That's incorrect. Building of national roads is itemized in our Constitution.
Article 1.
Section. 8.
Clause 7: To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
Posted on 08/10/2005 12:45:46 PM PDT by janetjanet998
Legislation Provides Certainty for Caterpillar Customers and Supports Emissions Reduction Efforts)
MONTGOMERY, Ill., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT - News) today hosted President George W. Bush at the company's manufacturing facility in Montgomery, Illinois, where he signed HR3, the Transportation Equity Act, into law. The measure sets funding levels over the 2004-2009 time frame for critical infrastructure projects
We are honored President Bush is signing this important legislation at our Montgomery location and that House Speaker Denny Hastert is with us today after working so hard to get this bill passed in Congress," said Jerry Palmer, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for the Wheel Loaders and Excavators Division. "The wheel loaders and excavators made in Montgomery can be seen all around the country, working to build the roads, highways and bridges that are such a vital part of the American economy."
Caterpillar's Montgomery operation is one the company's largest U.S. manufacturing facilities, and it is located in House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's 14th Congressional District.
"This highway bill will not only fuel America's economy by growing jobs, but it addresses the need for a national transportation system suited to the 21st century's economy," said Hastert. "It is estimated that for every one billion dollars we spend on road construction, nearly 48,000 jobs are created. With more than 67 percent of the nation's freight moving on highways, economists believe that our ability to compete internationally is tied to the quality of our infrastructure."
Caterpillar Group President Gerry Shaheen said, "On behalf of our Caterpillar customers, I'd like to thank the President, Speaker Hastert and all those who made this day possible. With this bill, our customers will now have certainty to make business plans and to prepare to get to work on the projects that provide jobs and improve the lives of all Americans who benefit from improved highways, roads and bridges."
In addition to the infrastructure initiatives, the legislation funds programs to reduce emissions from older off-road diesel equipment and sets money aside to retrofit school buses as part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus USA initiative. Caterpillar has actively supported the Clean School Bus USA initiative by providing $250,000 in grants in 2004 to help school districts reduce bus emissions. Caterpillar's retrofit technology can also be used as part of a transportation bill program, enabling states to retrofit older construction equipment used in federal highway projects, including machines used in EPA non-attainment areas.
Caterpillar uses its breakthrough ACERT® Technology to reduce on-highway and off-road emissions. In fact, the company has reduced on-highway diesel emissions in trucks and buses by nearly 90 percent since 1988 and will reduce emissions another 90 percent by 2007.
For 80 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been building the world's infrastructure and, in partnership with its worldwide dealer network, is driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2004 sales and revenues of $30.25 billion, Caterpillar is a technology leader and the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. More information is available at http://www.cat.com .
Mostly, I'm knocking the Keynesian assumption that for each billion we spend, 48K jobs are created. That means that two billion creates 96K jobs, and 150 trillion creates over six billion jobs. At what point do diminishing returns set in? Probably well short of the one billion mark, since the figure is itself probably an extrapolation, and a similar assumption of linearity was probably made. (Forgive me--I am a mathematician. When a dog looks out the window and barks, he's probably looking at the poodle, not the cute babe.)
But on the subject that you raise, I would be astonished beyond measure if gas tax revenues honestly were sitting in some account untouched. If they weren't mixed with general revenues and spent, I'll truly need to go to bed early to get over the shock.
As for funding, federal funding of roads is unconstitutional. It should be handled at the state and local level. I'd even be game to see some sort of privatization, for that matter. But the feds should neither tax gas nor build roads.
CAT stock hit an all-time high today :)
Very well stated but the closed minded whiners on here will never understand.
Clinton allowed our roads and bridges here in Middle America to go downhill as the NE received more gas tax dollars then they paid in and we received a lot less in places like here in Oklahoma. From 1998-2003 the NY/NJ area received 162¢, $7,240,745,000 compared to Oklahoma received 71¢, $-636,076,000 and before 1998 the disparity was even more with Democrats in control of the Senate.
Like Senator Inhofe said today -- he wants people to drive into Oklahoma saying our Interstates are in great shape instead of hitting all kinds of rough roads and potholes everywhere.
No mention of just how much Caterpillar manufactures and assembles outside the US. Wonder why?
Interesting thing here in Illinois (and everywhere) is this whole "matching funds" scheme. The feds. will provide $100 million for a project that costs a billion dollars. So, the pols here in Ill. are already talking about tax increases to pay for these projects so that they "don't lose the federal money".... but it is only about 1/10 of the projected cost!!! More tax increases on the way......
Nice to see some/your informed comments.
Folks can argue what they will on the trust fund or the gas tax, but to blame it all on this bill is silly, and ignorant. The Administration conducted this legislation with determination and guts. There are some key reforms in it that are from the Administration alone that will go long ways to changing the way we pay for roads.
(Tolls anyone? and that's a good thing.)
I'm working just now on the history of state road building programs post-WWII. It's a complex mess made stupid by the New Deal. And it didn't have to be the way it was. This research has turned me into a great fan of the NJ Turnpike, which was a brave, world-shattering project.
That's incorrect. Building of national roads is itemized in our Constitution.
Article 1.
Section. 8.
Clause 7: To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
What Is the Highway Trust Fund?
The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) was created by the Highway Revenue Act of 1956 (Pub. L. 84-627), primarily to ensure a dependable source of financing for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways and also as the source of funding for the remainder of the Federal-aid Highway Program. Prior to the creation of the HTF, federal financial assistance to support highway programs came from the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury. While federal motor fuel and motor vehicle taxes did exist before the creation of the HTF, the receipts were directed to the General Fund, and there was no relationship between the receipts from these taxes and federal funding for highways. The Highway Revenue Act authorized that revenues from certain highway-user taxes could be credited to the HTF to finance a greatly expanded highway program enacted in the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.
In the original Highway Revenue Act of 1956, the crediting of user taxes to the HTF was set to expire at the end of fiscal year 1972, but since then, legislation has been passed to extend the imposition of the taxes and their transfer to the HTF through September 30, 2005.
Like other federal trust funds, the HTF is a financing mechanism established by law to account for tax receipts that are collected by the federal government and are dedicated or "earmarked" for expenditure on special purposes. Originally, the HTF focused solely on highways, but later Congress determined that a portion of the revenues from highway-user taxes dedicated to the HTF should be used to fund transit needs, resulting in a 5 cent increase in the gas tax (to 9 cents), of which 1 cent would go towards transit, to help fund the new account. As a result, the Mass Transit Account was created within the HTF effective April 1, 1983. Although never formally described and named, the portion of the Highway Trust Fund outside the Mass Transit Account has come to be called the Highway Account and receives all HTF receipts not specifically designated for the Mass Transit Account.
How is the HTF funded?
Tax revenues directed to the HTF are derived from excise taxes on highway motor fuel and truck-related taxes on truck tires, sales of trucks and trailers, and heavy vehicle use. The Mass Transit Account receives a portion of the motor fuel taxes, usually 2.86 cents per gallon, as does the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund, usually 0.1 cent per gallon. The General Fund receives 2.5 cents per gallon of the tax on gasohol and some other alcohol fuels plus an additional 0.6 cent per gallon for fuels that are at least 10 percent ethanol. The Highway Account receives the remaining portion of the fuel tax proceeds.
http://www.nemw.org/HWtrustfund.htm
POST roads. It's a sizeable stretch to conclude that any and all road building is authorized.
About 6,400 "earmarks" for about $24 billion.
Check out:
http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=9162
Perhaps next time we can finally elect a conservative president.
Any road that facilitates connecting any two post offices is Constitutional.
No, more than just Constitutional...such roads are *ENUMERATED* in our Constitution.
That you thought that such roads were unconstitutional speaks for itself.
Rubbish. What's clear is that Highway Funds aren't counted to offset our federal budget deficit.
Our Federal Budget is one thing (income tax and debt based in arrears).
Our Highway Trust Fund is a very different thing (gasoline tax based in advance).
You'd prefer that $24 Billion of our Highway Trust Fund remain unspent?!
You're taxed at the gas pump whether Congress spends the money in that trust fund or not, you know. We've just gone two straight years with those taxes stacking up *outside* of our economy. Who benefits from that nonsense?
No. I prefer that it not be Pi$$ed away on crap. I would also prefer that funds spent on real highway programs not be subjected to the Davis-Bacon Act.
In case you are not aware, the funds in the "Highway Trust Fund" don't exist. They have been borrowed and spent just like the "funds" in the Social Security "Trust Fund".
Just more Public Debt. But it get the A$$holes votes, at your expense. Happy?
Wonder whether the Corries were invited to watch...
The question I asked was, "In what form are Highway Funds held?" If they're held in the form of US bonds, like the Social Security "trust fund", then the actual funds have indeed been spent and replaced with IOUs.
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