President's Highway Funding Below Congressional Budgets

[Ganja Ninja]

President's Highway Funding Level Well Below Those in Congressional Budgets -- For the federal-aid highway program, both the House and Senate Republican budgets were well above the President's budget. The President's budget provides $189.5 billion over the next six years, $17.6 billion less than the House Republican budget and $66.2 billion less than the Senate-passed budget. The President's funding levels are much lower because the Administration does not assume any increase in the federal excise tax on motor fuels or the use of general funds for highway aid.3 The Administration claims that its budget provides the maximum amount possible for the federal highway program within those constraints.


Federal Highway and Transit Aid, 2004-2009
(Budget authority in billions of dollars)
Federal-aid highways* Mass Transit
President's budget (CBO re-estimate) 189.5 45.7
House-passed 207.1 43.1
Senate-passed 255.7 56.5
Conference agreement 231.1 49.1
* Includes minimum guarantee but not the highway emergency relief program.



http://www.house.gov/budget_democrats/congressional_budgets/fy2004/conf_summary/transpo.htm

[rodeodance]

1. well, folks you know we need $$ for contracters to build roads in Iraq!

[CottonBear]

2. One trillion spent on war abroad that should have been spent on infrastructure here at home.

:grr:

[quinnox]

3. Thanks for blowing a trillion on fkin WAR Bush!

We really got a lot of value when we demolished Iraq!


Bush has ruined everything in America!!

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. Didn't Bush tout a HUGE transportation bill in 2006?

(get my years mixed up)

I remember him making a big signing show out here at Caterpiller in Aurora complete with Denny Hastert, and other appropriate photo-op marketing tools. People were pissed about the price tag, and the way the big dollars were being doled out.

Was that a different bill?

eta: AHA! Here it is...
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050810-1.html

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 10, 2005

President Signs Transportation Act
Caterpillar-Aurora Facility
Montgomery, Illinois


"And that's why I'm proud to be here to sign this transportation bill, because our economy depends on us having the most efficient, reliable transportation system in the world. If we want people working in America, we've got to make sure our highways and roads are modern. We've got to bring up this transportation system into the 21st century. I mean, you can't expect your farmers to be able to get goods to market if we don't have a good road system. You can't expect to get these Caterpillar products all around the United States if we don't have a good road system.

This road system that we have is going to be modernized through the Transportation Equity Act. It provides more than $286 billion over six years to upgrade our nation's network of roads and bridges and mass transit systems. The Transportation Act will finance needed road improvements, and will ease traffic congestion in communities all across this country. "

[Ganja Ninja]

5. Transportation funding also includes money for Air Transportation.

It may be he spent the money on Airports and related Air Transportation in that budget.

But he just commented about congress not sending him a funding bill. Rather hypocritical of him considering that his past funding recommendations were lower than either Congress or the Senate.