Chao says U.S. drivers may face more tolls to raise infrastructure funds

[Stonepounder]

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 nation’s 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 Tuesday’s 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 Trump’s 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

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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]

1. Thought Trump plan was to give tax breaks to corps who would do infra work...

...to get those tax breaks. Now they are going to turn the screws to the common folks again. GAH

[They_Live]

4. So does that mean that

we can write off all tolls on our tax returns?

[mpcamb]

29. Let's take it out of the Defense budget.

[Stonepounder]

8. It just doesn't work that way.

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]

22. Florida has so many tolls. My sun pass gets a major workout every week

I guess there will be more.

[Kablooie]

87. Yep tax breaks for corps and the rich and higher expenses for everyone else.

[They_Live]

2. Government is not meant to be run like a business

(sigh)

[former9thward]

44. Where exactly do you think the money is going to come from?

[yardwork]

56. Income tax.

[former9thward]

57. We have an income tax.

What rates for what income shall be increased in order to pay for infrastructure?

[yardwork]

64. The 1% can handle a little more tax burden. They're still getting a bargain.

[wordpix]

84. they can handle a LOT more - this is why they hate ACA, Medicaid, Medicare

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]

59. What does the 18.4 cent per gallon gas tax go for?? 24 cents per gallon on Diesel...n/t

[former9thward]

61. It goes for highway repair and maintenance.

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]

74. Has anyone told you it would be free? No? Then your little tantrum is irrelevant.

Has anyone told you it would be free? No? Then your little tantrum is irrelevant.

[They_Live]

65. From the people who benefit the most

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]

68. Nice rhetoric. I have no problem with tolls.

I have no problem with tolls. The people using it pay for it.

[They_Live]

66. Do you like the idea of regressive taxes?

[former9thward]

69. We have regressive taxes everywhere.

How come you aren't complaining about them? Just this one.

[They_Live]

71. So that you will evade any question I ask, I guess.

and because the thread was about toll roads and bridges.

[joet67]

3. Was in the Indianapolis Star a couple of weeks ago that they plan to

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]

36. Time to Chao down.

[dchill]

5. First step to privatization of our roads.

Greed knows no boundaries.

[iluvtennis]

35. +100 nt

[delisen]

6. I suggest a billionaire tax, off-shore money tax,

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]

11. Remember, after WWII the top tax rate was somewhere around 92% on individuals.

And the economy boomed.

[delisen]

18. We will need to go back to that if we are going to Make America Great Again.

That was probably one of the keys to our former greatness.

[Stonepounder]

23. And don't forget that was under Ike, and he was a Republican.

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]

33. And the middle-class thrived with a steady increase in the standard of living.

[jmowreader]

48. Ike was also a pissed-off former general

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]

83. They did accept wealth redistribution - until Reagan came in

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]

7. tRump voters too stupid to know that he was going to tax the middle class and truckers too.

Tolls are a tax on the economy and will contribute to the Trump Slump.

[logosoco]

15. And for those supporters who figure they don't or just won't travel

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]

9. Te Feds COULD assume the whole cost if they didn't spend $54 Billion to expand a military that

doesn't need expansion!

[not fooled]

16. Or taxed the 0.001% fairly

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]

10. Highways around me are littered with them already.

No more fucking tolls.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. No worries, I heard Chris Christie fixes bridge problems real good

[modrepub]

13. It's just not roads we're talking about

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]

21. Heard on the news last night that we are going back to private prisons as well. n/t

[AJT]

14. Toll roads will be privatized, sold to the highest bidder.

That is the only reason they would want to do the infrastructure.

[not fooled]

17. Yep

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]

60. Yep,we'll have the Koch Brothers super duper highway....

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]

19. CPI will go up as everything transported will see a price increase to cover the tolls

Brilliant plan to boost the economy, GOP. Just brilliant. Unless of course your real goal was to spread discord and unhappiness...

[Liberalagogo]

20. And then companies that use those roads

to transport their goods, will also raise prices.

Thanks, RUMP.

[cstanleytech]

24. The way I see this is more of a way to control how and where people are able to go and it gives

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]

25. I we're going the "Toll" route,

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]

26. A not-so hidden tax on the lower classes who have to drive long distances to work

After paying all of the tolls, by the time you get to work, your day's pay is gone.

[iluvtennis]

37. Agree...the common folks as usual will foot the burden and stay further down the totem pole

[no_hypocrisy]

27. Bullshit! In NJ, we're still paying tolls to "pay" for the Garden State Parkway and

the New Jersey Turnpike.

[guillaumeb]

28. In other words, THE GOP IS RAISING TAXES ON WORKING AMERICANS.

[joshdawg]

53. No surprise there.

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]

30. what a scam

for the rich to get richer. Cut 10% from the defense budget, road, bridges fixed. Tax and pocket republiKKKans.

[keithbvadu2]

31. A toll is a tax with a different spelling.

A toll is a tax with a different spelling.

[Tiggeroshii]

32. The reasons I am in favor of this are the reasons Republicans are

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]

34. I fully support tolling every public road

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]

41. Gee, thanks!

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]

46. The Greens are a one size fits all group.

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]

55. Every road? Local streets?

I live in a rural place. There IS no mass transit here. What should people do?

[KWR65]

77. Get a bicycle. n/t

I have been using mass transit & a bike for 40 years.

[phylny]

78. I drive 390 miles a week for work.

Thanks for playing.

[KWR65]

80. You are the problem.

There is no reason to allow you to drive so far in a automobile.

[phylny]

85. You are so right!

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]

79. Right. People with small kids should just walk or get bicycles

Your ideal world is just about punishing everyone who may be old, disabled, live in a rural area. The Green Party purity test.

[CrispyQ]

38. Because the taxes we already pay to maintain our infrastructure have been diverted to the MIC.

So now we get to pay twice.

[jpak]

39. Privatization by the oligarchy - here it comes

be afraid

[DeminPennswoods]

40. Wait until they try that with I-80 in PA

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]

42. the GOP PREFERS REGRESSIVE HIDDEN taxes over raising taxes. OH NOES.

[pansypoo53219]

43. AND raising the gas tax would be ENVIRONMENTAL.

[Tanuki]

45. I used to live in a suburb west of Boston and hated commuting on the Mass Pike.

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]

47. It never fucking ends.

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]

49. Our overlords will not rest until you pay $1 for every mile you drive.

[SunSeeker]

50. Tolls are a very regressive way to pay for infrastructure. It soaks the poor & middle class.

[vlyons]

51. That also means higher prices on food, comsumer goods, oil and gas and everything

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]

52. Great, target the truckers

A lot of MAGA hats are going into the trash by 2020, and hopefully by 2018.

[Blue Idaho]

62. Tolls based on gross weight per axle.

If republicans want a toll that one seems fair... Tax the corporations that are busting up our highways shipping junk cross country.

[JustAnotherGen]

54. Thank you

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]

58. Translated...we are not sending shit to the states for infrastructure money...

Trump is a fucking liar as usual. The GOP liars and liars and liars.

[cstanleytech]

70. Yup, their real plan is to funnel more taxpayer money to the wealthy via wasteful Defense spending.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

63. A new Republican tax that's "not a tax".

Tax and Spend Republicans.

The next election can't come soon enough.

[sarcasmo]

67. The multi millionaire telling the serfs to pay up for better highways.

[confusion_land]

72. indirect taxation by republicans

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]

73. Is anyone surprised by this? It's been a right wing goal to privatize the highways...

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.

[exboyfil]

76. EXACTLY

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]

75. They intend to privatize all infrastructure.

They will make us pay for air.

[NurseJackie]

81. Why just the drivers? Don't we as a society ALL BENEFIT when we have...

... safe roads and infrastructure to get ourselves (and our supplies) from here to there? Everyone should contribute.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

82. In otherwords

We'll sell our highways to some private entity who'll charge you to use them

[Vinca]

86. They'll be selling off America to the highest bidder.