That’s what someone named T. Peter Ruane of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association says in this Strib article about Jim Oberstar’s gas tax increase proposal. My question is simple: Where do they find these people to make such idiotic statements?

Here’s a sampling of what Oberstar’s allies are saying:

Some interested parties, such as T. Peter Ruane of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, have lauded Oberstar’s plan as a break from “business as usual.”

The American Society of Civil Engineers has also endorsed Oberstar’s plan.

Fortunately, there are still sane people out there:

“The senior leaders of the Transportation Committee have been dreaming about raising the gas tax for years,” said Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonprofit government watchdog group in Washington.

Ashdown, who coined the phrase “Bridge to Nowhere” two years ago to deride the now-infamous $223 million bridge proposal for Alaska’s barren Gravina Island, remains a skeptic. “I get really nervous when lawmakers say spend, spend, spend, and we’ll all be OK,” he said.

Based on last week’s KSTP/SurveyUSA poll, I’d say that Oberstar’s chances of even getting this bill to President Bush’s desk are slim. Likewise, I’d say that Mr. Ashdown and President Bush are on the side of the angels with this one.

President Bush made things more difficult for Oberstar when he said that the Transportation committees had to do a much better job of prioritizing spending. Michael Brodkorb added to Oberstar’s burden with this post that highlighted Oberstar’s diverting $1.3 billion from the highway trust fund into bike trails.

If I had to bet, I’d wager that 80+ percent of Minnesotans and Americans would agree with Michael that the politicians must do a better job of prioritizing spending before asking to increase the gas tax.

I think that Oberstar thought this was a golden opportunity to increase taxes, which is what Democrats do reflexively. Like other Democrats, though, Oberstar misread the situation. He saw political opportunity where there was none. In fact, I’d say that the pendulum has started swinging in a different direction.

I’d say that there’s a bigger appetite for a return to funding the basics. I’d bet that there’s less appetite for funding things like LRT and bike trails because voters see those things as not being essential. I’d further suggest that people won’t be receptive to building new highways via the earmark slush funds. They’ll demand that politicians rebuild bridges. They’ll demand that bridges and highways are safe. Bridges to nowhere will be frowned upon.

This shot across Oberstar’s bow will tip the scales against increasing the gas tax:

“From my perspective, the way it seems to have worked is that each member on that committee gets to set his or her own priority first, and then whatever is left over is spent through a funding formula,” Bush said.

OUCH. That’ll leave tire marks on the committee members’ backsides. Despite that shot, Oberstar will press forward:

Oberstar argues that his proposal would use the new money, about $25 billion over three years, only for the 6,175 structurally deficient bridges in the national highway system. It would specifically prohibit congressional or administration earmarks. “The president is sticking his head in the sand and hoping things will just work out,” Oberstar said. “We need to move quickly to address these problems. They aren’t going to fix themselves. The money isn’t going to fall from the sky like manna from heaven.”

Notice to Rep. Oberstar: Increasing taxes while you shovel hundreds of millions of dollars into bike trails and bridges to nowhere is how these bridges got into such bad shape. The problem isn’t that we aren’t taxed enough; it’s that politicians don’t say no to the special interests’ spending requests. Until politicians get back to basics, expect the public to oppose tax increases.

Technorati Tags: Tax Increases, Gas Tax, James Oberstar, Bike Trails, Bridge Repair, Bridge To Nowhere, Democrats, President Bush, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. [...] Cross-posted at California Conservative Categories: House of Representatives, President Bush, Corruption, Democrats, Special Interests, Election 2008, Congressional Oversight, Earmarks | [...]

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