Posted on 06/07/2014 5:17:07 AM PDT by bestintxas
The Highway Trust Fund is running on fumes, and this is sending certain congressmen and the administration into a tizzy. The administration insists that America’s roads are crumbling, the bridges tumbling, and Congress must raise taxes, or else.
“If they don’t act by the end of the summer,” President Obama says, “federal funding for transportation projects will run out — will run out. There will be no money. The cupboard will be bare.”
This is a classic Washington crisis by the numbers. Congress sets up a “trust fund” — in this case, the Highway Trust Fund — and depletes it by spending the cash on projects that have nothing to do with highways. When there’s no money left, taxes must be raised.
The Obama administration sells this fanciful tale with claims that America’s cars and trucks have been made magically more fuel-efficient by government fiat, and since everybody is paying less than ever in taxes on gasoline, raising the tax on gasoline won’t actually hurt. It might sound plausible, but that’s not the story the numbers tell. In 2009, gross receipts for the gasoline tax were $24.6 billion. Every year since, they’ve gone up, to the most recent accounting of $25.5 billion. Separate taxes imposed on diesel fuel for the big rigs brings the total sum to $41.3 billion.
That’s a lot of money, and it’s keeping America’s roads and bridges in the best condition in decades. According to a Cato Institute review of
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
“If they don’t act by the end of the summer,” President Obama says, “federal funding for transportation projects will run out — will run out...”
HE LIES!
About Fast and Furious..HE LIES!
About Solindra...HE LIES!
About the IRS...HE LIES!
About Bengazi...HE LIES!
About the VA...HE LIES!
About domestic spying...HE LIES!
About “Global Warming”…HE LIES!
About Healthcare…HE LIES!
About Illegal Immigration…HE LIES!
About gun control…HE LIES!
About the EPA…HE LIES!
About Bowe Bergadahl…HE LIES!
About anything…About everything...HE LIES!
How much was spent to CLOSE THE BORDER?
How much was spent on al Qaeda, on MANPADs,
on mosques overseas?
That about sums it up!
Problem with this article is that it excuses federal trust funds to a degree. Highways should have been a private-sector affair, not the largest public works project the USA has ever seen.
In 2009, gross receipts for the gasoline tax were $24.6 billion. Every year since, they’ve gone up, to the most recent accounting of $25.5 billion. Separate taxes imposed on diesel fuel for the big rigs brings the total sum to $41.3 billion.
For one thing, the U.S. economy had collapsed in 2008, and auto travel (and fuel tax revenue) was recovering from a steep decline. Secondly, the real issue here isn't the tax revenue itself but the tax revenue compared to the growing infrastructure demand.
Mark
You have a point, but the construction of Federal roads was a legitimate function of the Federal government going all the way back to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The first generation of these was called “post roads,” and they were intended for the delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service.
How much of the 787 Billion Stimulus is still unspent and/or unaccounted for that was supposed to take care of all that?
This is just another manufactured “crisis”.
Only post roads. And the language says “establish”, not fund and maintain.
When they were handing out all that money to the states, many cities put in those plant bed things in what should have been a turn lane. Made the other lanes smaller. Then had to hire a specialist at $50K per year plus perks, to take care of the plants. I can buy the side walk ramps. And a repave of a bad road, but not some stupid planter. That was not well thought out, sticks to far out and makes a left turn hard to make with out getting into the wrong lane...accidents have increased at that intersection, now it has cameras to boot. This is a small town of less than 6000.
In this case, please note:
User taxes are deposited in the General Fund of the Treasury and the amounts equivalent to these taxes are then transferred on paper to the HTF. Transfers are made at least monthly on the basis of estimates by the Secretary of the Treasury and later adjusted on the basis of actual tax receipts. Amounts in the HTF in excess of current expenditure requirements are invested in public debt securities. Until October 1, 1998, the securities were interest-bearing and interest from the securities was credited to the fund. Since that time, the HTF balance has been invested in non-interest-bearing securities.
In other words, it's just the government shifting dollars from one pocket to the other...just like the so-called "social security trust fund".
2. The idea of constructing a road that would be used exclusively for the delivery of mail without access by any other user was unheard of -- even in the 1790s.
3. I don't have a problem with privately-owned roads, but there are major flaws in that whole concept and there's a good reason why many of the toll roads that have been sold off to private investors in the last decade have turned into financial disasters.
For the most part there is no creature on the planet filthier than a politician.
Great. We must have more art-in-public-places, mass transit, light rail, bike paths, plantings and assorted other “having-nothing-to-do-with-cars-traveling-on-highways” crap. Up taxes...this is a crisis!!!!
Maybe a third of the gasoline taxes returns to the roads and bridges - after the over paid federal desk sitters divert/ waste the rest on their new remodeled offices, Las Vegas trips & other perks , high speed rail, bike trails, etc.
They are starting to turn many regular roadways into automated tollways using license plate readers. This cannot stand. It sets a horrible precedent.
False premise. One can establish such roads by law (e.g. desired routes) but have the private sector build and maintain them afterwards. Same with post offices, where charters are issued to private owner/operators.
The private sector owned and operated (and still does) huge interstate railroad networks; the same can be applied to interstate highways. No need to gouge people for taxes to fill a “trust fund” whose end is questionable, never mind being a Ponzi scheme in and of itself. There are no flaws with the concept of privately-owned roadways whatsoever, other than the government regarding it as a flaw when they want control of it. No toll roads given over to private operators have become “financial disasters” either—the financial disaster was having them “free” to begin with, and the trust fund is exemplary of the real disaster.
There is plenty of money for interstate highways and bridges if that’s what it were spent on.
These would be government-owned tollways, right? At least the examples of that I’ve seen have been government-owned.
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