To: TimF who wrote (361028 ) 12/3/2007 12:03:47 AM From: tejek Read Replies (1) | Respond to The federal gas tax produces more revenue than is needed to do maintenance needed to deal with the wear and tear caused by cars on interstates. Of course interstates aren't the only roads, but federal gasoline taxes aren't the only taxes that drivers pay. They pay a lot of other fees and charges. In my state there is s personal property tax, I have to pay over $500 a year for my car. They also pay tolls. Maybe drivers still get a net subsidy, but when you take off the portion of the costs involved with repairing wear and damage from trucks (remember I'm just talking about cars, not trucks, trucks cause more damage), and somehow take in to account the use of roads for official and or emergency purposes (not just in terms of the costs for maintenance caused by such use, but also the fact that the very existence of the roads is important for such purposes) and its not so clear that cars really do receive a subsidy. As for the bridge in MN, well that isn't primarily a lack of total funds, it might be a problem in properly allocating them, or it might be that they where spent for other purposes.
