2008 Woodie Awards
Proposed gasoline tax is a quick fix for global issues
Ian Kuchman
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Opinion
In December of 2007, The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission released a report called, "Transportation for Tomorrow."
The Commission was set up in 2005 by Congress under section 1909 of the SAFETEA-LU because, as Congress put it, "it is in the national interest to preserve and enhance the surface transportation system to meet the needs of the United States for the 21st century."
In the report submitted to Congress, points were made to introduce the idea of implementing a gas tax through the purchase of gasoline. The report suggests that over the next five years, the increase in gas prices would be up to 40 cents per gallon to finance maintenance and repairs on the U.S. highway and transportation infrastructure. The plan set a fifty year, $225 billion per year goal to complete the repair of the national infrastructure deficiency.
It seems that our government is trying to implement another "quick fix" policy, in which a century's worth of problems have been pushed aside. Our transportation system has been manipulated into a detrimental situation.
I sometimes wonder what goes on behind closed doors in government spending. We already pay into a state system, which includes tolls and taxes, how is this money being used, if not to solve problems like these? The United States always makes policies as an immediate reaction to something, instead implementing preventative policies. Instead of just throwing taxes at us, I want to know and be assured that our current system can't just be adjusted and made more effective. History suggests that this money will be a stipend into a rich mans wallet instead of its intended use.
Okay, so this tax does go through and, within the next five years, our gas prices increase $0.40 on top of the steady increase it's experiencing right now. What type of reaction should we expect? Are people still going want to drive their cars as they do now?
People stop driving, an increased approval of a grander scale of public transportation arises; will the government still build and rebuild highway infrastructure? Or will the spending shift to the development of railway systems, waterway ferries, or any other effective mass transportation system?
The Commission was set up in 2005 by Congress under section 1909 of the SAFETEA-LU because, as Congress put it, "it is in the national interest to preserve and enhance the surface transportation system to meet the needs of the United States for the 21st century."
In the report submitted to Congress, points were made to introduce the idea of implementing a gas tax through the purchase of gasoline. The report suggests that over the next five years, the increase in gas prices would be up to 40 cents per gallon to finance maintenance and repairs on the U.S. highway and transportation infrastructure. The plan set a fifty year, $225 billion per year goal to complete the repair of the national infrastructure deficiency.
It seems that our government is trying to implement another "quick fix" policy, in which a century's worth of problems have been pushed aside. Our transportation system has been manipulated into a detrimental situation.
I sometimes wonder what goes on behind closed doors in government spending. We already pay into a state system, which includes tolls and taxes, how is this money being used, if not to solve problems like these? The United States always makes policies as an immediate reaction to something, instead implementing preventative policies. Instead of just throwing taxes at us, I want to know and be assured that our current system can't just be adjusted and made more effective. History suggests that this money will be a stipend into a rich mans wallet instead of its intended use.
Okay, so this tax does go through and, within the next five years, our gas prices increase $0.40 on top of the steady increase it's experiencing right now. What type of reaction should we expect? Are people still going want to drive their cars as they do now?
People stop driving, an increased approval of a grander scale of public transportation arises; will the government still build and rebuild highway infrastructure? Or will the spending shift to the development of railway systems, waterway ferries, or any other effective mass transportation system?
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