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Republicans are setting a tax trap for Biden
Republicans in Congress want to raise the federal gas tax. Yes, the same Republicans who oppose tax hikes most of the rest of the time.
You won’t hear them say, “let’s raise the gas tax,” exactly. There’s a code phrase: “user fees.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for instance, says Republicans will support $600 billion in infrastructure spending, as long as user fees cover the cost. “We’re happy to look for traditional infrastructure pay-fors, which means the users participate,” McConnell said in Louisville on May 3.
You won’t hear them say, “let’s raise the gas tax,” exactly. There’s a code phrase: “user fees.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for instance, says Republicans will support $600 billion in infrastructure spending, as long as user fees cover the cost. “We’re happy to look for traditional infrastructure pay-fors, which means the users participate,” McConnell said in Louisville on May 3.
User fees would force Biden's hand
If Republicans controlled Congress, it’s extremely unlikely they’d raise user fees or impose new ones to pay for an infrastructure plan. The federal gasoline tax, which is supposed to cover the costs of the national highway system, is a classic user fee because people who buy gas—drivers—pay into the fund that maintains the roads they drive on. But the gas tax has been stuck at 18.4 center per gallon since 1993, and it’s now too low to cover all the costs it’s supposed to. President Trump supposedly wanted a big infrastructure plan, and his fellow Republicans controlled Congress during the first two years of his presidency. Yet they never mounted a serious infrastructure plan, let alone new user fees to pay for it.
So why do Republicans favor user fees now? Because they would force Biden to break a core campaign promise, damaging him politically. Biden pledged not to raise taxes on households earning less than $400,000 per year, and any user fee applied broadly to the public would violate that pledge. User fees are actually a sensible and proven way to pay for big projects, yet Biden, for better or worse, has effectively ruled them out as a funding source for his ambitious plans.
Everybody in Washington knows this is the game. Virtually no Republicans would vote to raise the federal gas tax, if it actually came up for a vote, and no Democrat would vote to put Biden in the position of breaking a campaign promise. Biden would veto such a bill if it landed on his desk. Yet Rs and Ds are pretending to negotiate as if Republicans would really raise the gas tax and Democrats might be open to the idea.
If Republicans controlled Congress, it’s extremely unlikely they’d raise user fees or impose new ones to pay for an infrastructure plan. The federal gasoline tax, which is supposed to cover the costs of the national highway system, is a classic user fee because people who buy gas—drivers—pay into the fund that maintains the roads they drive on. But the gas tax has been stuck at 18.4 center per gallon since 1993, and it’s now too low to cover all the costs it’s supposed to. President Trump supposedly wanted a big infrastructure plan, and his fellow Republicans controlled Congress during the first two years of his presidency. Yet they never mounted a serious infrastructure plan, let alone new user fees to pay for it.
So why do Republicans favor user fees now? Because they would force Biden to break a core campaign promise, damaging him politically. Biden pledged not to raise taxes on households earning less than $400,000 per year, and any user fee applied broadly to the public would violate that pledge. User fees are actually a sensible and proven way to pay for big projects, yet Biden, for better or worse, has effectively ruled them out as a funding source for his ambitious plans.
Everybody in Washington knows this is the game. Virtually no Republicans would vote to raise the federal gas tax, if it actually came up for a vote, and no Democrat would vote to put Biden in the position of breaking a campaign promise. Biden would veto such a bill if it landed on his desk. Yet Rs and Ds are pretending to negotiate as if Republicans would really raise the gas tax and Democrats might be open to the idea.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/republicans-are-setting-a-tax-trap-for-biden-184020085.html
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