Posted on 05/04/2019 10:46:46 AM PDT by Kaslin
So the President is shopping around the idea of a massive infrastructure bill. In fact, if you were following him on Twitter this morning he was talking it up once again.
There is nothing easy about a USA Infrastructure Plan, especially when our great Country has spent an astounding 7 trillion dollars in the Middle East over the last 19 years, but I am looking hard at a bipartisan plan of 1 to 2 trillion dollars. Badly needed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2019
Just one to two trillion, eh? Easy come, easy go, I suppose. But how do we plan on paying for this massive investment? Never fear. New York Congressman Chris Collins (R) took time out from preparing for his insider trading trial to offer a suggestion. We’ll just double the gas tax and let all of the little people pay for it! (The Hill)
A Trump ally on Capitol Hill is calling for the doubling of the federal gas tax and airline fees in order to pay for the $2 trillion infrastructure package being negotiated by President Trump and Democratic leaders.
Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) is urging Congress to double the 18.4-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax, which has not been raised in more than a quarter century. He also wants to double the existing fee that airline passengers pay per flight.
“I not only support increasing the gas tax; I support doubling it. I support doubling the airline passenger fee from $4.50 to $8 or $9. Those are user fees. I won’t even call it a tax,” Collins told The Hill in an interview after Trump and Democratic leaders agreed Tuesday to try to fund a $2 trillion bill to improve the nation’s crumbling roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Look, I understand the need for some infrastructure improvements. The need certainly exists, particularly when it comes to interstate bridge inspections and repairs or smartening up our nation’s power grid. Those are big projects and they require a lot of funding. But even if the President has an “ally” in Chris Collins, that’s not the sort of friend he needs whispering in his ear right now.
It’s bad enough that spending has been out of control under this administration every bit as much as during Obama’s tenure, if not more. The fact that we didn’t manage to work some serious spending cuts into the package when the tax cuts went through remains a burr under the conservative saddle. But if we’re going to keep spending like a sailor during Fleet Week and your only idea as to how to pay for it is to raise taxes, precisely how is the GOP different from the Democrats at that point? A tax and spend policy smells just as odious by any other name.
Also, Donald Trump owes his 2016 victory to the support he received from working-class voters. And that’s precisely who gets hit the hardest when you start jacking up the gas tax. It’s easier to talk about an increase in the gas tax when gas prices are low, as they are now. But history should have taught us by now that those low gas prices won’t last forever. And you know what will last forever? The gas tax. Once you raise a tax, it’s a rare day when it gets lowered back to previous levels.
This is just one more sign that we ought to be thinking about a primary opponent for Collins. If he’s not going to resign and trigger a special election for a less damaged candidate, his trial may drag on for so long that we’re once again at risk of losing a safe GOP seat in New York. If he’s going to spend his days proposing tax increases, that should make the need for such action even more urgent.
Fees are taxes. They are just called fees to avoid the negative connotation of taxes.
It is especially true when government is using them to solve a fiscal problem, and wants to raise money but doesn’t want to appear as if they are raising taxes.
The surcharges and fees on my water bill are just taxes. By law i have to be hooked up to municipal water, i cannot opt out, and so all people have no choice but to be users. Its a tax under another name.
For many flyers flying is the only thing they can use to do their jobs.
Even if the money only pays for 4-5 miles of highway off The Bridge to Nowhere, it's still a better investment than what we get from these clowns.
What a FREAKING DUMBASS!! Get your LOCAL GOVT. to fix your LOCAL POTHOLES, JERK!
Right now, Tolls and gas taxes are put put into the General Fund. We need to separate fuel taxes from general funds.
We could easily pay for this if we taxed election and reelection war chests. It would still be tax deductible to donate but would be considered income to the candidate. Any candidate that doesn’t support this must be un-American.
Never heard of him but he’s an idiot.
Deport all illegals and visa over stayers and we won’t need all this new infrastructure.
If anyone has a viable solution on how to build public roads and bridges without taxation, I’ll listen.
“7 trillion dollars in the Middle East”—down the crapper with nothing to show for it.
Add the trillions spent on the “war on poverty”, and instead of a national debt we’d have a surplus.
Not only do I support stripping you of your salary and pension, but also kicking you in the nuts!
You must be pre-med.
Unfortunately for us, his district was left with a choice: him or a Democrat. And he damn near didn't beat the Democrat.
From Wikipedia:
"Collins and his son, Cameron Collins, were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 8, 2018 and charged with insider trading and making false statements. Three days later, Collins announced that he was suspending his bid for a fourth term in Congress; however, on September 17, 2018, he resumed his re-election campaign. Collins was narrowly re-elected to Congress on November 6, 2018, with his 2016 percentage of 67% reduced to 49%"
Wondering how Einsteins like Collins propose to capture highway funds from Electric vehicles? With their heavy battery packs, even taking in consideration the weight of a full tank of gas, they weight significantly more than a comparible sized gas car. (See Camery vs Model 3)
That's an excellent observation.
And nearly everyone is on the take somehow, someway. Cash jobs, side jobs for cash, etc.
In a another life in upstate NY, I had a boyfriend who was a contractor.
The game went like this--you worked all summer and collected unemployment all winter and you worked side jobs when you could get them all winter too. They'd all go drop of their unemployment stubs or papers every week dressed in their work clothes--clearly coming from work --covered in paint, drywall, etc.
When I look back, it seems everyone had a racket. A guy sold tires, and sold them out the back door at times, another guy worked for a gas station and figured a way to rig the pump and everyone knew to go there for "deep discounted" gas and he pocketed the cash.
“It is a user fee-—not a tax”
You can call it cherry pie if you want....IT IS A TAX.
IF any part of and government-—city-county-state-Federal imposes the tax/fee & collects the money to disperse as they see fit-—
IT IS A TAX.
Apropos of nothing, the Potomac flows out into the Atlantic, which is quite nearby.
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