People are not going to be happy about this, especially voters.
President Trump has apparently endorsed a gas tax hike to pay for his newly proposed infrastructure plan.
Jonathan Swan of Axios reports:
President Trump endorsed a 25-cent gas tax hike to pay for infrastructure at a White House meeting this morning with senior administration officials and members of Congress from both parties, according to two sources with direct knowledge. Trump also said he was open to other ways to pay for infrastructure, according to a source with direct knowledge.
Scoop: Trump endorses 25-cent gas tax hikehttps://t.co/Apg9o9Kypx pic.twitter.com/SPmcv8T0c8
— Axios (@axios) February 14, 2018
Swan points out that such a tax hike will never ever make it through a Republican Congress, which remains adamantly opposed to a hike in the gas tax.
Here’s the thing about the gas tax. In theory, it should be raised to finance the construction of new highways and byways. But the tax hits the working poor the most, especially in rural areas. That’s Trump’s voter base. Enacting such a tax would hurt the hardscrabble dad praying his rattle-trap makes it work one last time while on empty. It would hurt the single mom who can’t afford to drive to the store for diapers.
From the macro-economic perspective, if you want to encourage public transportation, or make the public pay a cost for new roads and highways, a gas tax hike makes sense. Unfortunately, it would hurt the very people Trump needs the most in order to win in 2020.
A reminder: Trump floated a 50-cent increase in the gas tax a few weeks ago. GOP leaders rejected any increase at the time. https://t.co/E6ogibVFZg
— Damian Paletta (@damianpaletta) February 14, 2018
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