Squirrelly Taxes

Congress created the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) in 1956 to fund construction of the Interstate Highway System. The HTF is funded primarily though an 18.4-cent per gallon federal excise tax on gasoline. Funding for the HTF expires May 31, and with the HTF facing a budget shortfall, some in Congress have proposed raising the federal gasoline tax.

Yet more than 25 percent of HTF revenues aren’t even spent on highways. Instead, they’re diverted to subways, streetcars, buses, nature paths, and even squirrel sanctuaries. 

The bottom line? There is never a good time to raise taxes on the American people to fund a broken system in which the federal government no longer has business being involved.