Aging roads may lead to tax hike
WASHINGTON - The Minneapolis bridge disaster that suddenly is the symbol of the nation’s crumbling infrastructure could tip the scales in favor of billions of dollars in higher gasoline taxes for repairs coast to coast.
There are 500 bridges around the country similar to the Minneapolis span, and “these are potential deathtraps,” says Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, former chairman of the House Transportation Committee.
“We have to, as a Congress, grasp this problem. And yes, I would even suggest, fund this problem with a tax,” he says. “May the sky not fall on me.”
At the risk of offending a few Bush supporters, oh hell, who am I kidding, I love to offend Bush supporters, the money that we’ve spent in Iraq over the last 5 years could easily repair, not rebuild, but repair the entire highway infrastructure in this nation, but our current administration chose to spend those BILLIONS on a wild goose chase…
One-quarter of the nation’s bridges, including the one in Minneapolis, have been classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. One-third of major roads are judged by federal transportation officials to be in poor or mediocre condition.
Beyond the human tragedy of the Minnesota bridge collapse lie some daunting numbers: The cost of the backlog of needed repairs to roads and bridges is now $461 billion. Road conditions are a factor in one-third of the 40,000 traffic fatalities every year. Traffic congestion costs drivers $63 billion a year in wasted time and fuel costs.
We KNOW we have problems in this nation, we KNOW we have issues in THIS nation that must be addressed, and money properly spent, is the way to address them, but our government continues to spend like drunken swabbies on shore leave, on everything other than what THIS nation needs, and our taxpayers pockets can’t stand a hell of a lot more…
There’s no evidence to suggest that the Mississippi River disaster was a direct result of federal underspending. But there is wide agreement that the bridge is symptomatic of a national problem that Congress and the White House are going to have to address.
And there’s no evidence that the money spent in Iraq has done anything to stabilize THEIR nation and especially their government, and there’s no evidence that continued spending of BILLIONS of our tax dollars in Iraq will ever do anything other than make some crooked contractors richer than they already are…
America 1st, a few bombing missions could settle the Iraq and Iran problems, and it would be a lot cheaper than our current path of attack, and a hell of a lot more effective, thus freeing up BILLIONS of American dollars to spend on Americans, and THAT is a mind blowing concept, spending our money on US…
But that would be just TOO simple Huh??
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Aging roads may lead to tax hike
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August 7th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Fortunately that’s never been much of an issue around here, the DOH guys are always working on the interstate , the bridges, mowing, paving etc to the point it seems unending at times.
West Virgina does a decent job I think, at least on major projects; secondary roads do suffer.
Hell even the jail birds contribute by keeping litter away from it.
However, for the parts of this country that this is a major problem it will affect us all, regardless, in the ways pointed out in the article.
There’s a ton of crooked crap going on too, from Federal on down to local, that keeps available project funds from being utilized properly.
Hell, not only could we fix the infrastructure problems in this country with all that money tied up in Iraq, but we could get a serious start on a much needed wall along our southern borders.
Damn straight bro: America First!
August 7th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the gasoline taxes were earmarked for maintaining and building roads and bridges.
Apparently we have about 1500 deficient bridges in Texas that have been neglected for years.
So i have to ask where have all the tax monies gone to if not to maintain these bridges and roads?? Hmmmmm??!!
August 7th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Sage, you are VERY correct, now figure this one out, the average BIG TRUCK, the 18 wheelers, pay an average of over $3,000.00 a year in ROAD TAX, not just fuel tax, that’s Highway Use Tax, in addition to at the pump taxes, and it comes up to one hell of a lot of money, where is IT going??
And that’s a NATIONAL average, not just Texas…
August 7th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
In Wisconsin, dopey Doyle raided the transportation fund, so he could claim to have balanced the budget, which of course, left little funds for the actual repair and maintenance. None of those yahoos seem to know how to manage money.