Rush Limbaugh Blames Highway Fund Shortfall on ‘Environmentalist Wackos’
The Highway Trust Fund is about to go broke. The Congressional Budget Office said the fund will need about $8.1 billion to meet it’s obligations through the end of 2014.
The Highway Trust Fund is financed through gas taxes. An excise tax of 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline or 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel generates about $35 Billion in revenue for road construction and other transportation projects.
The problem? The federal government spends about $53 billion on highway and transit projects a year. The shortfall is accounted for by the rate of inflation in the more than 20 years since Congress last raised the gas tax.
Not according to Rush Limbaugh though. He puts the blame squarely on the environmental movement.
“”Why is the trust fund running dry? What kind of incompetence is leading to this? Is this because of the gas tax? Well,” asks Limbaugh, “who’s responsible for gas tax revenues plummeting? I’ll tell you who. The environmentalist wackos. They’re demanding everybody go out and drive these little cheap cars that don’t get any gas mileage so people are buying less gasoline.”
So the next time you are choking on a coal runner’s fumes, according to Limbaugh, you should take a moment to thank the driver for funding the roads on which you drive your Prius.
Eric Trommater July 7th, 2014 at 2:30 pm
Just so this piece will have one comment:
arc99 July 7th, 2014 at 3:06 pm
all I can add is to summarize the message Limbaugh promotes daily
‘ stay stupid my friends ‘
Eric Trommater July 7th, 2014 at 3:21 pm
In all fairness to Rush this wasn’t even the stupidest thing he said that day.
Maxx44 July 7th, 2014 at 3:14 pm
So we should all go out and buy cars that get 8 miles per gallon that pour tons of pollutants into the air so that we have a fully funded highway fund (which BTW, Rush, would increase our reliance on foreign oil)? My god, how much dumber can RWNJs like Limpdick get?
Eric Trommater July 7th, 2014 at 3:19 pm
Why does it seem that every RWNJ solution involves either screwing the poor or increasing our carbon footprint?
m2old4bs July 8th, 2014 at 7:55 am
They are stuck in the dark ages?
arc99 July 7th, 2014 at 3:22 pm
Actually, gasoline usage in terms of number of gallons used was increasingly steadily until around 2007.
The decline is based on a number of factors including an aging population which drives less, the recession which decreased the amount of pleasure driving, and old fashioned free market principles where price increases reduce demand.
I have to think that he knows this. LImbaugh is many things, but he is not stupid. Wish the same could be said of the people who hang on his every word.
Eric Trommater July 7th, 2014 at 3:25 pm
Also building things costs more now than it did in 1993 when they last raised gas taxes.
voice_reason July 7th, 2014 at 4:37 pm
he does not care about the facts, he only cares about what will incite his audience
Eric Trommater July 7th, 2014 at 4:58 pm
. . . and cigars . . . and food . . . . and Viagra . . . and Oxycontin.
voice_reason July 7th, 2014 at 4:37 pm
the stupidity of the people that listen to and believe this jackass amazes me. A a country these dumb asses deserve all that will befall our once great nation if his kind come to complete power
Eric Trommater July 7th, 2014 at 4:56 pm
If his kind ever come to power they will be driven out of power by people even further to the right. It will be an easy takeover, what with Hell having frozen over and the sun rising at night and all.
fahvel July 8th, 2014 at 4:26 am
that’s better
Shades July 7th, 2014 at 4:40 pm
Yeah, because less dependence on foreign oil is a bad thing.
Eric Trommater July 7th, 2014 at 4:53 pm
Well, in Rush’s defense, if you are bought and paid for by the oil companies like he and his GOP cronies are, it probably seems like a bad thing.
fahvel July 8th, 2014 at 4:26 am
not funny
GunTotingLib July 7th, 2014 at 8:32 pm
There is an ounce of fact in there. Because cars get better milage , the government collects less cents per mile of road usage per car that ever before. The answer of course is not to go back to less fuel efficient cars but to sedge up the federal; gas tax which hasn’t increased in 21 years
fahvel July 8th, 2014 at 4:25 am
maybe borrow a tiny bit from the F35 shitbird – and then what ever waste is left, feed a kid – maybe two.
and take a black belching truck – tie limpdick and jones to the yellow line and let em go out in a scream of misery and of course, diesel gooop.