EconomyNews
This Rail System Costs Taxpayers $22 Per Passenger
A Minnesota commuter rail line is costing taxpayers approximately $22 per passenger, per trip. “When you’re subsidizing about 80 percent of every trip on the… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Lack of Accountability, Not Funding, Behind DC Metro Failures
After a troubled start to the year, the D.C. region’s Metrorail system has had to take a drastic step. Following a fire that snarled service for… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Not So FAST: 3 Major Problems With the Highway Conference Agreement
Following a lengthy conference meant to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate highway bills, the conference committee released Tuesday its 5-year, $305-billion transportation bill:… Read More
EconomyCommentary
5 Gimmicks in Highway Trust Fund Bailout
On Thursday the Senate sent yet another short term extension of the Highway Trust Fund to the president’s desk (the fourth this year). This latest… Read More
EconomyCommentary
The House Just Passed Another Bailout, This Time for Highways and Transit
Today, the House overwhelmingly passed the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act (STRR) to much fanfare. The six-year, $325-billion bill reauthorizes highway and transit funding… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Senate’s Highway Trust Fund Shenanigans Don’t Add Up
History proves that the U.S. Congress consistently excels in at least one thing: spending other people’s money. Lawmakers regularly budget to spend more than they… Read More
EconomyNews
Temporary Patch Gives Lawmakers More Time to Pass Long-Term Highway Bill
House Republicans introduced legislation late last week to temporarily extend federal transportation funding for three weeks, giving lawmakers more time to work on a long-term… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Another Dud Highway Bill from the House
Today the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee will mark-up their “long-term” highway bill, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform (STRR) Act, with only a week… Read More
EconomyCommentary
How Congress Can Mess Up the Highway Spending Bill
With the threat of a government shutdown largely averted (at least until December), Congress is turning to address other must-pass measures it has skirted this… Read More
LawCommentary
How Will the DOJ Respond if Volkswagen Knowingly Deceived the EPA?
The Environmental Protection Agency recently sent a Notice of Violation to Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., alleging that “VW manufactured and installed [software] in certain… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Congress Should Fix the Broken Highway Trust Fund
After bailing the Highway Trust Fund out (yet again) with $8 billion dollars at the end of July, Congress faces yet another deadline to authorize… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Here’s Congress’s Latest Unbelievable Gimmick
Frustrated voters sometimes denounce their representatives as “good for nothing,” but are they being fair? Consider the budget gimmicks some politicians come up with. When… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Can Uber End Traffic Jams? CEO Has Bold Plan to Overhaul Transportation Industry
Travis Kalanick gave a rare interview in San Francisco this week at the mega Dreamforce conference. Since Uber began getting regularly hammered in the press for… Read More
EconomyNews
House Rejects Senate Highway Plan, Vows to Pass Short-Term Bill Without Saving Export-Import Bank
In a blunt rejection of the Senate’s attempt to enact a longer-term fix for the nation’s roads, rails and bridges, the House of Representatives plans… Read More
EconomyCommentary
The Big-Government Republican Plan to ‘Fix’ Highway Funding
Congress is once again debating a big-government, tax-and-spend bill that fails to fix a problem that’s plagued the federal government for a decade. It’s the… Read More
EconomyCommentary
De Blasio’s Proposed Uber Restrictions Would Have Helped Cabs, Not New Yorkers
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio backed away from his controversial plan to restrict the growth of ridesharing companies in the Big Apple. The… Read More
EconomyNews
How a Transportation Bill Could Revive the Export-Import Bank and Tackle Planned Parenthood
As the Senate prepares to debate legislation addressing the financial future of the Highway Trust Fund, several senators are looking to the bill as a… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Why the Senate Plan to Save the Highway Trust Fund Falls Short
Last week, the House passed an $8-billion bailout of the Highway Trust Fund using gimmicky offsets and tax increases to finance new highway and transit… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Entrepreneurs Are Better Than Government, Even When Building Infrastructure
Some in Washington appear to be convinced that government spending can fix all the world’s ills, from underemployment to human error. Last month’s fatal Amtrak… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Highway Trust Fund ‘Patch’ Uses TSA Fees to Fund Roads (Yes, Seriously)
Today the House will take up a short-term “patch” measure to shore up the Highway Trust Fund, which is set to dip below critical levels… Read More
EconomyNews
Oregon Becomes First State to Try Taxing Drivers By Miles They Drive
Last week, Oregon became the first state in the U.S. to give drivers the option to be taxed by the mile instead of by the… Read More
EconomyNews
Jindal on Highway Trust Fund: I Hope D.C. Will Remember ’10th Amendment’
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal tells The Daily Signal that any renewal of the Highway Trust Fund needs to come without any tax increases. “I don’t… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Time to Get Federal Government Out of Highway Spending Decisions
America’s interstate highway system, which broke ground in 1956 and was completed in the early 1990s, enables us to affordably travel more than 3 trillion… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Let America Fix the Highways Washington Broke
Congress has a particularly bad habit of bailing out federal programs without addressing the underlying problems that caused failure in the first place. This round,… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Why We Can’t Have Nice Highways and Bridges
Every American who buys gasoline pays 18.3 cents per gallon to the federal government’s Highway Trust Fund, which was created in 1956 to pay for… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Lawmakers Had 10 Months to Fix Broken Transportation Funding. They Didn’t Do Anything.
Another day, another punt on important policy matters by members of Congress. Faced with a May 31st deadline, lawmakers’ latest “fix” for highway funding—a two-month… Read More
EconomyNews
Lawmakers Propose Short-Term Extension for Highway Trust Fund
Unlikely to reach an agreement by the end of the month, Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would temporarily… Read More
EconomyNews
House GOP Leader: Gas Tax Hike Not ‘Viable’ to Fund Highways
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy tells The Daily Signal that a short-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund is the likely solution before the measure… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Cartoon: Washington’s Transportation Spending
Heritage’s Michael Sargent wrote about the Highway Transit Fund earlier this week: Transportation funding could hit a dead-end at the end of the month. On… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Ignore Politicians Saying Amtrak Crash Is Proof More Funding Is Needed. We First Need to Know More.
On Tuesday night, an Amtrak train travelling on the Northeast Corridor crashed near Philadelphia, killing at least seven and injuring over 200 others. The tragic derailment… Read More
