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The Gas Tax (essay by Fred Thompson)
I'm with Fred ^
| 08/10/07
| Fred D. Thompson
Posted on 08/10/2007 11:16:17 AM PDT by SE Mom
Whoa now. Lets hold our horses a minute and think about the calls for new tax increases to fix for our infrastructure problems. The Minneapolis bridge collapse is a tragedy, but we cant let it be used to compound other problems which is what will happen if were scared into raising gas taxes.
As we all know, there are few things more permanent than a temporary tax. Just ask the folks who footed the cost of the Spanish-American War for the past 108 years via a federal excise tax on our phone bills. Congress is contemplating a new temporary 5-cent increase in the federal gas tax (already at18.3 cents a gallon), which is on top of the state and local gas taxes that have been in place over the years to finance a trust fund for infrastructure repairs.
The cause of our infrastructure troubles is not a lack of money; but the politics and bureaucracy that have built up around the funding process. Now, the people who have done their best to micromanage local infrastructure spending from their Washington D.C. offices are exploiting tragedy to further federalize our transportation system.
Why dont we let states determine which infrastructure problems are their priority? Are bridge repairs a priority in Arizona? Alaska? Hawaii? Maybe, but lets let the people decide what needs fixing, when, and how they want to pay for ittaxes, bonds, or tolls, for example.
(Excerpt) Read more at fredfile.imwithfred.com ...
TOPICS: Editorial; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: energy; fredthompson; gastaxes
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Fred!
1
posted on
08/10/2007 11:16:17 AM PDT
by
SE Mom
To: Politicalmom; xsmommy; prairiebreeze; Petronski; Sturm Ruger; jellybean
2
posted on
08/10/2007 11:17:23 AM PDT
by
SE Mom
(Proud mom of an Iraq war combat vet -Fred'08)
To: Beelzebubba
Sorry- forgot to ping you..
~snip~
Only in government is it even possible to think that you could be rewarded with a bigger budget for totally messing things up in the first place. Why cant we leave infrastructure issues to the people closest to where the rubber literally hits the road?
~snip~
GOTTA LOVE FRED!
3
posted on
08/10/2007 11:18:46 AM PDT
by
SE Mom
(Proud mom of an Iraq war combat vet -Fred'08)
To: SE Mom
If there was a new trust fund for infrastructure, instead of building the Bridge to Nowhere, they would build the Gold-Plated Bridge to Nowhere.
The first rule of Washington is that it can always consume all available funds and still not have quite enough money to get the job done, no matter how much money is available.
4
posted on
08/10/2007 11:22:22 AM PDT
by
gridlock
(ELIMINATE PERVERSE INCENTIVES)
To: SE Mom
There is no way that a man who supports such radical ideas can ever win in the general election, much less be worthy as our “chosen one”
I mean come, let the states, decide? What does he think this is, a Federal Republic?
5
posted on
08/10/2007 11:22:34 AM PDT
by
ejonesie22
(I am not really a Fred basher, I am a Paulitroll. THOMPSON 2008!)
To: SE Mom
As another FReeper so eloquently put it, “There’s plenty of money to fix our infrastucture. Just stop spending it on earmarks!”...............
6
posted on
08/10/2007 11:22:50 AM PDT
by
Red Badger
(All I know about Minnesota, I learned from Garrison Keilor.............)
To: SE Mom
Thanks and Bookmark for later
7
posted on
08/10/2007 11:23:22 AM PDT
by
Leofl
(I'm from Texas, we don't dial 9-11)
To: ejonesie22
I’ve noticed the Fred bashers have really backed off lately..
8
posted on
08/10/2007 11:23:24 AM PDT
by
mnehring
(Ron Paul is as much of a Constitutionalist as Fred Phelps is a Christian)
To: Red Badger
As another FReeper so eloquently put it, “There’s plenty of money to fix our infrastructure. Just stop spending it on earmarks!”............... Yea, tell that to Ron Paul.. people need their shrimp and wetland museums.
9
posted on
08/10/2007 11:24:18 AM PDT
by
mnehring
(Ron Paul is as much of a Constitutionalist as Fred Phelps is a Christian)
To: gridlock
If there was a new trust fund for infrastructure... DOES ANYBODY ON THIS FORUM ACTUALLY THINK THAT THE US CONGRESS WILL LET A HUGE PILE OF MONEY SIT AROUND IN THE US TREASURY UNTIL IT'S NEEDED?..........................
10
posted on
08/10/2007 11:25:11 AM PDT
by
Red Badger
(All I know about Minnesota, I learned from Garrison Keilor.............)
To: gridlock
The first rule of Washington is that it can always consume all available funds and still not have quite enough money to get the job done, no matter how much money is available.It's all about guilt. It is our fault that congress refuses to do their job. If only we could give them more money to waste, then maybe they could do their jobs. 5 cents gas tax indeed!!!
Go Fred!!!!
11
posted on
08/10/2007 11:26:37 AM PDT
by
w1andsodidwe
(Jimmy Carter allowed radical Islam to get a foothold in Iran.)
To: SE Mom
Fred is totally correct. I might add that a gas tax is regressive and hits the working poor the hardest. Car transportation is not an option for the vast majority of the citizenry. People who cannot affords newer more fuel efficient vehicles are hardest hit. Kids in the car add weight and more gas is consumed and that causes more taxation. There is no rational argument for raising gas taxes, the cost of which is sky high already due to the fed govs hobbling drilling on our own land and seacoast.
12
posted on
08/10/2007 11:28:59 AM PDT
by
Weeedley
(Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.)
To: SE Mom
Fred sounds more and more like the 'Gipper' every day.
I know, I know, I know, he is no Reagan,,,,but then again, who is????? Fred is as close as I have seen!
The more I see what Fred says,,,what he stands for and what he believes in,,,,the MORE I SUPPORT HIM!!
Go, Fred, go!!!
13
posted on
08/10/2007 11:29:07 AM PDT
by
stockstrader
(We need a conservative candidate who will UNITE the Party, not a liberal one to DIVIDE it!)
To: mnehrling
School is back in session...
14
posted on
08/10/2007 11:31:34 AM PDT
by
ejonesie22
(I am not really a Fred basher, I am a Paulitroll. THOMPSON 2008!)
To: Red Badger
DOES ANYBODY ON THIS FORUM ACTUALLY THINK THAT THE US CONGRESS WILL LET A HUGE PILE OF MONEY SIT AROUND IN THE US TREASURY UNTIL IT'S NEEDED?.......................... Well of course! They're gonna put it in a lockbox, don'tcha know?!?
15
posted on
08/10/2007 11:31:51 AM PDT
by
gridlock
(ELIMINATE PERVERSE INCENTIVES)
To: mnehrling
16
posted on
08/10/2007 11:32:08 AM PDT
by
ejonesie22
(I am not really a Fred basher, I am a Paulitroll. THOMPSON 2008!)
To: Red Badger
Having a trust fund or, as Clintoon wanted, a rainy day fund where billions of dollars just sit around is actually far worse for the economy than running a debt. In a debt, at least you have strong bond markets that investors trade in, and thus, the debt still acts as seeds, feeding the economy. With a ‘trust fund’, the money is simply removed from the economy and depreciates as the value of the dollar depreciates (which is made worse by erasing that much monetary value from the market.)
The ideal way would be for the government to run as flat of a budget as possible with emergency capital improvements financed through bonds (debt)- note, I said only run capital improvements through debt, not recurring expenses.
17
posted on
08/10/2007 11:32:42 AM PDT
by
mnehring
(Ron Paul is as much of a Constitutionalist as Fred Phelps is a Christian)
To: SE Mom
> “Why cant we leave infrastructure issues to the people closest to where the rubber literally hits the road?”
That is exactly what was done in Minnesota — and 49 other states. THEY are the ones that screwed things up to start with. Does anyone think that Minnesota voters will “throw the bums out” at the last election.
I am not saying that the Feds are the answer, but the locals certainly are not.
To: stockstrader
Ron was no Thompson either...
19
posted on
08/10/2007 11:33:24 AM PDT
by
ejonesie22
(I am not really a Fred basher, I am a Paulitroll. THOMPSON 2008!)
To: stockstrader
If Reagan suddenly appear today, people would say he wasn’t Reagan enough.
20
posted on
08/10/2007 11:33:42 AM PDT
by
mnehring
(Ron Paul is as much of a Constitutionalist as Fred Phelps is a Christian)
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