"Hey, gas prices are down and the roads need fix'en. Let's Raise the Gas Tax." Ahh... Let's NOT!

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There is one form of taxation that I have at least a small bit of patience for and those are use taxes. One form of a use tax is the US Federal gas tax, currently at 18.4 cents per gallon of gas.

Before we move on, let's look at some assumptions that most people make about fuel taxes and infrastructure spending.

1) The roads, bridges and other infrastructure are in horrific condition and need a Lot of repair.

2) The Federal Government doesn't get anywhere near what it needs to spend on those repairs.

3) All monies collected via fuel taxes are available for road and infrastructure maintenance.


Let's get away from assumptions and get into the facts.

The gas tax--plus a 24.4 cent tax on diesel and other excises--finances something called the Highway Trust Fund, or HTF.
But since the 1990s, the Highway Trust Fund has come to fund much more than new roads and bridges and highway maintenance, abandoning the original "user pays" principle behind a gas tax.

Drivers now see about a quarter of their gas taxes diverted to subsidize mass transit in merely six metro areas and sundry other programs for street cars, ferries, sidewalks, bike lanes, hiking trails, urban planning and even landscaping nationwide. Trolley riders, et al., contribute nothing to the HTF.
Federal spending on such side projects has increased 38% since 2008, while highway spending is flat. Here's what the politicians won't say: Simply using the taxes that are supposed to pay for highways to, well, pay for highways makes the HTF 98% solvent for the next decade, no tax increase necessary.
Another myth is that U.S. roads and bridges are "crumbling," to use the invariable media description.

...

The Chicago Federal Reserve Bank noted in a 2009 paper that roads have "indisputably" improved over the last two decades and that "the surface of the median interstate highway mile is suitable for superhighway speeds not typically permitted in the United States."
Democrats always want to raise the gas tax. When prices are high, that's the best time to encourage drivers to buy an electric car or take the bus. When prices are low, they can skim some of the proceeds for other spending. The mystery is why Republicans would go along.
An excellent, eye-opening article that has more to say about the gas tax.

Abolish the Gas Tax - WSJ

Raise the gas tax?! No!

Demand better mamanegment of the existing gas tax revenues? YES!

Joe Mobley
  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    You forgot to mention one that makes me completely livid. Our taxes go to subsidize corporations that are already making multi-billions in profits. Use those subsidies to rebuild infrastructure - when you have that much in profit, you don't need any stinking welfare.
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    Sal
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Well, you FORGOT the car registration fees, and R/E taxes. But WELL SAID!

    Just as I was coming home, I was listening to Dave Ramsey.

    Real Debt Help - Get out of debt with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan - daveramsey.com

    NOT an affiliate link!

    Although I WOULD disagree with him on some TECHNICAL points, I have to admit that he is right, and the way I would want to do it is better but harder to follow and takes longer for encouragement. Anyway, the government should listen to him!!!!!! A woman called in close to the end, and she might as well have been ******OBAMA******! HEY OBAMA! Take Ramseys answer to HER to heart, apply it to the US, and you might go down in history as being FAR better than now!

    Anyway, what was HER problem? She was in a nice home, about 3000sf, and wanted to DOWNSIZE! After all, WHO needs the space? I mean it is ONLY HER........OH YEAH, AND her HUSBAND! OH YEAH, AND their two kids! Considering other things they might want to do, paperwork, cars, etc... 3000sf really isn't all that big. 2000sf would be on the small side, and 1000sf would be downright tiny! I mean you figure bedrooms? upwards of about 400sf total, living room perhaps 400sf, bathrooms 300sf, breakfast area maybe 150sf, kitchen maybe 150sf , and you are up to 1400sf!

    Basically, she was saying that the family should somehow get a lot more money, which the government would say meant RAISE TAXES, or they had to sacrifice, the government will call all, that claim they have to sacrifice, all sorts of names! Anyway, they were making about $250,000/year, and dave figured something was REALLY missing. He said the house was NOT the problem and what they should do is get together, decide where the money was going, and SET UP A BUDGET. Supposedly the husband was saving close to 30% for retirement, and dave said that should be 15%. They should of course pay into the kids college funds, and the emergency fund.

    My point is that she went STRAIGHT to a short term bandaid on a festering sore, after doing still MORE surgery, and Dave never ONCE spoke about raising money. ALSO, it was reasonable things on amounts that would be helpful.

    Dave's tag line is something like "Zero debt is worth more than a BMW!". He even has people call his show simply to brag about how they got there and scream "WE'RE DEBT FREE!"! OH, if the US could, ONCE AGAIN, do that!

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Joe Mobley View Post

    Raise the gas tax?! No!

    Demand better managment of the existing gas tax revenues? YES!
    Very much in the news over here, too, at the moment, with the slump in oil prices. Honestly, if I ran the "economy" of my little business like our respective governments run "theirs", I wouldn't still be in business.


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    • Profile picture of the author Cam Connor
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      Very much in the news over here, too, at the moment, with the slump in oil prices. Honestly, if I ran the "economy" of my little business like our respective governments run "theirs", I wouldn't still be in business.


      .
      If your business was able to legally steal as much money, I'm sure you'd stay afloat for a very long time.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      If you go back 4-5 years ago - the LAST time there was a temporary downturn in oil prices....you'd hear the same thing.

      Any time the price of oil goes down - the pols are drooling hoping to pass higher taxes on fuel. Idiots!
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      • Profile picture of the author AprilCT
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        If you go back 4-5 years ago - the LAST time there was a temporary downturn in oil prices....you'd hear the same thing.

        Any time the price of oil goes down - the pols are drooling hoping to pass higher taxes on fuel. Idiots!
        Pennsylvania already raised tax on gasoline on January 1, 2015 and prices here are higher than in Ohio.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gaura Klausner
    Dude! I see people saying that gas is $1.60 for them? WTF - It isn't lower then $2.05 where I am...
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