Transportation & InfrastructureTransportation & Infrastructure

Congress faces a challenge in providing enough funding to keep the nation’s transportation system in good repair in a manner that preserves the “user-pays” principle. The current gasoline tax does not generate enough revenue to meet lawmakers’ transportation spending desires, however. ...More

In recent years, Congress has used several general Treasury fund transfers to cover the revenue shortfall, thereby undermining the user-pays principle. Lawmakers have failed to rid the transportation system of unnecessary programs, such as the Essential Air Service, a relic of airline deregulation that subsidizes air travel to and from rural airports. Congress uses budgetary gimmicks to avoid difficult choices. In the most recent transportation bill 10 years of revenues from tax code changes were used to cover just two years of transportation spending. This irresponsible approach to transportation policy is pushing the Highway Trust Fund as well as the Inland Waterways Trust Fund toward insolvency.

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All the latest content from TCS in Transportation & Infrastructure
Letters & Testimony

Congress: Only Fund Emergency Needs in Sandy Supplemental

January 11, 2013

Congress: Only Fund Emergency Needs in Sandy Supplemental   January 11, 2012 Dear Representative, As you know, the House of... Read More

Statements

President Ms. Ryan Alexander Sliding Past Sequestration Statement

October 01, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 1, 2012 CONTACTS: Steve Ellis 202-546-8500 x126 or steve@taxpayer.net Taxpayers for Common Sense... Read More

Statements

TCS Statement Opposing Transportation Omnibus Bill

June 28, 2012

The following is a written statement of Ms. Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on H.R. 4348, the transportation... Read More

Letters & Testimony

TCS Testifies before House Natural Resources Subcommittee

June 10, 2012

Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) Vice-President Steve Ellis testified about federal subsidies for western water contractors and legislation... Read More

Our Take

BETA - New TCS Digital Infrastructure

June 05, 2012

BETA - New TCS Digital Infrastructure Our new website and digital toolkit is live in BETA testing.... Read More

Our Take

House Passes Another Transportation Extension in Attempt to Get to Conference With Senate

April 17, 2012

The House today passed a 90-day extension of the nation’s federal transportation program (H.R. 4348) by a vote of 293-197. This legislation... Read More

More in-depth material from TCS in Transportation & Infrastructure
Policy Briefs

Analysis of Selected Provisions in Hurricane Sandy Emergency Spending Proposals

December 17, 2012 > Updated: January 10, 2013

Analysis of Selected Provisions in Hurricane Sandy Emergency Spending Proposals Update January 10, 2013: We’ve combed through the House Appropriations Chairman Rogers Sandy Supplemental bill (HR 152 and his amendment... Read More

Policy Briefs

Transportation Tax Provisions within Fiscal Cliff Deal

January 03, 2013

Transportation Tax Provisions within Fiscal Cliff Deal The final agreement signed by the president to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” contains several items related to transportation that are... Read More

101

Green Scissors Campaign 101

October 02, 2012

Green Scissors Campaign 101 A basic primer on the Green Scissors campaign and answers general questions about the history and goals of the coalition.... Read More

Reports & Data

Sliding Past Sequestration: $2 Trillion in Common Sense Cuts to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff

October 01, 2012

Sliding Past Sequestration: $2 Trillion in Common Sense Cuts to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff In the summer of 2011, Congress sent the President a bill that acknowledged failure. Instead of swallowing hard and coming up with trillions... Read More

TCS appearances in the media in Transportation & Infrastructure

Fiscal reform needs accountability, less agency overlap

February 11, 2013 | Fierce Government

Government fiscal reform needs to come in the form of accountability, prioritizing by need and training if long term success is to be seen,... Read More

Farmers, environmentalists await seventh analysis of 60-year-old Mississippi levee plan

February 11, 2013 | The Washington Post

An engineering project introduced during the Eisenhower administration may be carried out during the Obama administration, but with no more... Read More

Green Scissors for Congress

February 06, 2013 | OtherWords

When you’re in a hole, you stop digging. And when you’ve got a $1.3-trillion deficit and $15.7 trillion in debt, you’ve got to start... Read More

Charlottesville This Week - February 2, 2013

February 06, 2013 | MonticelloMedia

At the intersection of politics and road building

February 05, 2013 | MyrtleBeachOnline.com

Interstate 66, once envisioned as a cross-continent highway from the Potomac to the Pacific, ends in a pile of dirt just past a cloverleaf... Read More

Weekly Wastebasket

Our weekly reality-check for federal spending. View All

February 15, 2013

Engineering Boondoggles

While Washington is wringing its hands about the automatic across-the-board budget cuts known as... Read More