Start out with a lie. FEDERAL gas taxes are among the lowest in the developed world, but each state puts its own taxes on top of that, so we are paying a bunch of gas taxes.
Here in the state of Ohio, one of the first things our new Republican governor has proposed is higher gas taxes. The Republican legislature said wait a minute...we agree, but the tax increase should be less. Now they are negotiating on how much to raise taxes to fund infrastructure projects. And that is what Republicans are doing.
How about a “Truth-in-Taxation Law”, which:
1. Requires each recipient of gasoline tax receipts to HONESTLY report in detail how those receipts were spent.
2. Prohibits spending those receipts on non-highway building and maintenance projects.
Results:
1. Bike paths and hiking trails are funded some other way.
2. AMTRAK capital projects and repairs are funded by AMTRAK.
3. Over-priced light-rail “projects” are funded some other way.
4. State Police salaries and benefits are funded some other way.
5. Soft-hat Federal and State “transportation” bureaucrats are funded some other way.
6. Frivolous “academic studies” are funded some other way.
7. Anti-growth “protest groups” are funded some other way.
8. Government “Slush Funds” are funded some other way.
In short, a renewed FOCUS on using gasoline tax receipts to pay for infrastructure will generate billions of dollars to pay for that infrastructure.
Big-spending Democrats may disagree.