(02-17-2018, 09:59 AM)MalabarJag Wrote:

(02-17-2018, 06:37 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: Interesting post.  But my question for you would be, would a 2 cent per gallon increase in the gas tax, by itself, raise the $1.5 trillion needed for the infrastructure plan?   Because if it doesn't, you're talking about shifting money from somewhere else and further increasing the deficit. 

So maybe you could clarify- does the 2 cent increase, by itself, raise the necessary $1.5 trillion to pay for the infrastructure plan?

The plan floated by Trump was a 25 cent increase.

Typo. That should have been 12 cents. About half of what Trump asked for. 

Of course as a wheeler dealer he always takes an extreme position on his initial offering.

So just to be clear, you think 12 cents increase in the gas tax, by itself, will raise an extra $1.5 trillion?

I googled the question, how much fuel is consumed in the US every year, and what I found was that, according to the federal highway administration, in 2009, 172 billion gallons of fuel were consumed.   At 12 cents per gallon, that would have raised 20 billion dollars.   Over 10 years, 200 billion dollars.   Obviously, that is a fraction of the $1.5 trillion Trump is proposing for an infrastructure plan.   So according to my calculations, 12 cents a gallon would fall way short based on 2009 fuel consumption numbers.

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