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The politicians pass things all the time WITHOUT really understanding the consequences.
They passed the "luxury" tax on privately bought boats, planes, etc., and claimed how much MOE money they would bring in.
Just the OPPOSITE happened.
People QUIT buying them and almost killed the entire boating industry here.
The fed took in LESS money because the tens of thousands of people who lost their jobs were no longing paying income and Social Security taxes.
The fed keeps tightening the CAFE standards and cars are getting better and better gas mileage so, even though people are driving just as much, maybe MORE, they are buying LESS gas.
Who would have ever thought even Corvettes are getting 25 Miles Per Gallon on the highway.
Mu old stock muscle car was lucky to get me 10 MPG.
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"Americans are Driving Less" -- at least that's what the headline of a recent press release from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) said. However, it seems the rule-making body for America's insurance industry, which supposedly keeps track of how we drive and how much we pay for auto insurance, is asleep at the wheel.
"This is a mistaken reading of the trends," said Robert Hartwig, former head of the Insurance Information Institute who now teaches finance at the University of South Carolina.
"We are not showing a decrease," agreed spokesperson Tamra Johnson of the American Automobile Association (AAA) in Washington, D.C. "The most recent data I have is our American Driving Survey, which shows Americans drove 2.45 trillion miles in 2015, a 2.4 percent increase from 2014."
Johnson won't have the 2016 figures until September but added: "Preliminary data shows an increase from the previous year." And according to Hartwig, 2014 saw a 3.4 percent rise, the fastest growth since the turn of the century."
I incorporated and my corporation bought my plane. Thus I paid no luxury tax. Since it’s used for private charters, I write off the expenses on my taxes.
So we can expect massive tax hikes in other words. Thanks, Obama, for running such a fiscally sound government and stealing from Peter to pay Paul. Great policies. [/sarcasm]
The gas tax hasn’t been raised in decades. Cars are more fuel efficient and sometimes don’t even use gas.
This issue has been going on since Reagan Administration.
Go ahead, blame Obama. That is the answer to everything.
This issue has been going on since Reagan Administration.
Go ahead, blame Obama. That is the answer to everything.
This is a lie to blame it on Reagan and you are knee-jerk blaming it on Reagan (the great Satan) as the answer to everything.
--> Under Reagan the Highway Trust Fund grew as it ran surpluses, including in his final 6 years.
--> Under Reagan the taxes supporting the Highway Trust Fund were raised and Reagan justified the higher tax as a fee for those who use the service of the highways.
How is this Reagan's fault or even a problem stemming from him? The answer is, it isn't. He is just a go to attack boogeyman. The irony is, you claim Obama is a go to attack boogeyman, while you do the same to Reagan.
1993 was the last year the gas tax was raised and that was in Clinton's first year. Democrats chose to not link it to inflation, had they done so it would have been fine. Republicans in the 1990s chose to criticize the tax, but that was well after the Reagan Administration and it did not come from the retired Reagan either.
In the 1990s BOTH parties agreed to divert funds from the Highway Trust Fund and into deficit reduction.
Both parties have known about the problem, which has gotten worse and chosen to do nothing about it.
Obama is in part responsible...because he was president for 8 years...didn't make it solvent when it was apparent that it had lost its solvency all 8 of the years he was in office...and had his party in total control for 2 of the years. Doing a 1 time cash throw at it doesn't change the solvency issue, it is merely a band aid, and will require more cash thrown its way...to make it solvent, you need to make systemic changes like raise the gas tax, tire tax, or allow it to invest in stocks.
Those in power are not only responsible for what they do, they are also responsible for what they don't do...
--> Obama inherited a crappy Highway Trust Fund and left a crappy Highway Trust Fund.
--> Reagan inherited a Highway Trust Fund that needed changes, made the changes, and it grew under his tenure and was solvent on his last day in office.
Since Reagan left, the gas tax has been weakened by inflation...
Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama deserve blame along with congress. Not Reagan.
So we can expect massive tax hikes in other words. Thanks, Obama, for running such a fiscally sound government and stealing from Peter to pay Paul. Great policies. [/sarcasm]
Has nothing to do with Obama, but GOP staunch refusal to "raise taxes". Taxes on gas in this country have not been raised in *25 years*.
Highway Trust Fund has been running on *fumes* for decades, longer than before Obama took office.
Obama was president for 8 years and had control of both the House and the Senate for 2 of those years.
Obama said raising the gas tax would hurt poor people and then chose not to. Had Obama wanted to raise the gas tax he could have easily gotten it raised during those two years, including a future increase that didn't immediately take effect.
Then in 2016 on his way out the door, controlling neither the senate or the House...then he proposed a gas tax hike, knowing it wouldn't pass. The Democrats in congress wouldn't propose anything when they controlled both houses of congress under Obama, because Obama had already come out AGAINST it.
The Highway Trust Fund was insolvent on Obama's first day in office and his last day in office.
It has EVERYTHING to do with Obama. And GW Bush, And Clinton, And BOTH parties in congress.
Choosing to do nothing and kicking the can down the road does not absolve a leader from a problem festering under his watch.
Obama was president for 8 years and had control of both the House and the Senate for 2 of those years.
Obama said raising the gas tax would hurt poor people and then chose not to. Had Obama wanted to raise the gas tax he could have easily gotten it raised during those two years, including a future increase that didn't immediately take effect.
Then in 2016 on his way out the door, controlling neither the senate or the House...then he proposed a gas tax hike, knowing it wouldn't pass. The Democrats in congress wouldn't propose anything when they controlled both houses of congress under Obama, because Obama had already come out AGAINST it.
The Highway Trust Fund was insolvent on Obama's first day in office and his last day in office.
It has EVERYTHING to do with Obama. And GW Bush, And Clinton, And BOTH parties in congress.
Choosing to do nothing and kicking the can down the road does not absolve a leader from a problem festering under his watch.
Obama had to deal with the second worst financial crisis this country had ever experienced. Raising the tax on gasoline was waaaay down the list of priorities as it should have been. You forgot about the Recession did you? Raising the tax on gas when people weren`t driving to work wouldn`t amount to much.
1) Use the revenue generated from the highway fuel tax only for roads and highways. Zero raiding the fund paid for by drivers to subsidize mass transit for riders who pay no fuel tax. Stop using it to fund bike paths for people to play with their toys on-people that don't pay fuel tax when on those toys. Stop using it to build walking paths, pedestrian bridges, and ADA compliant crosswalks. Use it for ROADS only, since drivers are the only ones that pay into it.
2) Streamline the highway construction process. Work to reduce the engineering/permitting process to a manageable level. The goal is to build roads, not a jobs program for useless paper pushers.
3) Ensure that any contracts go to the lowest bidder. Eliminate favoritism for union or minority owned business. Eliminate "prevailing wage" requirements on any taxpayer funded projects.
Once those things are done, it's time to think about additional revenue.
Admittedly, without having read the article, allow me to guess as to the cause.... umm, union worker expenses?
I would say the cause is that politicians funnel money to cronies.
Many of the road construction companies are cronies of the politicians.
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