Posted on 07/07/2014 7:38:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
Washington needs more money and if it doesn’t get it, your morning commute will become:
a) more expensive
b) more unpleasant
c) both
The problem, you see, is that the Highway Trust Fund is "going broke,” by the Beltway’s curious definition of the phrase. It is sort of the way that after a round of painful “cuts,” spending somehow still goes up.
The Highway Trust Fund takes in more than 18 cents on every gallon of gasoline sold in this country, so there is plenty of revenue. Just not enough to meet Washington’s needs and desires. People are driving more fuel efficient cars and with gas already around $4 a gallon, not taking the trips they might otherwise take. So instead of having the $50 billion that Congress budgeted, the trust fund is looking at $34 billion.
So cuts are coming, possibly as soon as August, and, as Keith Laing of The Hill reports:
Those cuts could leave drivers facing congested or damaged roads, sparking anger ahead of November's midterms.
Sort of like closing down the monuments during one of those government shutdowns. The idea being to inflict immediate pain.
The president has gotten involved, talking about the jobs that are at stake and saying:
“We’re not going to be able to fund the Highway Trust Fund and to ramp up our investment in infrastructure without acts of Congress.”
Gasoline is not a discretionary item in the budget of most Americans. Making it more expensive means there will be less to spend elsewhere. The people calling for urgent measures to keep the trust fund from going broke say they are concerned about jobs.” Theirs.
One wonders just how much pork a penny a gallon in new taxes would buy.
No talk, of course, of privatizing. Using the tolls mechanism.
Just more taxes. For jobs.
It’s also due to a bad economy that isn’t being portrayed as a bad economy. Regardless, the government gets more than enough money. They need to cut out the waste and thievery.
This is total BS - there are way more cars on the road for example in DFW than there were 10 or 20 years ago as the population increases even if people are driving less. And there really aren’t many new roads; there is George Bush freeway. Ed Wallace on his Saturday morning show has some good counter arguments for this assumption.
http://www.insideautomotive.com/
Seems the law of unintended consequences has (still) not been repealed....
The members of congress get free cars and gas. They do not care how high the tax is.
I agree. The gas tax, if properly administered (a big “if”, to be sure) is one levy the taxpayer actually benefits from. The federal gas tax probably needs to be adjusted for inflation, if nothing else. And the prevailing wage rule on highway projects needed to go a long time ago, as far as I’m concerned.
We have a winner here! proves 1 + 1 = 2 rather than the 1 + 1 = 6 which govermint wants us to believe.
Bump
No talk, of course, of privatizing. Using the tolls mechanism.
Just more taxes.
A toll is a tax. It also never goes down but always up ad up.
Got to remember that at almost half of the 18 cents on the gallon go to deficit reduction, not the highways. Fix the deficit and we fix this problem.
BUMP!!
On top of all the other non-highway expenditures listed in this thread, don’t forget that Slick Willie passed a 5c a gallon increase that went into the General Fund. Newspapers reported at the time that it was the first time (?) taxes for a specific purpose were redirected to the General Fund.
Raise taxes because they’re broke? Rescind that 5c a gallon General Tax diversion for openers. (Yeah right).
it happens with utilities too..
cut back on electricity and the power company wants to raise rates because they are not selling as much..
water? same deal..
Gas? same deal..
You can’t win. it’s all rigged.
Wrong. Legislators using the Highway Trust Fund as their own personal vote-buying slush fund is what is causing it to go broke. As long as you don't spend more money than you take in, all will be well.
Idiots.
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