{"id":48708,"date":"2014-12-08T09:13:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T16:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/08\/the-gas-tax-and-the-funding-of-highways.html"},"modified":"2014-12-15T08:07:19","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T15:07:19","slug":"the-gas-tax-and-the-funding-of-highways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/08\/the-gas-tax-and-the-funding-of-highways.html","title":{"rendered":"The gas tax and the funding of highways"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A tax on gasoline, whether fixed by the gallon or pegged to inflation, is just generally a bad idea, as fuel consumption is no longer a decent proxy for wear and tear on highways and bridges. And saying, &quot;Hey, let&#39;s raise it now while gas is cheap&quot; carries with it the idea that it should be reduced when (not if) gas becomes expensive, which is similarly goofy.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, an even goofier idea is that we should let our highways and bridges fall apart even more than they are, just because of the &quot;T&quot; word.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"sm2wp\"><p>\n<a style='display:inline;' href='http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2014\/12\/the-tax-that-dare-not-be-hiked\/383428'><br \/>\n<img src='https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/Iv9utlcRbOQm0Myi3yN5Uc9reBgiH4yDb2yt6G-8GY80kHAG1lhzLAL_JAIQcNn8qYfuvlZJHdW_p4SseR45iO0K20tbV_2u0d6gAJwQQEUVK3kD69ZkWAQIKWNgNJNzM3Df_i5Imm0=w506-h303-p' border='0' style='max-width:650px;'\/><br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:large;'><a href='http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2014\/12\/the-tax-that-dare-not-be-hiked\/383428'>The Tax That Dare Not Be Hiked<\/a><\/span><br \/>\nGas prices are plunging, and the Highway Trust Fund is broke. After more than 20 years, why won&#8217;t Congress just raise the fuel tax?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style='font-size:small;'><a href='https:\/\/plus.google.com\/101083456815352083930\/posts\/UzXQPmYBHRC'>View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A tax on gasoline, whether fixed by the gallon or pegged to inflation, is just generally a bad idea, as fuel consumption is no longer a decent proxy for wear and tear on highways and bridges. And saying, &quot;Hey, let&#39;s raise it now while gas is cheap&quot; carries with it the idea that it should &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/08\/the-gas-tax-and-the-funding-of-highways.html\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The gas tax and the funding of highways&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,376],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-taxing-spending"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43400,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/08\/the-crisis-with-the-highway-trust-fund.html","url_meta":{"origin":48708,"position":0},"title":"The crisis with the Highway Trust Fund","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 8-Jul-14 2:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So the Federal Highway Trust Fund -- which is filled up by federal gasoline taxes -- may go broke as soon as next month. The result of which is that the already-inadequate repair and maintenance work going on with the nation's highways and bridges will come to a halt, worsening\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5751,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/07\/22\/end_of_an_era_a.html","url_meta":{"origin":48708,"position":1},"title":"End of an Era Ahead","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 22-Jul-04 2:14pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Say it ain't so, Hans! Speed limits on the autobahn? Experts estimate that in the next few years, the EU will impose a standard speed limit on all European highways,...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cars","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/cars"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128795,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/13\/maybe-they-should-have-stuck-with-dos-5-0.html","url_meta":{"origin":48708,"position":2},"title":"Maybe they should have stuck with DOS 5.0","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 13-Nov-15 11:41pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Just like bridges and highways and buildings, software infrastructure needs to be maintained, too. And, occasionally, upgraded. \"If it ain't broke, don't fix it\" is fine, unless you start losing the ability to fix it when it does break. Failed Windows 3.1 system blamed for shutting down Paris airport |\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12431,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/05\/05\/gas_tax_holiday.html","url_meta":{"origin":48708,"position":3},"title":"Gas Tax Holiday","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 5-May-08 2:38pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's not just a gimmick -- it's a destructive gimmick. Woo-hoo! The Federal gas tax is about 18 cents a gallon; given the way prices have skyrocketed, 18 cents...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Elections 2008&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/gas-pump.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":127851,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/31\/the-interesting-impetus-to-immigration-interception-infrastructure.html","url_meta":{"origin":48708,"position":4},"title":"The Interesting Impetus to Immigration Interception Infrastructure","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 31-Aug-15 11:12pm","format":false,"excerpt":"More lovely satire from Andy Borowitz.'Harland Dorrinson, the executive director of a Washington-based think tank called the Center for Responsible Immigration, believes that most Americans favor the building of border walls over extravagant pet projects like structurally sound freeway overpasses.\u201cThe estimated cost of a border wall with Mexico is five\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128915,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/21\/cant-tell-your-highways-without-a-map.html","url_meta":{"origin":48708,"position":5},"title":"Can&#039;t Tell Your Highways Without a Map","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 21-Nov-15 6:45am","format":false,"excerpt":"You can learn a lot about the history of an area through its maps. This look at California's highway system prior to the Interstates is cool, but the maps included in it tell a fascinating tale of Southern California's growth and development. The Lost U.S. Highways of Southern California History\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48954,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48708\/revisions\/48954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}