McCain Gas Tax Proposal: $32M Cut to NH Highway Funds Plus 25% Cut to Local Road Budgets
Unfunded election-year tax gimmicks + cuts to NH funding = Bush-style economics
 "Economics is something I never really fully understood . . ." - John McCain, December
 

(Concord)  -  Sen. John McCain's proposal to suspend the gas tax in an election year would cost New Hampshire $32 million in lost federal highway funds, which are used to  modernize, repair and maintain our highways and keep roads and bridges safe for families. 

  
Unlike other proposals to replace the funding with a windfall tax on extreme oil company profits, McCain has offered no plan to replace this funding - meaning that either highway and road improvement would slow dramatically, New Hampshire taxpayers would be stuck with the bill for this proposal, or it would add $10 billion to the national deficit.

"Cheering on George Bush's disastrous plan for the Iraq war was bad enough, but now John McCain has adopted his economic policies as well," said NH Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley.  "After eight years of George Bush, New Hampshire has had enough of these fiscally-irresponsible tax gimmicks that result in either higher local taxes, deeper national recession, or both."

Since 1956, gas tax funds have been specifically dedicated road expansion, modernization, and safety efforts by local and state governments.

To make matters worse, in 2005 John McCain was one of only four US Senators to vote against the 2005 national transportation funding bill, designed to modernize and expand roads and highways and ensure bridge safety.

"When you discover that McCain voted against our highway funding in the first place, and now is proposing that we shut down the funds we get for road and bridge repair, you have to wonder," said Buckley. "I know he said recently that he doesn't really understand economics, but taking lessons from George Bush is not the answer."

THE FACTS:

Bill to NH: $32M.  According to data from the Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration, New Hampshire receives an estimated $32,634,817 through gas tax proceeds between Memorial Day and Labor Day. [American Road and Transportation Builders Association. www.artba.org/gastax.htm]

Soaring Deficits.  According to the Boston Globe, McCain's Gas Tax 'Holiday' would "push the projected $410 billion federal budget deficit this year past the record $413 billion deficit of 2004. The trust fund, which pays for road and bridge construction and repairs all over the country, would lose about $10 billion, turning a projected surplus this year into about a $7 billion deficit."  [The Boston Globe, 4/16/2008]

2005: McCain votes against transportation bill.  In 2005, McCain was one of only 4 Senators to vote against the Transportation Bill, which Bush praised as allowing "the United States to modernize highways and roads in a fiscally responsible manner" and ensuring the US has the "most efficient, reliable transportation system in the world."  [Washington Post 8/11/05, Senate Vote 220 7/29/2005]