Venango County Tea Party Patriots

A non-partisan, non-profit, non-member, association dedicated to educating the public and promoting the principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free market economics, and all other lawful activities.

infrastructure

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Effort to Tax Cars by the Mile

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) on Thursday introduced a bill that would require the Treasury Department to study the viability of raising new federal highway funds by taxing cars for each mile they drive.

Blumenauer’s bill, H.R. 6662, is a response to dwindling highway funds, which he and other Democrats have said threatens to delay much-needed federal highway projects, and also threatens the creation of infrastructure jobs. Pressure has been building for the last few years to find alternative ways of raising highway funds, as revenues from gasoline taxes have not kept up with demand for new spending.

“We must invest now in our nation’s roads, bridges and public transit to prevent enormous costs in the future,” Blumenauer said Thursday. “With the Highway Trust Fund facing a 21 percent reduction revenue by 2040, based on current driving patterns and projected increases in fuel economy, we need innovative solutions to close this gap.”

Blumenauer says $48 billion has been moved from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund over the last four years, but that the fund needs another $15 billion a year — on top of the gas taxes already collected — just to stay at 2009 funding levels.

Read more.

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PA to Remain Center of Gas Industry

From the Oil City Derrick:

Pa. to remain center of gas drilling, experts say

KEVIN BEGOS
Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Like a runner who’s gotten a big head start in a race, experts say Pennsylvania may be set to dominate natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale region for many years.

The state is a cost-effective place to do business because it already has billions of dollars invested in leases, wells and related infrastructure. And a plunge in wholesale prices has made being thrifty a must for some companies. That deals a potential blow to would-be upstart New York.
Oil and gas analyst Fadel Gheit says he expects Pennsylvania to be the center of activity for the next few years, if not longer.

He says there’s less risk sticking with a state and with regulations they know. He says New York is generally seen as a more liberal state than Pennsylvania and thus more prone to imposing stricter rules on drilling.

http://m.thederrick.com/news/2012-06-04/Marcellus_Shale/Pa_to_remain_center_of_gas_drilling_experts_say.html

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Obama Calls for New $1 Billion Alternative Vehicle Program

President Barack Obama used his visit to a North Carolina truck manufacturer on Wednesday to announce a $1 billion program to promote electric and other alternative vehicles through tax incentives for consumers and federal grants to states to finance infrastructure to support them.

The “National Community Deployment Challenge” includes incentives for individuals and businesses to buy “advanced cars and trucks” through a $10,000 tax credit – up from the $7,500 allowed under current tax law.

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