Is the Gas Tax the Next Tax on the Chopping Block for the Tea Party?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I don't exactly agree with fully getting rid of the Federal Gas tax. However I would like to see it ONLY fund Inter-state highways. This idea of funding other road projects, etc. need to be dropped on a Federeal level and leave it to the states to worry about their own transportation needs.

As far as the GM Ceo wanting to raise the gas tax by a dollar? What a freakin' jack #######. Talk about a CEO wanting to tax the poor.

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http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/04/news/economy/gas-tax/

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- You may want to consider investing in some good shock absorbers for your car this fall.

Fresh from blocking any new tax increases during the debt ceiling debacle, some lawmakers in Congress may now oppose renewing the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, which is used to maintain our nations highways.

The federal gas tax of 18.4 cents a gallon expires at the end of September. In order to keep the gas tax, lawmakers would need to vote to extend the highway funding bill, which is what the gas tax is tied to.

There are no official efforts to scrap the tax yet but as first noted in the journal Politco, momentum appears to be moving in that direction.

A bill was recently introduced by Senate Republicans that would allow states to opt out of the federal highway program. The highway program uses $32 billion each year collected by the gas tax, plus a handful of smaller fees and some borrowing to distribute some $50 billion a year to the states for road construction, maintenance and mass transit projects.

That represents about 28% of all road and transit spending nationwide, with the rest coming from states or towns in the form of tolls, registration and user fees, state gas taxes or their general funds.

Spendthrift motorists shouldn't get too excited by the prospect of eliminating the federal gas tax, which costs the average driver around $100 a year. The states would presumably make up for the loss of federal funds by increasing their own gas tax or other driving-related fees.

But for those who support ending the federal levy, the thinking is that the states could do a better job of building and maintaining the nation's infrastructure.

First there's the bureaucracy. Why collect the money at the state level, send it to Washington, only to have it return to the states?

Then there's the question of federal oversight. Federal money often requires the use of union labor or comes with other stipulations.

"The Davis-Bacon law increases the cost of new roads, bridges etc. by 25% to 33%," Grover Norquist, head of the advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform, said referring to the law that stipulates how much workers on federal projects need to be paid. "Much money is siphoned off to pay union workers in subway systems or to build bike paths....not roads."

About 15% of federal funds go toward mass transit and other things not road related, according to the Transportation Department.

Norquist didn't say if he'll use his considerable influence among Republicans to attempt to kill the gas tax next month, but did say "we should move now, or soon, to allow all states to raise and keep their own gas taxes to build and fix roads."

Supporters of the tax argue federal involvement allows roads to be built and maintained to uniform standards that ensure the smooth and safe flow of travel and commerce.

Having a patchwork of roads with different weight limits, lane widths, or curvature would be a headache for truckers and possibly dangerous for everyone, said Ken Orski, publisher of the infrastructure industry publication Innovation NewsBriefs and a former transportation official in the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Even if states had to build the roads to a federal standard, Washington still acts as as a kind of equalizer when it comes to highway funding. Under the federal system, states on the coasts with large populations often end up sending money to states in the middle of the country that have thousand of miles of open roads but fewer taxpayers to help fund them.

That makes sense, said Orski, as the roads in the middle of the country take a beating by heavy trucks shipping commerce from one coast to the other.

"We are one nation, and we need a national highway system," he said.

That helps explain why some big business groups not only want to keep the federal gas tax, but want it raised.

Both the Chamber of Commerce and General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) have recently come out in favor of a higher gas tax -- the latter arguing for a dollar-a-gallon increase.

They note that the 18.4 cent-a-gallon tax hasn't been raised since 1993, and now has the inflation-adjusted buying power of just 11 cents. Plus, fuel efficiency has been rising steadily each year along with miles driven, meaning Americans are putting more miles on roads while paying less to maintain them.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I don't exactly agree with fully getting rid of the Federal Gas tax. However I would like to see it ONLY fund Inter-state highways. This idea of funding other road projects, etc. need to be dropped on a Federeal level and leave it to the states to worry about their own transportation needs.

As far as the GM Ceo wanting to raise the gas tax by a dollar? What a freakin' jack #######. Talk about a CEO wanting to tax the poor.

OK, who are you and what did you do with the real Paul?

[^_^ 5,021]

OK, who are you and what did you do with the real Paul?

He hates everyone equally.

[웃 910]

Complete morons....Hey mom and dad, I have this huge job promotion...I'll make over $1.3 trillion dollars in 30 years!!! "SON, DO NOT TAKE THE JOB PROMOTION..."

2005:

federal and state taxes on gasoline production and imports have been

climbing steadily since the late 1970s and now total roughly $58.4 billion. Due in part to

substantial hikes in the federal gasoline excise tax in 1983, 1990, and 1993, annual tax

revenues have continued to grow. Since 1977, governments collected more than $1.34

trillion, after adjusting for inflation, in gasoline tax revenues—more than twice the

amount of domestic profits earned by major U.S. oil companies during the same period.

As illustrated in Table 1, since 1977, there have been only three years (1980, 1981, and

1982) in which domestic oil industry profits exceeded government gas tax collections. In

the remaining years, gasoline tax collections consistently exceeded oil industry profits,

reaching a peak in 1995 when gas tax collections outpaced industry profits by a factor of

7.3.

Edited August 8, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[Dan J 277]

I don't exactly agree with fully getting rid of the Federal Gas tax. However I would like to see it ONLY fund Inter-state highways. This idea of funding other road projects, etc. need to be dropped on a Federeal level and leave it to the states to worry about their own transportation needs.

That only gets you so far in a modern economy. There are many metro areas that have workers that commute in to a city from out of state. There is no reliable way for a state to tax out of state citizens for using that states roads. Unless we start putting up border controls between states, the federal government has to be able to strike that balance.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

We'll just do what we did with the FAA. Only here, we'll pizz away not 20MM-30MM but about $100MM worth of revenues a day while bitching about deficits. All the while, the consumer isn't going to see any lower bills at the pump just as the consumer didn't see any reduced end prices for airline tickets since the airlines just upped their ticket prices to offset the drop of taxes the FAA could not longer raise. Worked out well for the airlines. Not so much for the consumer, the federal budget deficit or jobs. But hey, this isn't about either deficits or jobs or the consumer but about tea party lunacy so what the heck?

Edited August 8, 2011 by Mr. Big Dog

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

We'll just do what we did with the FAA. Only here, we'll pizz away not 20MM-30MM but about $100MM worth of revenues a day while bitching about deficits. All the while, the consumer isn't going to see any lower bills at the pump just as the consumer didn't see any reduced end prices for airline tickets since the airlines just upped their ticket prices to offset the drop of taxes the FAA could not longer raise. Worked out well for the airlines. Not so much for the consumer, the federal budget deficit or jobs. But hey, this isn't about either deficits or jobs or the consumer but about tea party lunacy so what the heck?

Which reminds me, is the government going to raise the tax on tea?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

That only gets you so far in a modern economy. There are many metro areas that have workers that commute in to a city from out of state. There is no reliable way for a state to tax out of state citizens for using that states roads. Unless we start putting up border controls between states, the federal government has to be able to strike that balance.

You're not familiar with the I-35 Kanas Turnpike, are you?

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

You're not familiar with the I-35 Kanas Turnpike, are you?

Tolls are very annoying and add to congestion...

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Tolls are very annoying and add to congestion...

You haven't heard of the North Texas Tollway Authority have you? No Toll booths needed.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Tolls are very annoying and add to congestion...

I see you've been to Oklahoma.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I used to use the I70 toll road in Kansas alot. I also cross bay area bridges quite a bit too. I guess if they just billed the license plate things would be smoother

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I used to use the I70 toll road in Kansas alot. I also cross bay area bridges quite a bit too. I guess if they just billed the license plate things would be smoother

Yeah, it's normal on-ramps and off-ramps here for the Tollways. Really nice and they make it plain as day where the tollways are. You just get on, plate readers line the on and off ramps, then you get a bill in the mail or your tolltag is debited for the expense.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I used to use the I70 toll road in Kansas alot. I also cross bay area bridges quite a bit too. I guess if they just billed the license plate things would be smoother

We have that here.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Yeah, it's normal on-ramps and off-ramps here for the Tollways. Really nice and they make it plain as day where the tollways are. You just get on, plate readers line the on and off ramps, then you get a bill in the mail or your tolltag is debited for the expense.

I have a toll tag here, but unfortunately they still have cash lanes too which slow things down. Especially when a cash user is in my lane and then decides to stop in the highway before the toll to get into a cash line that is backed up.