Bush nixes higher gas taxes for infrastructure

President Bush, even in the face of a disaster such as the Minnesota bridge collapse, said he would not consider raising gasoline taxes to generate much-needed funds for road and bridge reconstruction. Specifically took issue with Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska, a former chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who said an increase in federal gasoline taxes may be warranted to upgrade hundreds of structurally deficient bridges around the nation. The federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon, a figure that has not changed since 1993. Young and James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., who succeeded him this year as chairman of the Transportation committee, battled Bush for two years over the last transportation reauthorization. That bill, enacted in 2005, totaled $286.5 billion, far below the $375 billion the two committee leaders had sought. The larger spending total would have been financed by indexing the gas tax to inflation, allowing it to rise over time. “My suggestion would be that they revisit the process by which they spend gasoline money in the first place,” Bush said. I personally consider his stubborness on this issue a dangerous abdication of responsibility to the all-important job of protecting America's citizens as they drive on our roads and bridges. Your comment?