Privatization cp ddi 2012 1 Privatization + Coercion 1
The government has evolved from a tax-free system to one that subsidizes and taxes to meet its infrastructural goals
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- Taxes are necessary to infrastructural highway development- empirics prove
- The highway trust fund gains revenue from gas taxes
The government has evolved from a tax-free system to one that subsidizes and taxes to meet its infrastructural goalsCarson (a senior fellow and holder of the Karl Hess Chair in Social Theory at the Center for a Stateless Society) 11/10 (Kevin, “The Distorting Effects of Transportation Subsidies”, http://www.thefreemanonline.org/features/the-distorting-effects-of-transportation-subsidies/) chip As new forms of transportation emerged, the government reprised its role, subsidizing both the national highway and civil aviation systems.¶ From its beginning the American automotive industry formed a “complex” with the petroleum industry and government highway projects. The “most powerful pressure group in Washington” (as a PBS documentary called it) began in June 1932, when GM president Alfred P. Sloan created the National Highway Users Conference, inviting oil and rubber firms to help GM bankroll a propaganda and lobbying effort that continues to this day.¶ Whatever the political motivation behind it, the economic effect of the interstate system should hardly be controversial. Virtually 100 percent of roadbed damage to highways is caused by heavy trucks. After repeated liberalization of maximum weight restrictions, far beyond the heaviest conceivable weight the interstate roadbeds were originally designed to support, fuel taxes fail miserably at capturing from big-rig operators the cost of pavement damage caused by higher axle loads. And truckers have been successful at scrapping weight-distance user charges in all but a few western states, where the push for repeal continues. So only about half the revenue of the highway trust fund comes from fees or fuel taxes on the trucking industry, and the rest is externalized on private automobiles.¶ This doesn’t even count the 20 percent of highway funding that’s still subsidized by general revenues, or the role of eminent domain in lowering the transaction costs involved in building new highways or expanding existing ones.¶ As for the civil aviation system, from the beginning it was a creature of the State. Its original physical infrastructure was built entirely with federal grants and tax-free municipal bonds. Professor Stephen Paul Dempsey of the University of Denver in 1992 estimated the replacement value of this infrastructure at $1 trillion. The federal government didn’t even start collecting user fees from airline passengers and freight shippers until 1971. Even with such user fees paid into the Airport and Airways Trust Fund, the system still required taxpayer subsidies of $3 billion to maintain the Federal Aviation Administration’s network of control towers, air traffic control centers, and tens of thousands of air traffic controllers. Links – Highways Taxes are necessary to infrastructural highway development- empirics proveFontelera (Managing Editor @ Thomas Publishing) 1/14/09 (Jorina, “Proposed Gas Tax Hike to Prop Up Highway Trust Fund”, http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2009/01/14/gas-tax-hike-to-prop-up-highway-trust-fund-fix-roads/) chip As manufacturers buckle down to stem their transportation expenditures, a proposal by the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission due later this month may put a snag in their plans. The 15-member panel is reported to be calling for a 50 percent increase in gasoline and diesel fuel taxes to finance highway construction and repair, according to the Associated Press. Members of the infrastructure financing commission say they will urge Congress to raise the gasoline tax by 10 cents a gallon and the diesel fuel tax by 12 to 15 cents a gallon. The increase would bring the tax for gasoline to 28.4 cents a gallon and as much as 39.4 cents a gallon for diesel fuel. Additionally, the commission allegedly will recommend tying the tax rate to inflation, Outsourced Logistics says. Extra money must be generated because the current gas tax doesn’t pay enough for the upkeep of the U.S. transportation system, Adrian Moore, vice president at the Reason Foundation and a member of the commission, explains to the AP. As the commission laid out in a February 2008 interim report, the current funding system suffers from three main flaws: Insufficient revenue to maintain and improve the transportation network; Misalignment between current funding mechanisms and transportation system use, resulting in costs growing faster than revenue; and Investment of revenue not cost effective. The Highway Trust Fund, which is the primary source for transportation infrastructure and is majority-funded by federal gasoline taxes, has been unable to generate enough revenue because Americans have been driving less and reducing fuel use. The highway trust fund gains revenue from gas taxesTsay and Gordon (director of the Leadership Initiative for Transportation Solvency in the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. is a nonresident senior associate in Carnegie's Energy and Climate Program, where her research focuses on climate, energy, and transportation issues in the United States and China.) 12/7/11 (Shin-pei and Deborah, “Five myths about your gasoline taxes”, http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/18/opinion/tsay-gordon-gas-tax-myths/index.html) chip America's transportation system is going broke. Revenue for the Highway Trust Fund is derived almost entirely from federal gas taxes and distributed to all 50 states. It covers nearly 80% of the capital costs of federally-funded transportation projects, with states carrying the remainder. From 2008 to 2010, Congress transferred $34.5 billion from general fund revenues to make up the funding shortfall. This stopgap measure was necessary to continue projects that are already in the works. Moreover, deferred maintenance—the failure to care for existing roads and bridges—combined with lost productivity are estimated to add more than $100 billion to the national deficit annually. Over time, technology will help expand mobility options and improve system efficiency. This includes the ability to track real-time data and charge for system use and facilitate trip decision-making through virtual communications -- social networking, skype, real-time ride-sharing, and on-line meetings. Will pay-per-mile road taxes buzzkill the great American road trip? These 21st-century interactions will bolster economic productivity and competitiveness. But they will take time to mature and, in the near-term, will not obviate the need for travel. Moreover, a dedicated source of revenues, such as gas taxes or other user-based fees, will remain critical to fund and facilitate the transition to technology-oriented transportation solution Links – Mass Transit – 1 Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 1.35 Mb. Share with your friends:
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