So, are you claiming the government doesn’t collect near enough in fuel taxes to pay for roads?Yup. 33 billion of general tax revenue + 79 billion or so fuel tax. So per capita $330 per american or so(Yes I know that taxes really don't work this way).Are you seriously making that argument?
Fuel taxes are not the only taxes collected for roads. Every truck, trailer, tire is taxed. You might of noticed ‘tolls’ too, where trucks pay to use the road. Further the trucking industries is a industry that wouldn’t exist to be income taxed if the road didn’t exist.
So, in short a truck pays fuel, tire, truck and trailer excises tax, plus coporate income tax.
Frankly, I would like the Highway system sold to private investors, and let the market decide.
Cite please.
I’m seriously interested in your numbers, because I was unaware that the fuel tax didn’t cover road maintenance.
It was my understanding government collected far more than it needed and used the fuel tax to subsidize other portions of government.
If you look at this chart: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohim/hs03/htm/balchrt.htm
It shows outlays of 32 billion with income of 28 billion.
However, the highway trust fund still has a balance, as of 2003 of 12 billion dollars.
Just fuel taxes alone, in 2003, were 25 billion dollars. Evidently, though, the highway trust fund collects taxes from other sources, such as the sale of tires, lubricants, etc.
Anyway, looks like it could go either way. After all, we are dealing with government accounting.
Quite frankly, I’m surprised the number is only 32 billion in 2003. Seems a bit low.
As an aside, when I was a kid, a billion dollars was an almost magical, mythical number.
Now, a billion dollars doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal.
Sad.