This column is long but, the issues are complex and demand full development
Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) brought a talking point and a sound bite to a real policy discussion again today. The former IRS tax attorney continues to exhibit a complete lack of understanding of how our government works. Additionally, she continues to be fearless when it comes to wading off into complex policy discussions with her sound bite six-gun. The real tragedy is how the media continues to ignore and refuses to question her on her simpleton approach to almost every problem.
Today’s topic is transportation policy.
S. E. Cupp, a columnist for the New York Daily News, asked Bachmann today how President Obama’s Transportation jobs proposal would be received by Republicans. The characterization is already wrong. The use of sound bite politics is particularly sad in this case because now more than ever we should be having a national conversation about the decades long underfunding of infrastructure in this country. Instead, the question at hand is really whether the GOP will continue to fund transportation at all. There will be more later on that subject. When MSNBC’s Martin Bashir asked Cupp for a “glimpse” into the potential pushback by Bachmann and the rest of the GOP, Bachmann was again a quick at the draw. Cupp told us Bachmann felt more private sector jobs would be created if “we left the money in the states” instead of distributing the money federally. Cupp went on to explain Bachmann felt “infrastructure would receive more of that actual currency.”
Bachmann either does not understand how transportation is funded in the United States or would rather play to the base with a sound bite. Either way, she and Cupp are doing a disservice to the American people. See, in general, gas taxes are a great funding system. You drive, you pay. Today we pay two, maybe three, gas taxes when we drive. The first tax is a direct state tax which may include a local or municipal tax. That tax is collected and used for state, county and local roads and bridges. In most states it runs around 20 cents per gallon and state or local governments levy, collect and spend these taxes through the state departments of transportation. The other tax we pay is a 17 cent federal tax. This tax has remained the same since 1992. This tax is designed to improve and maintain the National Highway System including the Interstates.
This federal tax is administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The states collect the tax and send it to Washington. Washington sends it back to fund specific projects which conform to the national plan. It sounds great to Bachmann’s core supporters to hear her tell us she wants to cut the FHWA out of the equation but, having worked in the transportation sector for fourteen years, I can assure you it is by far and away the dumbest idea I have ever heard.
It is a dumb idea because the National Highway System is just that, national. The beauty of the system is you can decide on a road and it will be roughly the same all the way to your destination. The Eisenhower Interstate System is a great example. We can get on Interstate 90 near Logan International Airport in Boston and around 3,100 miles later we can end up in Seattle near Safeco Field. The road will be what we call in the business, “a grade separated and limited access facility” the whole way. What that means is, if we could devise a way to change drivers safely, we would not have to stop a single time. I-90’s less homogenous cousin is the now famous Route 66. US-66 as it is called in the buiz changes from time to time from a two-lane to a four (or more) and back again. Federal guidelines however, make signs and other design features of the road the same throughout the seven states it traverses. Things like clear markings as the route traverses a town or city have been unified by the FHWA so that states and municipalities can’t play games with travelers. Believe me, some would play games. Save FHWA rules, many small towns would love to send you through a maze so you might be inclined to stop and spend some of that traveling money. Other things like building materials testing are also unified. This prevents locals from using a local substandard material for political reasons. Finally, the things you don’t see like the bank of a curve, or superelevations as we call it in the buiz, are made the same. Superelevations being similar are important because as we drive, we begin to trust the road not to throw us off of a curve and adjust our driving habits accordingly. If states were left to their own devices, you might develop that trust in one state and have a wreck in the next because the federal standard was not there to keep things similar.
The most important service the FHWA performs is the distribution of those highway funds. Some argue the states already have too much autonomy in this area. They point to the use of bridge replacement funds by the State of Minnesota for the widening of another Interstate just before the I-35W Bridge fell in the Mississippi River. By adding lanes, Minnesota was forced to replace perfectly good bridges which were not wide enough. Instead of making a road wider or as we say, adding capacity, the state should have replaced existing substandard bridges sooner.
When the existing Continuing Resolution runs out on September 30th for highway funding construction workers, designers, materials producers and many others simply go home. The highway construction industry pretty much stops immediately. The private sector jobs associated with the industry include the entire economic spectrum from laborers to owners of engineering and construction firms. To stop funding highway construction and maintenance would be a devastating blow to the economy. Job loss estimates vary but, it suffices to say a million jobs lost, I believe a low estimate, would represent upwards of 15 percent of the total jobs lost already in this recession.
This recession has been brutal and playing politics at a time like this with things like a highway bill which usually pass the Senate on votes like 99 to 1 is unforgivable. Transportation bills pass by such wide margins because everybody knows they are good investments. Any thinking person who has witnessed the price of everything, especially hydrocarbon based road building materials, going up since 1992 understands why the United States has dropped to 23rd in infrastructure spending in the world. Moderates understand the problem for the same reasons they don’t go into Wal-Mart and demand groceries for 1992 prices. With that fact in mind, the GOP will hold the legislation hostage until they cut the funding.
The right-wing of the GOP like Bachmann would rather make some more political hay than try to actually improve our national lot in transportation. They have proven this propensity with the recent Federal Aviation Administration debacle. The air ticket taxes lost during the GOP delay were much more than the amount of money they argued over. Bachmann, who is apparently not an authority on the subject of highway funding, tells the voter she can fix the system by getting rid of Federal Highway programs. What is worse, the media does not make her explain. It is time for the politicians to quit doing damage to this economy. It is time for the right wing of the GOP to actually be part of the solution. Another million jobs lost for political purposes is sinful and should not be tolerated.