Posted on 03/29/2009 6:12:42 AM PDT by Osage Orange
Mileage tax might be road bill funding source, Inhofe says
By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau
Published: 3/26/2009 2:31 AM
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Wednesday that a proposal to tax motorists on the miles they drive is being looked at as an alternative method to funding much-needed road projects.
Conceding that such an approach could be awkward, the Oklahoma Republican said such proposals must be part of the discussion as he and other key member of Congress begin putting together the next huge transportation spending authorization bill.
"No one thing is going to do it,'' Inhofe said, citing the backlog of transportation needs and a fuel tax that no longer raises enough revenue.
As the top Republican on the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over transportation legislation, Inhofe will play a major role in crafting the bill to replace the current law, which expires in September.
Inhofe spoke during an interview after a hearing with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Disappointing several members of the committee, LaHood once again ruled out an increase in the fuel tax as a way to generate more money for transportation projects. He cited the difficulty in raising taxes during hard economic times.
Even though the White House strongly came out last month against LaHood's suggestion that lawmakers should discuss taxing motorists on miles driven, he seemed to leave that idea on the table.
Inhofe confirmed that such a proposal is still alive.
"We are going to try to come up with something in terms of a VMT (vehicle miles traveled) approach,'' he said, agreeing with LaHood that a fuel tax increase should not be one of the options.
"On the VMT, no one has figured out how you can do that other than the honor system, which never works.''
Inhofe said one possible method could be checking a vehicle's mileage when its registration is renewed.
A VMT tax could be layered on top of the fuel tax, which might be reduced dramatically or eliminated altogether, Inhofe said.
Automobiles, especially hybrids, are not using as much fuel as they once did, he said, explaining why the fuel tax no longer can be viewed as a reliable source for transportation projects.
Inhofe said other options under review include indexing the fuel tax to inflation and limiting the use of money in the trust fund to highways and bridges.
Supporters of mass transit projects and other programs would have to look elsewhere for funding, he said.
Inhofe said the amount of the next multiyear transportation bill needs to come in at about $400 billion.
His office reported that the last bill totaled $286.4 billion.
Inhofe, who is proud of his conservative voting record in Congress, said, "I know it sounds funny coming from me, being a big spender in that area, but I am.''
He said such a dramatic increase is necessary because of the huge backlog of projects.
"It is somewhat life-threatening,'' he said of the condition of certain roads.
Oklahoma has slipped into last place among the states in the condition of its bridges, he said, citing examples of concrete falling off some of them.
Oh, so the 800 billion for roads and infrastructure was just another lie?
I am so ticked off at Inhofe it's not funny...
Until we have a true tax revolt.....these guys will continue to act like 16 yr olds with daddy's car keys and his credit cards.
FWIW-
Se let me see if I get this straight. Now the Republicans are the ones advocating new taxes?
Jeez, even the good guys are talking stupid now.
Folks, get ready for 24/7 GPS tracking of all your vehicles by the government. It’s coming. Annual odometer checking is the camel’s nose. After a few years GPS tracking will be found to be “more accurate and convenient”.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Yea, right.
And the Pubbies wonder why they are in the minority?!?!?!
I'd be cracking up laughing if I wasn't so pissed off.......
The so-called “much needed highway projects” won’t be needed. Nobody will be able to afford to go anywhere so the highways can just be abandoned for lack of use.
Time to dump the Republican party.
time for a new party now.
The disgusting pols keep floating this obscene “mileage tax” which has numerous implications for individual privacy.
And it also is extremely regressive against (a) rural citizens outside the Northeast and (b) people who are forced to make long commutes for economic reasons (no one really prefers a long drive to work).
I say this as someone who drives less than 7,500 miles per year, and lives in the semi-suburbs.
How can a a Republican from a midwest rural state advocate something like this? Inhofe should be tossed out on his ear.
Freakin moron marxist
Let me get this straight:
You mustn’t drive ‘cause it’s bad for the environment. You must drive to support the infrastructure, driving up your personal taxes and expenses.
You mustn’t smoke ‘cause it’s bad for your health. You must smoke to provide health insurance to children, driving up your personal taxes and expenses.
Soon: You mustn’t eat so much ‘cause of health concerns. You must eat more to provide health insurance to everyone else, driving up your personal taxes and expenses.
Does anybody else sense a double-speak pattern developing here?
Doubleplusungood.
>>>>> Until we have a true tax revolt.....these guys will continue to act like 16 yr olds with daddy’s car keys and his credit cards. <<<<<<<<
You’re giving them far too much credit, as if they are wayward children who don’t know what they’re doing.
But they do know what they’re doing.
They have absolute contempt for us, the citizens.
Contempt.
Inhofe is a “Republican”. And this is the kind of regressive and invasive tax that this alleged “Republican” contemplates for his rural constituents.
Utterly sickening.
But this is a supposely Conservative Republican....
Sigh.......
My wife keeps telling to get off of FR. It just makes me too angry.
It's come to the point where everyone in DC thinks that ALL the money is theirs to begin with.
There is not a dime’s worth of difference between R’s and RINO’s. It’s all a matter of degree not principal. Tomorrow’s “conservative” Republican will be to the left of today’s Dems.
Taxes?
It's none of governments GD business how much and where I drive taxes or not!
I said they were "acting" like them....
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