Hmm, I wonder if McSame will be in favor of the Gas Tax hike?
Hmmm, I’m in favor it to be honest. Our infrastructure is horrible (Google Minnesota Bridge) and if 10 cents does the trick to improve our roads and bridges I’m ok with a dollar more a fill. But the really shocking news to the story is the Contstruction lobbyists are behind it. (insert snark as thick as hot dog turd baking in 95 degree heat)
So before you fry me for linking to it. YES, I got it from fox news. What I did find interesting was how they worded this sentence:
Despite calls from the presidential campaign trail for a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day tax freeze
Ummmm, presidential campaign? You mean John McCain? B/C the other guy wasn’t in favor of it. Nice casual way to make it sound like both guys were wanting it.
On to the real reason for the post though:
lawmakers quickly concluded — with a prod from the construction industry — that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.
Now, lawmakers quietly are talking about raising fuel taxes by a dime from the current 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.3 cents on diesel fuel.
The fuel taxes go into the Highway Trust Fund, which is used for road construction and repair and mass transit. Depriving the 52-year-old Highway Trust Fund of $9 billion at a time when it is heading into the red doomed the notion of a gas tax holiday in Congress.
One other thing you never heard mention with McCains gas tax holiday was this cherry:
During the debate over the proposed gas tax holiday, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. James Oberstar, and the chairman of the highway subcommittee, Rep. Peter DeFazio, presented fellow lawmakers with a list of how many jobs and how much money each state would lose if the holiday were to pass. It ranged from $30 million and 1,000 jobs in Vermont to $664 million and 23,000 jobs in California
Uh-huh, but Americans need a psycholigical break right. McCain was willing to layoff tens of thousands of people to save people $20 over the summer? Sure go elect the guy, he was in a tiger cage and Nam…grrrrr
The “gas tax holiday” is just a BS way to win votes. What they need to do is scrap the federal gas tax entirely.
I don’t see how they can do that mike. Who is going to pay for the infrastructure repairs?
Cut spending somewhere else in the federal budget.
defense? or Faith based initiaves?
Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, HUD, ATF, IRS, Dept. of Education, Faith based initiatives, foreign aid, DEA / Drug War, welfare, the list could go on and on.
There are only a handful of legitimate functions of the Federal government, and they’re specifically laid out in the Constitution. One of those functions is national defense, which is why I didn’t include defense funding in my list.
Of course you didn’t.