Posted on 01/08/2015 12:32:21 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As U.S. gasoline prices plunge to the lowest level in more than five years, some U.S. lawmakers see a golden opportunity to bump up taxes at the pump to help pay for the repair of crumbling roads and bridges.
Fuel taxes have been flat for more than 20 years, starving the Highway Trust Fund of revenue used for rising infrastructure repair costs. Lawmakers have fueled the fund with last-minute short-term injections of cash, but want to find a more permanent fix.
Last July, before a similar deadline, Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee and Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut proposed raising federal gasoline and diesel taxes by 12 cents a gallon over two years from the current 18.4 cents.
The idea failed to take hold, for the same reason similar proposals failed in the past: the idea of raising taxes on consumers has been anathema to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, particularly for conservatives who have signed pledges not to hike taxes.
Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, the new chairman of the Senate Environment Committee, said on Wednesday a gasoline tax, or "user fee," as he prefers to call it, was one of the measures "on the table" as his panel works on a new transportation bill this year.
But Inhofe stopped short of supporting such a fee. ..
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Chas; France is need of your attention....
Can we have an itemized list of how the current gas taxes are spent? Is there a list somewhere? What is the target amount of money they need from these taxes? Stop with some of our foreign aid and that’s at least 37 billion. We’re spending 4-7 billion a year on the UN. That’s a start right there, isn’t it? 41 to 44 billion a year seems good to me.
LOL
nice.........
Who's your Congressman/Senator?
Write to them with this proposal, and see what happens.
And then, of course, get back to us! :)
CA....
Do you need further proof that the elites are your enemies?
And aren’t we getting a little sick of this talking point about our “crumbling roads and bridges??”
No — You see, they hate you. You and your family. They want you utterly dependent on them, at best.
They want us as slaves to prove their elitism, that they are just better than us, that their religion [The State] is true.
You are witnessing the rise of The American Caste System. [Direct Link]
Kalifornai just instituted and Cap and Trade tax on fuel to curb global warming. This new tax was tacked on to the price of fuel that included the already attached tax per gallon thus taxing us on the tax we are already paying and it will raise the price of gas by another $.70 / gallon. As Kalifornia goes, so goes the nation. So bend over and take it or stand up and say enough of this crap and get with the Tea Party movement!
Tar and Feathers?
Rope and lamppost.
Cap and Tax was a politician’s dream on a national scale.
Because they were gonna put all the blame for skyrocketing utility and fuel prices on “evil” utilities and “greedy” oil companies.
The problem with doing it on a state basis is some of the peons are likely smart enough to look across the border.
The green tie clashes with the orange face. Somebody should have said something.
We need to march on DC and each person should carry a huge container of syrup and another carry a bag of feathers. We can do this!
They get the same amount of tax per gallon cheap or expensive. B@stards!
Fuel taxes have been flat for more than 20 years, starving the Highway Trust Fund of revenue used for rising infrastructure repair costs.
They make it sound like the Highway Trust Fund is the only place from which money comes to fix up the roads.
There have been a half dozen times over the last 6 years that Stimulus and other government initiatives have spent TRILLIONS on this exact thing. The pols know we’ll pay $2.50, $3 per gallon and now that gas is cheaper than that, they want that money.
This is a straight cash / power grab.
Taxed Enough ALREADY!
He also promised to present no bill without a 72 hour waiting/reading period...
He is a liar. They ALL are.
Yep, becuase they robbed the trust funds to support liberal welfare programs. Not to mention the annual billion dollar bond fund initiatives they soak up. The government has only a few priorities, roads and bridges are one of them so all they really need to do is straighten out their priorities i.e. dump the social programs that are taking from the necessary programs.
Maybe they should just take the money from their illegal invader fund.....
Aw heck...just put another tax on cigs
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