Basic Creed:
Reduction of government spending thus reducing our overall taxes.
Reduction of governmental influence on our lives except where sociality benefits.
One Governmental Change That is Needed.
Pay for all road construction, and repair via a Fuel Tax. This has many good benefits. It gives finical incentive for Americans to drive more fuel efficient cars/trucks thereby reducing our dependence on foreign oil and reducing pollutants from burning of fossil fuels, and spend this tax money where it needs to go instead of funding other aspects of the government.
To be fair to the trucking industry we should remove all other governmental taxes and fees targeted exclusively at the trucking industry. Also we should eliminate all bridge and road tolls. This will make travel faster and get rid of large and inefficient bureaucracies that are now generally filled, by and large, with political patronage jobs.
The Details:
Money from this Federal Gas Tax should be dolled out to each state by using the formula:
Federal Highway Trust Fund *(Total Population Of The Union +(Total Land Area Of The Union [In Kilometers]*100) )
Divide By
Population of the State + (Land Area of the state [In Kilometers] *100)
In this way, population and land area both equate into the equation and all states will get there fair portion of the Highway Fund. No more, and no less.
The Federal Government receives $29.4 billion from the current federal $.05 tax on fuel and trucking, and out of this it spends less than $10.4 billion on the highway system1. Combine this to the various State Taxes on fuel and we already pay for all highway and probably pay for most, if not more, of the local road construction and repair with our current gas tax.
But of course there are other aspects to this system such as:
Alternative means of transportation (a worthy cause) (Should spend 10% of fuel taxes on it).
The needed bureaucracies to supervise and evaluate necessary projects (Should spend 10% of fuel taxes on it).
Policing of trucks and cars for safety and for other aspects of the road system (Should spend 10% of fuel taxes on it).
Over all 70% will be spent on the subject it's taxed for. And at most, I can't see it being $0.20 more a gallon in taxes for fuel. This works out to be no more than 10% increase in the cost of gas for the average American.
Foot Note:
1) "Taxes on fuels and trucking pay the federal government's share of the cost for the 45,000 miles of Interstate highways and some 160,000 miles of additional primary highways -- representing a quarter of all roads and 85 percent of travel."
from
http://www.ncpa.org/pd/budget/dec96.html#7
~Matthew
