Posted on 01/15/2008 6:24:14 AM PST by webschooner
WASHINGTON (AP) - A report being released today will recommend that federal gasoline taxes be raised by as much as 40 cents per gallon over five years. The hike would be part of a sweeping move to ease congestion on the nation's highways and repair crumbling bridges and roads.
The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission is the the first to recommend broad changes since last summer's fatal bridge collapse in Minneapolis. The panel warns that urgent action is needed to avoid future disasters. Its report says patching infrastructure "is no longer acceptable."
But there is internal division on the 12-member commission chaired by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.
Peters and two other members oppose gas tax increases and will issue a dissenting opinion to the report. It calls for private-sector investment and tolls.
The gas tax hasn't been increased since 1993.
Wow... you read this press release and think that major highway bridges collapse every other day in this country. Perhaps if all of the money collected by gas taxes and tolls went towards highway maintenance, we could actually maintain and expand the highway network.
the first question that should be answered is where is the gasoline tax now being collected being spent.
Roads would last 50 years if we didn’t allow semi-trucks to run on them like we do now.
I’ve got a better idea:
how about ending the diversion of gas taxes to uses like bicycle paths, greenbelts, museums, mass transit projects, and other egregious wastes of taxpayers’ money?
How much is the fed tax now?
Stop making sense.... Common sense would never see the light of day in D.C.
They don't need a tax increase, they just need to quit using the gasoline tax to fund other parts of the federal gov't.
As per link, fed tax is 18.4 cents/gal.
In 1989 the MASS Turnpike was going to take the tolls down because the Bonds had been payed off and a report was issued that the Pike was in excellent condition. Two weeks later they raised the gas tax, left the tolls up and issued a new report that the Pike was “crumbling”. When Dukakis was governor he raised the gas tax twice to fix the “crumbling roads and brides” however the money got put in the general fund and since all the roads and bridges couldn’t get fixed, none did. And how does a gas tax ease congestion anyway? We still have to go to work. Do higher gas taxes lead to higher unemployment?
Cut Spending...Never mind, they are crack addicts.
It’s a regressive tax, so it hurts worst the people its proponents usually claim to want to help the most.
They’re not going to stop ‘til they destroy every business out here. What morons!!!
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