The title quote for this post is one I’ve seen used a lot over at Atrio’s place. (The assault on Nice Things is relentless.) It refers to reflex GOP antipathy when it comes to putting money into anything that’s not a war, a corporate subsidy, or a tax cut for the rich. The picture above is of a collapsed bridge in Minneapolis.
It was a relic from a time when major investments in public infrastructure were a routine function of government. Repairing or replacing it as it aged and problems were found is something that just couldn’t get on the agenda once we ‘decided’ that “Government is not a solution to our problem government is the problem”. This was echoed a few years later with the observation that "the era of big government is over,"
The rest of the quote seems to be missing in action: “...but we cannot go back to the time when our citizens were left to fend for themselves. We must go forward as one America, one nation working together, to meet the challenges we face together. Self-reliance and teamwork are not opposing virtues -- we must have both.”
Yeah, right. We’ve seen how that worked out.
Over at Digby’s place, Undercover Blue Tom Sullivan picks up on an article from Mother Jones.
Some states build the future. Others argue they can't afford one. At least that's the conclusion one might draw from two recent legislative battles over infrastructure spending. Guess which kind of state California is. From Mother Jones:
Yesterday, the California legislature passed the largest gas tax increase in state history in a move projected to raise $52 billion over 10 years to fix the state's crumbling roads, bridges, and public transit systems. The state already has some of the highest gas taxes in the country. But the falling price of gas, increased fuel efficiency, and the popularity of hybrid and electric vehicles has recently crimped tax revenues, contributing to an estimated $135 billion backlog in road and bridge repairs. The new tax is designed to plug that gap with a 12-cent per gallon increase in the gas tax, as well as new taxes on diesel fuel, a $100 annual fee for electric cars, and higher vehicle registration fees.
California now joins 17 other states—half of them controlled by Republicans—that have enacted gas tax increases since 2013. Yet this approach remains a nonstarter for many Republicans on Capitol Hill and within the Trump administration, which are pushing a national infrastructure plan funded by granting tax credits to private investors.
emphasis added
Remember what I said about “...a corporate subsidy, or a tax cut for the rich” up top? This isn’t government for the common welfare — it’s government as a wealth transfer machine to the .1% from everyone else. Even then, it’s not a done deal. From Mother Jones:
Brown's skill at legislative deal-making contrasts sharply with the progress of Trump's proposed $1 trillion infrastructure deal, which has been tied up in Republican infighting. Speaker Ryan and a faction within the Trump administration led by billionaire leverage buyout specialist-turned-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross want almost all of the spending to come from tax credits given to private investors who underwrite infrastructure projects such as toll roads. Ross argues that $137 billion in tax credits over 10 years could spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment, matching Trump's campaign promise. But some conservative economists say the approach doesn't hold water.
"I don't think that is a model that is going to be viewed as successful or that you can use it for all of the infrastructure needs that the US has," Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the center-right American Action Forum think tank, told the Associated Press. It would only work for projects that generate tolls or user fees, Holtz-Eaken said, and even then, the plan might reward investors for projects that would have been built anyway.
emphasis added
This merely shows that not all conservatives are completely oblivious to the shortcomings of designing public policy to benefit those that already have, versus the have nots. There’s darned few of them.
Tom Sullivan points to a counter example to California, and how that’s working out.
Meanwhile, in a state whose interstates I try to avoid, they've been trying to find funding to repair crumbling roads for years. Over $1 billion a year will be needed in South Carolina for the next 25 years "to bring the state's existing highway system — the nation's fourth-largest, with 41,400 miles of roadway — up to good condition." But U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley's replacement as South Carolina governor and her former colleagues are unwilling to pay the upkeep through increased taxes or borrowing:
Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Governor Henry McMaster says he will veto any bill approving a gas tax increase on South Carolina drivers.
On Tuesday morning, Gov. McMaster sent a letter to the South Carolina House of Representatives saying:
“I do not believe the answer requires the government to increase taxes on our people or to continue to accommodate the outdated and unaccountable decision-making process imposed and abetted by law, policy and politics through the conflicting interactions of the Department of Transportation, the department’s commission and the State Infrastructure Bank.”
That's Personal Responsibility Party for "I'll veto any bill that doesn't repair state highways with magic beans."
If you want another example of Republican parsimony in action, and the consequences of playing budget games, I wrote about Chris Christie yesterday, and his response to problems with the aging track at Penn Station.
The Christie solution for delayed maintenance and under-funding is — take away even more money. Genius! Christie’s criticisms of Amtrak are all the more outrageous in light of his own stewardship of New Jersey Transit. The once-proud rail system has been in serious decline for the past seven years.
There’s a saying “Taxes are the price we pay for civilization.” What are barbarians famous for doing when a civilization falls? Looting, pillaging, and burning.
That pretty much describes the GOP movement conservative approach to public infrastructure, the public good, and democracy in general. They’re not interesting in governing, only ruling. When they talk about freedom, it’s about increasing the freedom of the rich and powerful to get more of the same from everyone else. Anything they say to the contrary is just a snake oil sales pitch aimed at the rubes.
I think I’ll give Tom Sullivan the last word here.
Our more pedantic conservative friends like to lecture that there's no free lunch, yet govern as if there is. It is as if they are still trying to work out how to get their constituents something without paying for it, even as they vilify the poor they believe do just that. In California, somebody's figured out you get what you pay for.
Undercover Blue 4/08/2017 06:00:00 AM
p.s. For those who think a consumption tax on gasoline is a bad thing because it places more of a burden on people with lower incomes, keep these points in mind:
- Gas prices are historically low — this is the time to raise taxes because the revenue from them that is used to fund public works has failed to keep up with inflation.
- These taxes are going to be used to fund alternatives to driving, and to make driving safer/more efficient. If/when gas prices go up, we should have alternatives ready with the funding from this — otherwise we won’t be able to pay for them when we need them most. Timing is everything.
- Republicans hate to raise taxes — but they are also strongly opposed to raising wages. TANSTAAFL. Cutting taxes is great for the rich — but it doesn’t put all that much more money in your pocket if you don’t have that much to begin with. Raise wages instead.
- Raising taxes on gasoline is a targeted carbon tax in a way. It’s one more incentive to move away from fossil fuels.