Tax his gas instead.
DCG posted: " Oregon Live: Rep. Earl Blumenauer, whose congressional
district covers most of Portland, has scheduled a Wednesday press
conference to formally unveil legislation that would raise the federal gas
tax by 15 cents a gallon. Blumenauer says the increa" Respond to this
post by replying above this line
New post on *Fellowship of the Minds*
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/> Portland Congressman Earl
Blumenauer proposes to nearly double federal gas
tax<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/12/04/portland-congressman-earl-blumenauer-proposes-to-nearly-double-federal-gas-tax/>
by
DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>
[image: Earl
Blumenauer]<http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/nuts.jpg>
Oregon
Live<http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2013/12/portland_congressman_earl_blum.html>:
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, whose congressional district covers most of Portland,
has scheduled a Wednesday press conference to* formally unveil legislation
that would raise the federal gas tax by 15 cents a gallon*.
Blumenauer says the increase is needed to pay for an inadequately funded
transportation system and *account for the steady loss of gas-tax revenue
as vehicle mileage improves*. *His proposal would increase the
current* 18.4-cent
federal gas tax to 33.4 cents per
gallon<http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/infrastructure/191758-bill-filed-to-hike-gas-tax>,
according to The Hill newspaper.
The Democratic congressman sits on the tax-writing House Ways and Means
Committee, but any kind of tax increase is a tough sell in the
Republican-controlled House. And, in fact, the federal gas tax hasn't been
increased <http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30304.pdf> since 1993.
Blumenauer's legislative package *will also establish a series of pilot
projects to study replacing the gas tax with fees based on vehicle miles
traveled*. Oregon has already conducted studies on the concept and
Blumenauer has previously introduced legislation aimed at studying the
system
nationally<http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2012/12/earl_blumenauer_pushes_nationa.html>
.
The congressman will appear with officials from several
transportation-related groups, including the Transportation Trades
Department of the AFL-CIO, the American Public Transportation Association,
the transportation and infrastructure division of the Chamber of Commerce
and Associated General Contractors of America.
The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation
Workers quoted this statement from Blumenauer about the
need<http://smart-union.org/news/blumenauer-to-introduce-transit-infrastructure-bills/>for
this legislation:
*“Increased vehicle-fuel efficiency allows for increased demands on our
transportation system without contributing as much to its maintenance. An
analysis by the Congressional Budget Office based on current driving
patterns demonstrates the newest fuel economy standards for automobiles
will result in a 21 percent reduction in Highway Trust Fund revenue by
2040,” Blumenauer said.*
*“There are already significant funding challenges. Congress has
transferred $55 billion in general fund revenues to the Highway Trust Fund
to avoid bankruptcy since 2009. When the current authorization expires, the
Highway Trust Fund will require almost $15 billion a year in addition to
existing gas tax receipts, merely to maintain 2009 funding levels.*
*“Our failure to adequately fund transportation infrastructure imposes huge
costs on American citizens and businesses. Last year, congestion cost urban
Americans $87.2 billion a year in time wasted sitting in traffic, and
higher transportation costs have pushed logistics costs to nearly 10
percent of our gross domestic product. A recent analysis by the American
Society of Civil Engineers suggests that the cost of our declining
transportation system could result in the loss of 876,000 jobs by 2020.
Until we tie our transportation revenues to our transportation demands,
this situation will worsen.”*
*Call me nuts*, but I'm:
[image: tea] <http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/tea.jpg>
DCG
*DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>* | December 4, 2013
at 3:45 am | Tags: Earl
Blumenauer<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=earl-blumenauer>|
Categories:
Insanity <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=29635004>,
Liberals/Democrats/Left <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=115894710>,
Taxes <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=34919470> | URL:
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