Tag Archive for Road Funding

And Then There Is This

MiGOP reminder of Whitmer's absolutism.

I share the common distrust of the powers that be in Lansing to hold off on NEW gas taxes.

It seems that even the post directly preceding this has noted potential end-around solutions that will provide new income streams from taxpayer to bureaucrat for whatever purpose. We advise strongly against new enabling features that give local government more ways in which to screw us.

In the meantime we can at least enjoy the fact that the legislature did force Whitmer to show where her priorities are not, by witnessing the line item vetoes made. I agree with several of them, but frankly think at this point she owns any discontent from those sectors.

The next couple of years will be interesting.

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Skewed priorities and reading between the lines.

Don’t you know that “Take a vote, not a vacation” doesn’t apply to the man at the top?

“It’s essential that making Michigan’s infrastructure safer remains a top priority. While voters didn’t support this particular proposal, we know they want action taken to maintain and improve our roads and bridges. The ‘relentless’ part of relentless positive action means that we start anew to find a comprehensive, long-term solution to this problem.” – Gov. Rick Snyder after the crushing defeat of Proposal 1 on May 5, 2015

Unless of course, you are on yet another “vacation” to peddle blueberries to the Chi-Comms?

Or, maybe that’s what he wants everyone to believe.

{More below}

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Did Proposal 1 Decamp to Washington?

Spectacular Death in Michigan No Bar to Success in Washington

Government Spending Image 3While Michiganders were being entertained and infuriated by the lies of Proposal 1 proponents, few of us noticed that the very same roads funding strife is reaching a crescendo in Washington. The Federal Highway Trust Fund spends about $ 50 billion dollars on ‘transportation’ across the U.S.A. each year. Michigan received $ 1.39 billion from the HTF in Fiscal Year 2014 for new construction of roads and bridges, along with mass transit activities. As a point of reference, Michigan spent an additional $ 2 billion of funds raised within the state for the same ‘transportation’ purposes. The Federal HTF paid for 40.9% of Michigan ‘transportation’ spending in FY 2014.

Funded in the past by an $ 0.184 per gallon Federal gasoline tax ($ 0.244 per gallon on diesel fuel), the Highway Trust Fund’s traditional fuel tax revenues have fallen to about $ 34 billion. The Federal government has been supplementing the Highway Trust Fund from general deficit spending revenues since 2008. In Fiscal Year 2014, the Federal government supplemented the Highway Trust Fund with $ 11 billion in general revenues.

How did this happen?

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