Highway fund running on fumes ("highway fund" = gas tax)

thehill.com ^ | 7/7/14 | Keith Laing

[Lou L]

The rest is wasted / stolen by the lazy federal bureaucrats and politicians.

Absolutely correct. I wish there was a way for them to honestly report the percentage of funds actually used build or repair roads, bridges and overpasses. Some kind of ratio similar to how they show how various non-profits operate. How much of our "road taxes" are being used as a Democratic "slush fund," used to pay off consultants, administrative fees, pension plans, union deals, etc?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Agenda 21, perhaps?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I actually like the variable message signs. The only problem is the all-too-often use of them to lecture us on safe driving, click it or ticket, etc.

[RicocheT]

The highway fund/tax was started to build the interstate highways back in President Eisenhower’s time. The new interstates were needed and helped spur the prosperity of the 1950s-1990s.

The fund quickly became a political money grab bag and a lot of the present outflows are for non-highway projects such as mass transport, light rail, pet projects [bridges to nowhere], etc. Some tax increase may be OK, but only if the fund is returned back to mainly highways that cars and trucks run on.

[stylin19a]

35 billion is fumes....

[cripplecreek]

I'm unsure what to think of this. Road Bonds?

Let's pay to fix Michigan's roads the old-fashioned way

Text of the ROAR act

Sounds like it might be a good way to wean the piggies away from the pork that comes from road funding.

[GeronL]

They need to stop spending it on stuff besides highways

[Hoodat]

Highway fund running on fumes

So is my household budget. What part of TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY do these people not get?

[cripplecreek]

there is no reason to make non-users do this.

The "non users" will continue to pay in the cost of goods transported on highways.