thrilled or amazed by the technology. 

But apparently the populace of Houston, at some point, thought that their politicians could be trusted.  They believed that the various government agencies would see this cash rolling in hand over fist and not think, "Wow, this will be great until it ends.  Oh well."  Instead, when the end was looming, the politicians simply changed it with a line item in a council meeting, Section H, paragraph 6, sub paragraph Q, line 23.  With the stroke of a pen, a majority of "Aye"s and a clap of the gavel, a tax with a defined lifespan was converted into a tax for life. 

I was almost surprised that they pulled this off, since I thought that it was still legal in Texas to shoot politicians for what amounts to thievery.  However, checking the statues, apparently that was abolished.  I say almost surprised, since I had already read the Texas Legislature Operational Procedure, as explained by the esteemed Professor Lawdog, from a dissertation by Professor Tole. 

So, my question is this:  How is it that these people are allowed to operate like this and still somehow do not qualify to be prosecuted under the RICO statute?