Sunday, August 05, 2007
The piper must be paid
The Highway Trust Fund is the source of funds used to repair and maintain our highway system. Gas taxes and some taxes on trucks are used to supply the Trust Fund with cash. But the current rate of taxation (18.5 cents per gallon) is not enough. This year the fund will have a deficit of almost $4 billion. The GAO has estimated that this deficit will continue to grow each year through 2011. It sounds as though we will have to increase the tax or expect more bridges, tunnels and roads to fail.
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It really is a good idea to have specific federal funding for related purposes, as in the Highways Trust Fund. What a great pity the US government hasn't done similar with other federal expenditure i.e. a "War and other Violent Acts of Aggression Trust Fund". Arms manufacturers could be taxed to fund it, and when the cash ran out the war would have to cease, just as highway safety in this country has ground to a halt since the HTF ran dry.
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