Highway Trust Fund Empty

[northernflights]

Isn't it funny that when John McCain proposed suspending the federal gas tax, he didn't mention that the Highway Trust Fund is already bankruptCome on, people. Our key interstate highways are on the order of 50 years old. Many of the original interstate freeway bridges have exceeded their design life and are literally falling apart. We need to

Comments

[underwaterdream]

YES. Increased gas tax makes so so so much sense. Gas in England is already almost 10$ a gallon, most of it taxes that go towards developing renewables and such, and it's already doing good things. I would manage all the tax money better if I were in their shoes, but nevertheless, it's working in Europe like a charm

Taxing employment

[northernflights]

Why I'm not in favor of taxing employment:

Taxing employment sends a price signal to businesses to hire fewer people, by artificially increasing the price of labor.

Instead of taxing things that we like (such as jobs), we should tax things that we don't like (like imports). The original U.S. government supported itself with a tax on imported goods, because that also sent the market a price signal to reduce the trade deficit by producing things domestically. Now, the madness of "free trade," combined with high taxes on U.S. jobs, sends the opposite signal, which has led to the de-industrialization of America.

Are you really in favor of taxing employment, or are you just saying that we should keep taxing jobs because it seems to have worked okay since 1913?

Cheers!

[thryn]

If they could implement the alternatives first ...

Otherwise, those of us who live in cities that don't already have good alternatives in place would be screwed. I'd probably use the bus if I could get anywhere on it and most routes didn't stop running at 8 p.m. or so. As it is, Sarasota's buses frequently have so few passengers that each person on the bus driving a small car would be *more* fuel-efficient, I suspect. And I might ride my bike if a: I ever got around to fixing it, b: I felt safe riding home at midnight or later, after getting off work, and c: it wasn't simply too hot for most of the year.

Not to mention what that would do to the cost of shipping and as a result the cost of groceries ...

And then, once the market responds and no one's buying much gas anymore, where does the money come from?

[xaotica]

yeah, i was going to respond with something similar. the problem as i see it is mainly for people who live in more rural areas and are impoverished. a huge portion of those people would very happily use public transportation rather than owning a car were it available to them. but there are towns where it genuinely isn't possible to get to/from work by bus. riding a bike in the city is arguably less dangerous than in rural areas because even though there's more traffic and thus you're in more danger of getting hit by a car, there's also more infrastructure. if you get a flat and don't have a spare, you're probably within distance of a bike shop or a pay phone. in a rural area you're riding somewhere with no bike lanes, possibly no street lamps, and where if something goes wrong it could be hours before someone passes by to help you. which isn't as big of a deal for people who have a cellphone... but for those who don't, i imagine it'd be a scary idea. (and cellphones don't even work in some of those areas

[northernflights]

Okay... but in the long run, is it sustainable for Americans to live suburban or "exurban" lifestyles in rural areas? Obviously, it's not environmentally sound for people in rural Indiana to be solo-driving 30 miles to Wal-Mart to buy groceries, and it shouldn't be economically sound either.

The transition has to be made. Doing it with taxes, rather than waiting for declining oil production to force the price increase, gives us tools (i.e. money) to make the transition smoother.

[northernflights]

I think the market would work very rapidly to develop near-term alternatives, even in the suburban wasteland. If very few people can afford to drive alone and everyone on the road is interested in some kind of a ridesharing arrangement, it's not hard to imagine the technology developing very rapidly... with a $200 on-board GPS unit that can communicate via GPRS or EV-DO, one could very easily ridematch with others needing to reach similar on en-route destinations in real time. The current problem is that gas is still too cheap for people to demand this sort of thing.

The costs of many items would go up, yes. But the reality is that we're facing $10-a-gallon gas in the foreseeable future whether we like it or not... the only question is whether we do soon, it in a way that lets us keep most of the money, or do it later and send all the money overseas.

[i_dread]

DUDE! These asshells really ran the cupboards bare. Nah, he didn't mention it. Funny thing I notice too, he picked this woman from Alaska. The Gov't has been using that road money to make the States fall in line with their wishes.

Who do you think besides Vermont, would pick up that ball and run away with it? Alaska could and might....

[jbailey]

You're gentler than my suggestion of $10/litre. =) Although my goal wasn't to raise taxes, but to get people out of their cars and actively reorganising their suburbs and such into livable communities.