Today, the Atlantic published an article on the proposition of raising the gas tax. Ultimately, it seems as usual the decision about what to do has more to do with how it would affect the politicians’ re-electability than it does about what is helpful and even in their opinions the right thing to do.
Since gas is at the lowest it’s been in 4 years, some people believe the time is ripe to raise the gas tax that has not been adjusted to inflation nor raised since 1993 by President Clinton. The gas tax is supposed to fund the infrastructure but instead it’s been getting funds diverted from elsewhere in the government. It’s coming to a tipping point in 2015 when it will become fully insolvent unless action is taken.
There is a proposal to make a swap of money by having corporations repatriate some of their $2 trillion dollars of profits kept in safe havens overseas. Of course that is only a temporary fix and kicks the can down the road.
The idea of raising the gas tax and keeping it linked to inflation is picking up steam, with many proponents likening the idea to what President Reagan accomplished in the early 1980’s and who also proposed it automatically raise with inflation. Of course, politicians never let anything continue on, they always want to debate its legitimacy in the future and pass new bills, which always end up containing many more provisions than the intent of the bill. Read: Earmarks, or what many refer to as ‘pork’.