BOHICA!!!
Posted on 01/15/2008 2:56:00 PM PST by BradtotheBone
A federal panel today recommended a steep increase in motor fuel taxes and an increased emphasis on mass transit to meet the nation's transportation needs and repair its deteriorating infrastructure.
In its report, the 12-member National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, appointed by Congress in 2005, recommended increasing the federal gasoline tax by as much as 40 cents a gallon, at a rate of 5 to 8 cents per year.
The current federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and the state tax is 20 cents. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline has hovered near $3 for months.
The report, Transportation for Tomorrow, also recommends congestion pricing — tolls that increase with the volume or speed of traffic — in metropolitan areas.
Other tactics suggested include "a freight fee for freight projects and ticket taxes for passenger rail improvements," according to the commission's announcement.
Three of the commission members, including the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, dissented from the conclusions.
"Raising gas taxes won't improve traffic congestion. It will only perpetuate our ineffective reliance on fossil-based fuels," Peters said in a prepared statement.
"A better way forward is to provide incentives to states willing to pursue more efficient approaches and to invest federal funds more effectively to give commuters real relief from gridlock," she said. Among those approaches, the dissenters suggested tolls and congestion pricing.
A statement from Gov. Rick Perry called the study recommendations "incredibly short-sighted" and said that "raising taxes is a surefire way to stifle growth, and limiting states' freedom to innovate will only make it worse."
As an alternative to tax increases, Perry and the late Texas Transportation Commission chairman Ric Williamson have advocated strongly that Texas enter long-term contracts with private companies to build and operate toll roads.
Perry said he also opposes the report's recommendations "curtailing states' ability to leverage the capital and innovation of the private sector."
Among the other recommendations by the 12-member commission:
— Work to cut traffic fatalities in half over the next 17 years by urging states to embrace new strategies to improve safety.
— Ease traffic congestion by expanding state and local public transit systems and highway capacity.
— Protect the environment by smoothing traffic flow, encouraging alternative commute options such as carpooling and public transit and promoting energy-efficient construction and lighting in transit systems to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
— Seek to develop new energy sources with new research programs costing $200 million annually over the next decade.
The proposals for improving the nation's transportation system, which are expected to cost $225 billion each year for the next 50 years, is at risk of stalling because of internal division. The commission's chairwoman, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, and two other members oppose gas tax increases and were issuing a dissenting opinion to the report that said private-sector investment and tolls would be sufficient.
The gas tax has not been increased since 1993, and recent efforts by Congress to raise it have faltered over the objections of the Bush administration. The tax increase is designed to take effect in 2009, after President Bush leaves office.
It is time for a "new beginning," the report said, calling the current strategy of patchwork repair "no longer acceptable."
The report also calls for the country to rebuild and expand its rail network to meet a growing demand for alternatives to congested highways and to promote partnerships between the public and private sectors at U.S. ports.
The commission was formed by Congress in 2005 to study the future needs of the nation's surface transportation system, which includes roads, mass-transit systems, ports and rail lines — as well as to recommend funding options.
The report comes as state governments and several business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, are calling on the federal government to raise gas taxes to pay for substantial transportation improvements. The Minneapolis bridge collapse, which killed 13 people and injured about 100, also shone a national spotlight on the unsteady condition of the nation's roads and bridges and drew new calls for additional spending.
The Bush administration has said that raising taxes won't cut congestion and creates additional risks for congressional pork, such as Alaska's infamous multimillion dollar "Bridge to Nowhere," which has been scuttled.
In its report, the commission unanimously agreed that measures of accountability were needed to keep watch over state and federal spending.
These morons won’t be happy until the price of gasoline hits $10.00 per gallon, half of which will be taxes.
I thought the tax already hit that mark after all the overhead
100% truth folks, the time has come to fight back. They are ruining the US, all for money. R’s and D’s hang out together to make sure all of us grease their wheels. Lets give these evil people their just due. Screw R’s and D’s.
We are Americans, KOA.
With eight Republicans breaking ranks with the president, the decisive vote probably ended, at least for this year, the longtime dream of many Alaskans and conservatives in Washington that the protected wilderness could be opened for development, an issue that has pitted Democrats and environmentalists against Republicans and petroleum interests for more than a decade."
You want to blame somebody for America's failure to drill for oil in America, then put the blame where it belongs. On leftists and RINO loons.
"Stick your 40-cent-per-gallon tax increase plan where mushrooms grow" urges enraged citizenry.
Go Euro all the way. Kick it up to 50%. We can afford that $8 per gallon, no problem. Just keep the birthright to open road and flowing gasoline.
Which, of course, is directly counter to the new CAFE standards mandated by Congress -- which will make cars not only more expensive (by $6000), but smaller and lighter and more dangerous (by 4000 fatalities per year).
More government is good for us...
These Dopes must be smoking Dope (or they are mostly Democrats)....whose solution to everything is raising taxes. These fools are looking for armed mobs in the streets...as if gas prices aren’t high enough already !!! What complete idiots !!! UNBELIEVABLE !!!
Here’s a snippet from the bio of one of these brain surgeons:
Tom Skancke, CEO, The Skancke Company
snip.....In 1999, Nevada Governor, Kenny Guinn, appointed Tom to the CANAMEX Corridor Coalition (CCC). The CCC is a 5 state commerce and tourism coalition in the western United States. In 2003, the CCC elected Tom the first full time chairman of the five state coalition and he served in that capacity for two years. He continues to be a member of the Coalition. Most recently, United States Senator Harry Reid appointed Tom to sit on the congressionally created National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission....snip
http://www.transportationfortomorrow.org/about/bio_skancke.aspx
If Harry Reid has anything to do with this guy, then you know this panel was stacked.
What happened to smaller, less intrusive government?
BOHICA!!!
Mary Peters, Chair
Secretary
U.S. Department of Transportation
Jack Schenendorf, Vice Chair
Of Counsel
Covington and Burling, LLP
Frank Busalacchi
Secretary
Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Maria Cino
Former Deputy Secretary
U.S. Department of Transportation
Rick Geddes
Associate Professor
Department of Policy Analysis and
Management
Cornell University
Steve Heminger
Executive Director
Metropolitan Transportation
Commission
San Francisco Bay Area
Frank McArdle
Senior Advisor
General Contractors Association of
New York
Steve Odland,
Chairman and CEO
Office Depot, Inc.
Patrick E. Quinn
Co-Chairman and President
U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Inc.
Matt Rose
Chairman and CEO
BNSF Railway
Tom Skancke
CEO
The Skancke Company
Paul Weyrich
Chairman and CEO
Free Congress Foundation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
www.transportationfortomorrow.org
Now there's a concept - let private outfits foot the bill for building roads and get payback with tolls from those who use them - rather than soak every poor sucker, most of whom will never use the roads - or rarely.
It's a "Consumption Tax" like the FAIR TAX.
Use it=pay for it
Don't use it = don't pay for it.
What a strange concept in this socialist country
Along with the "r" or "d" after their names
MORONS. U.S. Army Retired |
Leftists, rino's and other assorted pigs.
Al Gore claimed the cost of a gallon of gasoline in the 2004 campaign debate9televised during prime time nationally) that a gallon of gasoline should cost $5.00 with all fees and taxes in order to pay the real cost. When 50% of the public voted for him, I don’t want to hear the bitchin when gasoline costs $3.50.
Who popped into your mind when you read that?
These idiots would even tax the grease you’d need before bending over.
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