Posted on 05/01/2019 6:44:08 AM PDT by Mariner
Democrats and Republicans are quick to talk up a bipartisan infrastructure deal. Yet neither party wants to take the political risk of paying for it when all options are toxic -- including the obvious choice of raising the national gas tax.
Increasing the gas tax is so politically fraught that it hasn’t been touched in 26 years and it didn’t even come up at a meeting at the White House Tuesday between President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss an infrastructure plan.
While they agreed broadly on the need to upgrade roads, bridges and airports, they put off for three weeks the tougher conversation about coming up with ways to fund an estimated $2 trillion in public works.
Taxes on fuel in the U.S. are among the lowest in the developed world, at 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel, and infrastructure advocates see raising the levies for the first time since 1993 as the best short-term option to generate needed revenue.
Still, a measure that would disproportionately affect poor and rural drivers raises opposition at all levels of the political spectrum. It’s also created strange bedfellows -- aligning members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, born from the Tea Party movement, and progressives such as Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a Democratic presidential candidate.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Nobody.
Pay for it with a gas tax or national sales tax.
I could be wrong, but isn’t infrastructure a local thing 0 with the exception of roads (interstate highway system), etc. that cross state lines?
President Trump set a trap....and she fell for it...hook, line and sinker.
She should have just shut up.
Whether it should be local, or national expenditure...if they are going to spend $2T then raise the money with the most “regressive” (fair) tax possible.
Colorado DOT gives the gas tax to the general fund then builds a bunch of bike trails and a couple roundabouts and calls it good. The left over monies never goes to schools.
Ok so once they “pay” for all this nonsense, are they going to remove the tax?
Not a chance!
If it’s Chuck and Nancy’s idea it’s a Scam
Congress should also look at the Davis Bacon Act wages law which increases the cost of infrastructure projects by some 20%.
Would you rather pay with debt (China money), or with the income tax paid by less than 1/2 the population?
Pay for it with a gas tax or national sales tax.
You simply pay a percentage of the cost when you purchase an item for your use. No IRS at all based on income. No government intrusion into your income, but only intrusion into what sales tax was collected when you sold a good or service to someone else.
So, a house painter pays for all of his tools, vehicles, clothing, etc. None of it is tax deductible. But when he paints a house for $1000, he charges a certain percentage tax rate - lets say 15% - and collects an additional %150, which he pays directly to the government.
It will never happen, of course. The number of accountants, attorneys, and entire tax departments of large to medium sized companies would be suddenly out of work. i.e. it would destroy our economy.
But a guy can dream.
Agree. We should not borrow more money to pay for this. If we need to do this then raise the revenue to do it: Quit borrowing to pay for stuff!
“If it’s Chuck and Nancy’s idea it’s a Scam”
It’s not.
Democrats HATE “regressive” taxes. They much prefer debt payment from the general fund.
Yet neither party wants to take the political risk of paying for it when all options are toxic …No, all options are not toxic, but the one option that is ultimately fully viable is repugnant to the Uniparty: full privatization and repeal of all taxes.
Start out with a lie. FEDERAL gas taxes are among the lowest in the developed world, but each state puts its own taxes on top of that, so we are paying a bunch of gas taxes.
Here in the state of Ohio, one of the first things our new Republican governor has proposed is higher gas taxes. The Republican legislature said wait a minute...we agree, but the tax increase should be less. Now they are negotiating on how much to raise taxes to fund infrastructure projects. And that is what Republicans are doing.
An increase to the gas tax will hurt California.
These tax and spend politicians are really horrible.
JoMa
“This is not what the Post Roads clause of the Constitution was about. “
OK
Go fix that.
The rest of us will try to minimize the damage caused by irresponsible and out of control government.
I agree. I just think it should be left to the 50 individual countries within the union to handle it as they see fit. It’s outside the scope of the FedGov’s purpose. Just ask any guy you see on our money.
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