The Chamber of Commerce plied their collective corporate genius to come up with a strategy to keep pro-business politicians in the majority. They want to boost the federal gas tax to 25 cents a gallon to pay for President Trump’s long-awaited infrastructure bill.
That extra quarter won’t come cheap though. According to most recent estimates from the Energy and Information Administration, consumers burn through about 140 billion gallons of gas annually. With about 222 million drivers on the road and, at an average 2017 gas price of $2.49 per gallon, the average automobile owner spends about $1,570 already. Now the Chamber wants to tag on another $157.
In the mind of those corporate masochists, more pain at the pump somehow translates into a Republican victory at the ballot box. But anyone who pumps their own gas knows it is an idiotic idea.
Even Chamber President Thomas Donohue sort of understands this. In an interview with the Washington Post, Donohue acknowledged that a tax hike would be “a tough vote.” The estimated $375 billion raised over the next decade, according to Chamber estimates, would go toward things like roads and bridges and rest stops. And sure, that’s something. But it’s not nearly enough to raise taxes for at least two reasons.
First the notion of America's crumbling infrastructure is largely a myth propagated by interests with something to gain. Our roads aren’t in bad shape according to the Federal Highway Administration. Pavement quality isn’t deteriorating. It is improving: the percentage of miles travelled on national highways with a “good” rating improved from 48 to 60 percent. In that same time frame, “acceptable” national ride conditions rose from a 91 to 93 percent.
That doesn’t mean repairs can’t or shouldn’t be made. They should be. It’s just that the states should pay for them per the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. When the federal government built the highways, they left maintenance up to the states. There’s no reason why those states shouldn’t or couldn’t help pick up the slack now.
Second Republicans would be suicidal if they raised taxes on the middle-class after cutting taxes on corporations. Granted, tax reform will help the entire economy. But a gas tax would lend itself to the narrative that the GOP screwed over main street shortly after giving a handout to Wall Street. It’d be a flaming political pileup.
But if Republicans want to lose their majorities, then by all means they can go ahead and follow the advice of the Chamber. They can tax the middle class during the midterm elections.
