Posted on 11/06/2015 8:44:03 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Today, the House overwhelmingly passed the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act (STRR) to much fanfare.
The six-year, $325-billion bill reauthorizes highway and transit funding from the federal Highway Trust Fund that was set to expire on November 20. The bill is being heralded as no less than a historic “long-term†measure, emerging after “ten years of short-term band-aids and extensions.â€
But make no mistake: Despite the bill’s name and the exhortations of its admirers, STRR is another status quo bailout, plain and simple.
It follows in a long line of short-term bailouts that do nothing to fix the chronic overspending and misallocation of highway trust fund resources. Trust fund spending is still expected to rack up an annual deficit of about $15 billion in the coming years. Instead of reforming the unsustainable system, Congress decided to pad the fund with even more cash from budget gimmicks and unrelated measures.
And the dirty secret about the bill? It’s not a fully funded six-year measure. In just three years, Congress will be required to bail the trust fund out yet again after it chews up the latest general fund infusion, adding further to the $73 billion in bailouts the fund has required since 2008. This is just another patch, albeit on a larger scale.
As to where the bailout cash is coming from, consider some of the ways Congress plans to augment the highway trust fund, which is supposed to be funded by the 18.3-cent gas tax that masquerades as user fee (even though 25 percent of it is diverted to purposes that have nothing to do with highways).
One measure would sell government-owned barrels of oil from the federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve and use this to offset new outlays. Not only is the reserve wholly unrelated to highway spending, but the bill assumes that the government can miraculously sell the barrels of oil at nearly twice the market price.
Another measure added at the last minute would raid the Federal Reserve’s $29-billion surplus fund to pay for the new spending. This is budget gimmickry at its worst and makes a mockery of the notion that the Fed is an independent entity isolated from congressional politics.
While there are some parts of the bill that are small steps in the right direction, the bottom line is that this bill does nothing to fix the current problems that plague the trust fund and require perennial congressional attention. Congress will be back in the same spot in a few years, but with an even larger hole in the trust fund’s finances to deal with.
Even more discouraging is that the House will go to conference with the Senate to reconcile the differences between STRR and the Senate’s bigger-spending ($360 billion) bailout, the DRIVE Act. There is little good that can be expected to come out of merging a bad bill with an even worse one.
After mismanaging gas tax dollars for years, it’s clear Congress cannot be relied upon to make responsible decisions regarding the nation’s vital infrastructure.
True federal priorities such as the interstate highway system have taken a back seat to annual pleas for more spending, which now goes to fund local transit projects, bike paths, and museums with motorists’ gas tax dollars.
This irresponsibility was on display yesterday when the House voted down an amendment that would simply limit highway construction dollars from going to landscaping projects. The American people who rely on Congress to be fiscally prudent with their gas tax dollars deserve a better approach.
Federal Reserve Highways PING!
Its all good sez DickTater Hoebama
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Our beloved kleptocrats doing what we elected them to do.
BINGO!
It would amount to a 33% increase in highway funding if that 25% diverted to frickin' bicycle paths and "mass transit" boondoggles were put back into highways - 33%!
Paul Ryan. Can some Romney Ryan you’d better vote for one of the two evils brigade apologize for this prick of a man?
With what money ? We’re bankrupt and massively in debt.
*crickets*
The only Highways .gov should be concerned with funding is the Interstate highways. The states should take care of all others. If the citizens of a particular state wants better roads, THEY can pay for it themselves.
Chirp chirp. ..Chirp chirp. Eeekiee Eee Eee eeekiee eeek...chirp chirp
This is not the time to pass long term measures. We’re due for a regime change. This just locks in the previous administration’s policies, which could be a big mistake. A 10 year measure means it will take three POTUS terms for any Republicans to have any effect.
The nation completely jumped the shark with respect to fiscal integrity during the first term of George W. Bush. That was when the GOP House under Hastert went on an earmark frenzy and the president who inherited a balanced budget engaged in two expensive wars using supplemental appropriations to hide the cost of the conflicts instead of including them in the budget. Then came the huge TARP slush fund for the banks at the end of the Bush term. By the time Obama took the oath of office the cumulative federal debt had doubled under Bush’s 8 years in office and the Republicans had abandoned any sound money and fiscal responsibility principles.
During the 6+ years of Obama’s regime the federal government has engaged in an orgy of debt financed spending demanded by the POTUS and willfully supported by the GOP Congress which has controlled the purse strings since January 2011. The budget approved by the GOP as Boehner’s last act, and this highway bill touted as new Speaker Ryan’s first “accomplishment” are more evidence the GOP is as determined as the Democrats to run up debt until the currency and economy collapse.
Those who expect a Trump or Cruz victory in 2016 as heralding in a new period of fiscal responsibility are naive. George W. Bush kept his veto pen hidden during an era of profligate and wasteful spending. Expect Ryan and McConnell to behave just like Hastert and Frist pandering to every interest group. No GOP President is going to reign in spending by a GOP Congress using the veto.
The funding bill should have included the money to build the Keystone pipeline, with instructions that it be started immediately.
the feds have no business in highways, as 100% of all highways are in states or DC.
Let them build the highways.
Good point.
The current GOP leadership in Congress, including Ryan, keep saying this is not the right time to confront Obama and do what Americans want.
7 years of kicking the can down the road.
Why not make it 70 years?
Is it just me, or does anyone else have an Obama app on their phone counting down the days to him getting out of office?
The federal Highway Trust Fund is nothing more than an elaborate money-laundering scheme.
The politicians, via taxes, confiscate a portion of your income. Then, via government contracts, they pass the money along to their preferred special-interest groups. The groups, via campaign contributions, then send the money back to the politicians.
What a racket. Bet the Mafia is green with envy.
I call it the highway slush fund.
This is the perfect vehicle for never ending fraud and abuse.
Plus long short term thinking prevails in terms of initial design and long term maintenance ... because you can always go back to the slush fund.
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