A better way to tax cars? AKA I had an idea on the way home today

[Fear No Evil]

Actually the ASCE is very good at doing a lot with little money. What they are asking is extremely reasonable. Things like painting bridges that haven't been painted in 20 years and are rusting away, patching concrete that is leaking waste into waterways, replacing supports on bridges that were built with wooden piers and are rotting. Adding inspectors for existing dams. People don't want to spend money on prevention, they rather wait till it fails then point fingers.

So how is it we were able to keep these things up 25 years ago with basically no deficit.. but today, with a 1.2 trillion dollar one, we can't afford paint? Hell, our budgets are probably 10 times what they were 25 years ago even adjusted for inflation. Where is all this money going? And no, the Iraq war does not account for it all, so don't try that excuse for the billionth time.

 

[brblx]

So how is it we were able to keep these things up 25 years ago with basically no deficit.. but today, with a 1.2 trillion dollar one, we can't afford paint? Hell, our budgets are probably 10 times what they were 25 years ago even adjusted for inflation. Where is all this money going? And no, the Iraq war does not account for it all, so don't try that excuse for the billionth time.

wow, you really don't understand the concept of 'aging infrastructure' at all, do you?

do you think that the annual upkeep on a new car is the same as a twenty year old car?

 

[charrison]

wow, you really don't understand the concept of 'aging infrastructure' at all, do you?

do you think that the annual upkeep on a new car is the same as a twenty year old car?

I think his point is that money that is supposed to be spent on infrastructure is being spent on social programs.

 

[Modelworks]

So how is it we were able to keep these things up 25 years ago with basically no deficit.. but today, with a 1.2 trillion dollar one, we can't afford paint? Hell, our budgets are probably 10 times what they were 25 years ago even adjusted for inflation. Where is all this money going? And no, the Iraq war does not account for it all, so don't try that excuse for the billionth time.

When a bridge or anything is built you get some years for free where maintenance isn't an issue. As it ages it begins to get more and more expensive. Rather than spend the money they skip a few months maintenance, since that saved them money last time, they skip a few more months, months become years. They know it needs to be fixed but they play a game of chance hoping they can get just one more day without failure.

It isn't that we can't afford to do the repairs it is that it gets relegated to the bottom because it is the out of sight out of mind principle. Nothing flashy about an official spending money to scrape down an old bridge and repaint it.

 

[piasabird]

Some states also tax on value of the vehicle every year you own it for the tags. Every state is a little different. I dont really understand how some cars cost so much now. Some people are spending more on cars than on a house. If I could do without, I would not even purchase a car.

 

[BarneyFife]

I'm sure all of this failing infrastructure will have to be rebuilt by union workers also at twice the cost and twice the timeframe. But, THOUSANDS of lives will be saved if we do it.. Never waste a crisis.

Wow, so you personally save $20 a year. What are you going to do with it when you run over a pothole and you damage your rim and it costs $200 to replace it? People like you are backwards thinking. Get rid of the interstate highway system and lets go back to trails with horses.

 

[piasabird]

Gas sales tax includes the Federal Gasoline Tax and the State Gasoline Tax. New York, California and Illinois have some of the highest combined Gasoline taxes. Federal tax is less than 0.20 per gallon, but in some states the combined gasoline tax is over $.65 per gallon.

Over the road trucks put more wear and tare on the public roads than any other kinds of traffic, due to weight, so they should have to pay more tax. However, any additional tax will just increase goods and services. One way we can reduce costs is to reduce the weight of packaging.

 

[Schadenfroh]

People like you are backwards thinking. Get rid of the interstate highway system and lets go back to trails with horses.

It is a way to slow man-made global warming.

 

[RU482]

They are not breaking yet, but you can bet when they do people will all say "why didn't we do something about it"

And those are the good ones.

States like Alabama have 2, just 2 inspectors for the 3500+ dams in the state.

Sounds like Alabama has....way too many damns

 

[RU482]

It is a way to slow man-made global warming.

How so? To replace my meager Chevy Impala, I'd have to get 185 horses. If everyone has that many or more horses, we'll have to clear forests and fields to make more pastures. Plus the methane....oh brother.

No sir, I don't think that is a good idea