Chao says U.S. drivers may face more tolls to raise infrastructure funds
Source: Washington Post
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao this past week raised the prospect that needed infrastructure improvements may be funded to some extent by imposing tolls on more of the nations roads and bridges.
--snip--
To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure of the United States, Trump said in Tuesdays address to a join session of Congress.
--snip--
Beyond repeated calls to draw private investment, however, the White House had not reiterated its campaign promise to raise at least of portion of the money through new tolls. Even if investors attracted by the 82 percent tax credit Trump said he hopes to offer, they would expect an additional return on their money, and when it comes to roads and bridges, that cash would come from imposing new tolls.
The federal government cannot assume the cost for all of it, Chao said Tuesday night in a Fox News interview after Trumps address, reiterating a point she made during her Senate confirmation hearing. She told Fox host Sean Hannity that new and innovative ways were necessary to find funding.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/chao-says-us-drivers-may-face-more-tolls-to-raise-infrastructure-funds/2017/03/04/85cad5ec-005e-11e7-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_tollroads335pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Just a new 'hidden tax' and an extremely regressive one at that. See also my comment
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=179694
iluvtennis
(19,868 posts)...to get those tax breaks. Now they are going to turn the screws to the common folks again. GAH
They_Live
(3,239 posts)we can write off all tolls on our tax returns?
mpcamb
(2,873 posts)Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)Regardless of the 'tax break' you ain't gonna get a Corporation to do work gratis. If I tell you:
"If you go build this bridge, I'll give you a tax credit of 82% of what it cost you" that corporation is still going to be out $.18 on the dollar. They are going to want to recoup at least $.25 on the dollar from somewhere so they can make a profit. And the only place to do that is in tolls.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I guess there will be more.
Kablooie
(18,638 posts)They_Live
(3,239 posts)(sigh)
former9thward
(32,067 posts)yardwork
(61,698 posts)former9thward
(32,067 posts)What rates for what income shall be increased in order to pay for infrastructure?
yardwork
(61,698 posts)wordpix
(18,652 posts)they don't want to pay taxes to cover others' health care/insurance. Not if those ppl. are their nurses, firemen, policemen protecting Trump Tower, doormen, IT techs or teachers. They could not care less if those ppl. get no health care, that's the bottom line, so the 1% can get RICHER.
THAT is what's going on.
Bengus81
(6,932 posts)former9thward
(32,067 posts)If you want new stuff you have to pay for it. No its not free and no one is going to do it for free.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Has anyone told you it would be free? No? Then your little tantrum is irrelevant.
They_Live
(3,239 posts)and who keep getting tax cuts and loopholes. From the corporations who have record profits and huge subsidies paid for by the 99%.
Where do you think it should come from?
former9thward
(32,067 posts)I have no problem with tolls. The people using it pay for it.
They_Live
(3,239 posts)former9thward
(32,067 posts)How come you aren't complaining about them? Just this one.
They_Live
(3,239 posts)and because the thread was about toll roads and bridges.
joet67
(624 posts)put a toll station on the Kentucky/Indiana border, in Louisville on Interstate 65. Also note that Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation, is married to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
dchill
(38,517 posts)dchill
(38,517 posts)Greed knows no boundaries.
delisen
(6,044 posts)and a tax on huge executive pay, and a massive tax on developers who use the loopholes used by Trump to pay no taxes; and then turn to Wall Street for additional taxes. A high federal estate tax is another great source.
This is an excellent time for the super rich to show their appreciation to the USA.
Otherwise they can immigrate to Russia, make lots of money, and keep wondering when they might be fed a plutonium sandwich.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)And the economy boomed.
delisen
(6,044 posts)That was probably one of the keys to our former greatness.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)It was redistribution. They refuse to accept that the real way to grow wealth is to pump the money in at the bottom, not store it at the top.
FreeStateDemocrat
(2,654 posts)jmowreader
(50,562 posts)He was not happy that corporations and the rich were making huge profits on the war while his privates were being paid $60 per month. When he became president and was able to stick it to the rich...well, that's what he did.
FakeNoose
(32,722 posts)You guys, don't ever forget that it was Ronald Reagan who created the 1 per-centers.
We're still paying for it now, more than 35 years later.
It started looking better during Bill Clinton's 8 years. Then we got Dubya.
It started looking good again during Obama's 8 years, and now we're in the crapper.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,032 posts)Tolls are a tax on the economy and will contribute to the Trump Slump.
logosoco
(3,208 posts)these toll roads anyway...the trucking companies, which is how all goods get to where they are going, will pass this extra cost onto the consumers. So they will still be affected by the tolls.
napi21
(45,806 posts)doesn't need expansion!
not fooled
(5,801 posts)To paraphrase Michael Moore, there's plenty of money...it's being mis-allocated.
Yep, dimwitted dump voters just don't get it--privatization and rent-seeking are what this con is all about.
dump is the shiny orange object to distract the masses, just like the earlier iteration in that washed-up old front man propagandist raygun.
bunnies
(15,859 posts)No more fucking tolls.
bucolic_frolic
(43,257 posts)modrepub
(3,502 posts)it's anything with a potential revenue stream. That probably includes sewer and water systems. Flint is just the tip of the iceberg. Anyone on a public water system is going to be exposed to these "investors".
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)AJT
(5,240 posts)That is the only reason they would want to do the infrastructure.
it's a twofer for the predatory capitalists: shed even more taxes plus impose rent-seeking on more and more sectors of 'Murica. They view this nation as a giant sponge to be wrung dry.
Bengus81
(6,932 posts)Going from the Kansas/OK border up to KC. Koch probably thinks a BUCK per mile would be fair for that 200 miles..... eh???
Crash2Parties
(6,017 posts)Brilliant plan to boost the economy, GOP. Just brilliant. Unless of course your real goal was to spread discord and unhappiness...
Liberalagogo
(1,770 posts)to transport their goods, will also raise prices.
Thanks, RUMP.
cstanleytech
(26,317 posts)the government a good way at tracking people as well so if you dont want poor people in your area just put tolls up to make it hard for them to get there.
They_Live
(3,239 posts)which taxes only those who use the infrastructure, how about if the oil corporations just pay for the US military and remove the public tax payers as the middleman. I'll bet military spending would not be as wasteful.
Yavin4
(35,445 posts)After paying all of the tolls, by the time you get to work, your day's pay is gone.
iluvtennis
(19,868 posts)no_hypocrisy
(46,160 posts)the New Jersey Turnpike.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)joshdawg
(2,651 posts)republicans have been sticking it to the working Americans for decades.
And yet some working Americans still vote for the sleazy bastards. Go figure.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)for the rich to get richer. Cut 10% from the defense budget, road, bridges fixed. Tax and pocket republiKKKans.
keithbvadu2
(36,876 posts)A toll is a tax with a different spelling.
Tiggeroshii
(11,088 posts)and the funds in "infrastructure" will likely not go to theplaces they should.
Ideally increasing toll roads can divert money towards more efficient public transportation and reduce the reliance on roads, in general. But that would mean that eventually toll roads will not be a reliable money maker, which takes away from the virtues that this paln could offer.
Nice to see an idea from this admin that isn't entirely, completely, absolutely bullshit.
Just mostly bullshit.
KWR65
(1,098 posts)If you want to save money then ride transit or a bicycle. The personal automobile is the reason we have global warming and pollution all over the world.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)I'm 70 years old, with bad knees. The closest grocery store is 5 miles away. There is no way I could ride a bike 5 miles there, load up a bile trailer with groceries and then bike back. I checked the bus schedules and it would take me 4 hours on the bus round trip, plus how in the world do I carry a weeks worth or groceries with me coming home? Or do I spend an entire day 3-4 times a week to do a couple of days worth of shopping? A single doctor's visit would be an entire day and forget about getting to the mall, or if I don't feel like cooking and just want fast food.
Sheesch, get real!
former9thward
(32,067 posts)They don't care that you are 70 and they don't care about your knees. They would tell you to move to a big city and use mass transit.
phylny
(8,385 posts)I live in a rural place. There IS no mass transit here. What should people do?
KWR65
(1,098 posts)I have been using mass transit & a bike for 40 years.
phylny
(8,385 posts)Thanks for playing.
KWR65
(1,098 posts)There is no reason to allow you to drive so far in a automobile.
phylny
(8,385 posts)I am the problem.
I provide speech therapy services for infants and toddlers ages 0-3 in a rural area, for Early Intervention, whose model is that they are seen in their homes or at daycare.
I am the problem.
Why, I should be biking over rural/gravel/dirt roads, taking my laptop with me, to all those houses, miles apart.
I am the problem.
Why, I suppose I should just walk to the houses.
I am the problem.
I serve Spanish-speaking clients in remote areas.
I am the problem.
There is no reason to allow me to drive to provide services to premature infants, children with Down Syndrome, children with mental retardation, children with cerebral palsy, children with apraxia, children with autism, children with birth defects, children born to mothers who abused drugs or alcohol.
I am the problem.
EllieBC
(3,040 posts)Your ideal world is just about punishing everyone who may be old, disabled, live in a rural area. The Green Party purity test.
CrispyQ
(36,501 posts)So now we get to pay twice.
jpak
(41,758 posts)be afraid
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)Even though few locals really use I-80, they kicked up such a fuss when Rendell asked the feds to allow the state to toll it, that initiative was killed and hasn't been revived in over a decade now.
These GOP voters won't be any happier if idea comes from Trump.
But the reality is that a lot of truckers just shift to local roads that aren't built to withstand the traffic. Even where I live, semi-trailers roll by night and day just to avoid a small slice of toll road.
pansypoo53219
(20,987 posts)pansypoo53219
(20,987 posts)Tanuki
(14,920 posts)In addition to the added expenses, tollbooths create bottlenecks, slow down traffic flow, and increase accidents. They are a greater burden on the poor and middle class than the rich, as the tolls eat up a bigger percentage of their earnings. If we as a nation are this cash-strapped, make tax cheats like Trump pay their fair share instead of piling more expenses on honest citizens. And don't build that stupid effin' wall.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)I used to live in Illinois, where the tolls cost 40 cents. You could pay in pennies. The reason for the tolls was to pay for the roads - and once they were paid for, no more tolls.
Twenty years later, the same trip that cost $2 costs around $9 with I-Pass. The roads are always under construction and drivers will never ever stop paying for them.
How do some states have zero tolls while others need to charge you every 20 miles?
dalton99a
(81,568 posts)SunSeeker
(51,659 posts)vlyons
(10,252 posts)that is transported over those toll roads. Because the cost of shipping goods will be passed on to buyers. Why does it never occur to Republicans to raise money by raising taxes on the rich? That's a rhetorical question that you need n ot answer
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)A lot of MAGA hats are going into the trash by 2020, and hopefully by 2018.
Blue Idaho
(5,054 posts)If republicans want a toll that one seems fair... Tax the corporations that are busting up our highways shipping junk cross country.
JustAnotherGen
(31,867 posts)Ill be at Town halls with the two leading gubernatorial candidates this week in NJ - and will bring it up.
To think I was irritated at Joe Manchin when he appeared with Claire McCaskill on Morning Joe this week and brought up a 1/2 percent sales tax he had floated to his constituents to pa for infrastructure.
On top of the .23 cent gas tax imposed on NJ citizens this year to fix our internal infrastructure - this takes the cake.
The people hit the hardest will be people in the NYC to Philly and Boston to NYC corridor.
Terrible idea. They keep on trying to punish the blue states that are against them.
I want to see Murphy and Wisniewski take a strong NO stance. They will be inheriting a mess and not one thin red cent should be taken out of our till to fix Kentucky's problems. We need that money here.
We need to continue to clean up the roads to and from the Newark Airport because NJ's ALSO use them to get to and from work and school. The Airport's "cosmetics" are just going to have to wait.
Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)Trump is a fucking liar as usual. The GOP liars and liars and liars.
cstanleytech
(26,317 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,362 posts)Tax and Spend Republicans.
The next election can't come soon enough.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)confusion_land
(4 posts)Republicans will never tell you directly how they will tax you. They will infact always do it indirectly.
Tolls on roads and bridges are a prime example, passing the cost to highway improvements and attempts to relieve traffic to the general public through tolls which is nothing more than a tax to use the road.
While it creates jobs in the short term with construction jobs, its unfair to ask the American Public to pay extra tax on usage of public roads, through unfair taxation of those that travel. All it will do is congest other avenues for those of us who refuse to pay tolls.
Look at the toll system around the Dallas area, will they generate monies by doing so? probably sooner or later people will use the farm and market roads, to mitigate their travels through states and the country.
Republicans in general are never for direct taxation for anything to help the less fortunate amongst us. However, they always support indirect taxation to raise funds without the general publics knowledge until its to late.
Hugin
(33,189 posts)Since at least the late '80s.
At pennies on the dollar for their construction price.
Add a tax without calling it as such... Their base are FOOLS!
Socialize the maintenance and privatize the profit.
In effect a reverse nationalization where Trump and the other Republicans et al privatize publicly held assets for pennies on the dollar.
You need to look no further than the Interstate toll road in Indiana in which it was resold for 50% more than what the state of Indiana first received for it. There are lots of other examples.
2006 - $3.8 B Indiana sells to Spanish investment company
2015 - $5,73 B $6B in debt bankrupt Spanish investment company sells to Australia investment company
So where do you think the other $2B plus went?
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/11/australian-company-buys-bankrupt-indiana-toll-road-vendor/70161160/
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)They will make us pay for air.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)... safe roads and infrastructure to get ourselves (and our supplies) from here to there? Everyone should contribute.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,157 posts)We'll sell our highways to some private entity who'll charge you to use them