ACP Pubs

Carl Molesworth

Gas Tax Vacation Won't Solve Anything
May 5, 2008

I’m a guy who loves cars and driving -- always have been. By the time I was learning to talk I could point out a 1947 Ford coupe, because that’s what my dad drove. A few years later, my cousin and I would sit in the front yard and scrunch up our faces to mimic the front-end styling of the cars that drove past us. I could go on, but you really don’t want that, believe me.

Just like everyone else, I’ve been wincing lately every time I gas up my car. Twelve gallons equals nearly 50 bucks. Ouch! But also just like most people, I haven’t changed my driving habits much yet. I’m not riding my bike to the store or walking to my friends’ houses. I can’t: I live out in the country in a part of the world where it rains a lot. Like most Americans, my life is designed around driving.

So I should be someone who’s eagerly anticipating the federal gas tax summer vacation that Sen. John McCain dreamed up as part of his presidential campaign, right? Wrong. Very wrong.

Why? Because I’m a guy who loves cars and driving.

Here’s the thing. Under McCain’s proposal, the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal gasoline and diesel taxes would be suspended from Memorial Day through Labor Day, producing about $9 billion in lost revenue. But the gas tax revenue doesn’t just go into the government’s general fund to be spent on who knows what. It goes specifically into the Highway Trust Fund for building and repairing the nation’s roadways and bridges, which are badly in need of attention.

Thanks to the downturn in the economy, better fuel economy of Americans’ vehicles and other factors, the Highway Trust Fund is already facing a potential revenue shortfall that could cut the amount of money going to state and local governments for highway work by $14 billion -- a 32 percent reduction -- next year. Add another $9 billion to that problem? I don’t think so. Like I said, I like to drive. You need roads for that.

And what about Sen. Hillary Clinton’s suggestion that the oil companies be forced to pay the gas tax this summer? Right. Like that’s going to happen. Apparently she hasn’t figured out that the oil companies tell the government what to do, not the other way around.

If McCain and Clinton want to show the nation’s voters some presidential-style leadership on this issue, they should show up in the Senate this week and argue strongly in favor of passing H.R. 2881, which would reauthorize the federal aviation programs. That bill includes a proposal developed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Committee Ranking Republican Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) that would generate new revenues to fill the projected Highway Trust Fund Highway Account revenue shortfall in FY 2009.

The Baucus-Grassley plan would help to stabilize the economy by keeping construction workers on the job and protect our highway investment at the same time. That’s what we need, not foolish pandering and empty promises.

Until next time …

Posted by Carl Molesworth on May 5, 2008 | Comments (0)