Commentator Hugh Hewitt’s conservative bona fides are second to none. So when someone like him encourages President Trump to push for a large increase in the federal gasoline tax, it’s worth a look.
Hewitt wrote in The Washington Post last week that a 50-cent increase in the federal gasoline tax would hit drivers hard, but it would unlock — and pay for — numerous benefits.
“In contrast to a ‘border adjustment tax’ that few support and fewer understand, a hike in the federal gas tax could be easily explained to voters as the price of three distinct goals: infrastructure investments, the building of the Trump-promised 350-ship Navy and tax reform that ignites broad and sustained economic growth,” he wrote.
“If a half-a-buck-a-gallon hike brought in $100 billion in revenue annually, it could be coupled with a cut in the corporate rate; repeal of the military-crippling sequester and a real increase in defense spending (especially on the Navy fleet); a dip in marginal income-tax rates; and, crucially, a boost in local infrastructure spending.
“Trump can sell a gas tax hike that does these things because it makes sense and because all drivers will pay it. A ‘rebuild the fleet’ tax would have deep appeal even to those patriots who might otherwise reject raising any federal tax but who understand how damaging the Obama-era sequester has been to the ability of the United States to answer the calls upon it,” Hewitt added.
In all honesty, Hewitt sounds a bit too optimistic. He thinks Congress could agree to increase the gas tax “if ideologues of both left and right are pushed aside for the common good.” That’s a tall order, to say the least, given the hyper-partisanship that has been the hallmark of the legislative branch for the past two decades.
Of course, Congress could accomplish the same thing — finding an extra $100 billion — by focusing on its spending side. That $100 billion is only 2.5 percent of the government’s $4 trillion annual budget, but who wants to bet that Congress could agree on cutting that much money from existing programs? They’d probably fight to the death over cutting just $10 million.
There are two main reasons Hewitt’s idea remains a fantasy: Republicans are not supposed to support tax increases for any reason. And Democrats, who believe the 2016 presidential election got stolen from them, are not supposed to work with majority Republicans on anything.
So while Congress fiddles, our roads, bridges, water lines and sewer systems continue to deteriorate; our high corporate tax rates make us less competitive with other nations; and Trump’s promise to add 75 ships to the U.S. Navy has virtually no chance of happening.
Congress should stop fiddling and find the infrastructure money. If it can do it by cutting spending, fine; but if not, then it’s time to make the case that higher gasoline taxes, coupled with infrastructure upgrades and comprehensive tax reform, would kick-start the economy and would be good for the country.
A similar argument, by the way, can be made about Mississippi’s occasional discussion to improve highways by raising its own gas tax, which has been at the same rate for 30 years.
