Republicans' Potholed Pathway
In a sign of how different these times are, not only is bipartisan support for infrastructure investment far from forthcoming, Rep. Paul Ryan’s new budget significantly cuts transportation funding.
According to the Senate Budget Committee’s analysis of the Ryan budget “… would cut funding for transportation projects next year by $51 billion…and a total of $167.5 billion from federal transportation programs over the next decade if no additional revenue is identified.
Roll Call points out that the budget “…also suggests a pilot program to allow states to opt out of the federal motor fuels taxes and funding programs entirely and pay for transportation projects strictly with state revenue.”
Rep. Ryan calls his plan a “Pathway to Prosperity.” All’s I can say is that if you’re driving down that pathway, you’d better have some serious shock absorbers because that path is fraught with deep, deep potholes.
~From Jared Bernstein's On The Economy blog
Jared Bernstein is a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
