Infrastructure needs taxes

We 've seen a deadly collapsed bridge, had pavement-shattering winters, experienced half a century of deferred maintenance. Traffic is many times heavier than road design criteria called for. There 's a price-induced preference for smaller cars, fewer and shorter trips, gas conservation, alternative fuels and public transportation.

We have the lowest fuel price among democracies in a world where only tin-horn dictators and despots subsidize lower fuel prices as a sop to the masses.

Gas taxes pay for transportation infrastructure. What the feds take away, the state must pay. So tell me again why Sen. John McCain 's gas tax "holiday " is good public policy.

-- Harry Miles, Madison

Wasteful SUVs rolling along on our rickety bridges

How much will a gas tax holiday cost the transportation budget? It looks like that would endanger the repair of the nation 's highway infrastructure, especially upgrading aging bridges, so SUV drivers can keep going their merry, wasteful way.

-- Clifford Voegeli, Madison

Try an excess profits tax

Have the Democrats joined the Republicans in borrow and spend, and let the grandchildren pay for it? The last thing we need is a gas tax holiday.

High gas prices are finally persuading more people to drive less; why try to reverse that? Instead, let 's designate a major part of the gas tax for developing alternate energy sources. That makes some sense.

What is needed is an excess profits tax on the oil companies. I suggest that any profits a company makes over a billion dollars a year should be taxed at least at the 75 percent level.

That would reduce the power of corporations over our society, and would also provide some money to pay for what our government is not doing to support the ongoing killing in Iraq.

-- Roy U. Schenk, Madison

Plan saves little while cutting highway funds

Sen. John McCain 's proposal for a federal gas tax holiday from Memorial Day through Labor Day, now supported by Sen. Hillary Clinton, brings two things to mind.

McCain is clueless about the effect of the tax holiday, which will save the typical consumer $28 through the three months but will leave a $10 billion hole in the federal highway trust fund. McCain says that can be made up by cuts elsewhere.

We have the biggest federal deficit ever, crumbling roads and a federal passenger rail system that has to fight for funds each year -- and these two clowns want to cut taxes more?

Hillary Clinton 's support of this plan is nothing short of more pandering for votes. But her support no doubt comes on the heels of threats of more sniper fire.

The U.S. road system is in horrible condition, as the bridge collapse in the Twin Cities so well displayed. Yet we will short the federal highway trust $10 billion to look good to the voters. In the world of grand delusion that both McCain and Clinton reside in, that half-baked plan probably makes sense to them.

America would be best served if neither of these two pandering buffoons had to worry about the 3 a.m. phone call. To his credit, Sen. Barack Obama is opposed to the tax holiday but probably will never fully explain why he 's against it, other than because Clinton and McCain support it.

-- Kim Tschudy, New Glarus

Makes no sense to subsidize gas use

Sen. John McCain said earlier that he didn 't know much about economics, and his gas tax holiday proposal proves he was telling us the truth. Sen. Hillary Clinton is endorsing his plan and compounding the error by adding a tax on oil company profits to offset the revenue loss.

The basic problem is not that gasoline prices are too high in the U.S. (they are low compared to most of the industrial world), but that demand is rising faster than supply. Suspending the tax will do nothing to expand the supply and would aggravate the problem of excess demand.

A question during an early Democratic debate was "what would you do about the high gasoline prices? " The candidates all gave some variation of the same reply: Hold Congressional hearings, investigate "big oil " for price gouging, etc. Only Mike Gravel of Alaska showed that he understood the issue. He stunned everyone with his answer -- he would raise the gas tax.

What sense would it make to in effect subsidize gasoline consumption when we are importing oil from our enemies and trying to deal with climate change?

-- Jim Blair, Madison

Need realistic way to fund road system

When autos got around 15 miles per gallon, a tax of 30 cents per gallon produced revenue of 2 cents per vehicle mile. This revenue was reserved and used to improve the nation 's transportation systems, i.e., to benefit the road-user who paid this special tax.

This concept of trust fund financing to build and maintain the nation 's transportation systems is no longer feasible. To generate revenue equal to 2 cents per vehicle mile, the gas tax would have to be increased to at least 70 cents per gallon in addition to the ongoing cost of refined fuels, distribution and a margin of profit.

And politicians would have to restore the concept of cost indexing and quit robbing transportation trust funds for other uses.

On the other hand, if we recognize the value of efficient transportation, particularly our highways, we should be willing to pay what they cost to build and operate. We shouldn 't expect highway users to pay all the costs; hikers, bikers, recreational vehicles and farm machinery should all pay a fair share.

And most importantly, the public should match the funds obtained from road users via the gas tax, vehicle registrations, and related special forms of taxation. This could be a uniform sales tax with exceptions for necessities, toll roads, an income surtax or some form of "transaction tax. "

Regardless, it 's time to stop the decay of our nation 's transportation systems.

-- Walt Hannan, Livingston

Need smarter pols, not gas tax holiday

The last thing we need is to stop paying the tax that funds our roads and bridges. Besides the thousands of jobs we would lose, we would fall father behind on the repairs we desperately need.

Why can 't we reign in the rich oil barons and the fat cats who sit at the top of all the companies? Why are we paying $4 a gallon and they have record profits?

Is it because in reality they control our elected politicians, like McClain, who is trying to put a useless Band-Aid over a very serious problem?

Or how about our governor, who has raided the road building fund and never put it back to the tune of $1.2 billion in his last two budget repairs? What 's wrong with balancing the budget, spending what you have not what you don 't have?

We need to make politicians accountable for their actions. Say no to a gas tax cut and yes to balance the budget.

-- Patrick Walsh, Sun Prairie

Cheaper gas won 't make us conserve

We can 't afford a gas tax holiday! Don 't get me wrong -- I yearn to see the price of fuel reduced. However, 18 to 24 cents per gallon is not going to help me out.

The present price of fuel doesn 't seem to affect how people drive. Reducing the gas tax certainly isn 't going to cause us to conserve. If anything, the opposite would be true.

There are plenty of ways we could conserve, such as car-pooling to work, combining trips, walking, riding a bike, students taking the bus, driving slower etc. Choosing one or more of these conservation measures will save fuel, which will ultimately reduce the amount of money collected for gas taxes which affects the amount of money available for highways.

However, as opposed to a tax holiday, these conservation measures will mean less vehicle miles of travel, and that could mean less money needs to be spent on infrastructure.

Finally, we need to maintain our highways. Wisconsin and other states have had a winter that 's been very hard on the roads. Regardless of how we feel about paying taxes, we need that money for our transportation system.

-- Wesley Geringer, Black Earth

Tax holiday a joke - improve gas mileage

A gas tax holiday? It 's almost a joke. Why not get serious about gas mileage?

Discourage buying vehicles which get poor mileage by increasing registration fees on new gas guzzlers. Restrict their speed on the highways to 55 mph. When you see a dealership with Escalades and Hummers for sale, don 't you see something wrong?

If our corn-based ethanol system is a success, let 's remove the subsidies. All we are doing is turning oil into ethanol with little efficiency and added damage to our environment. I doubt agriculture equipment matches the emission levels of our cars.

Europe uses diesel cars that get 45 to 70 mpg; we think you should convert oil to E-85 then put it into a SUV and get 13 mpg.

-- Phil Fransen, Belleville

Government can 't run like a business

I recall when the Republican-led state Legislature bandied about the idea of repealing the gas tax for awhile. Now GOP presidential candidate John McCain has added his name to this bone-head idea.

The savings to you and I will be small, while already underfunded infrastructure projects get fewer funds.

Politicians in general, and the GOP in particular, think the answer to everything is to cut taxes, services and programs. They like to remind us that government should run like a business.

Business has the luxury of choosing which products and services they wish to provide, and they can raise prices when costs go up.

Government must serve all the people. As Americans, it 's what we all have in common. Regardless of race, creed, gender or economic means, the government serves all of its people for the common good. It cannot, like business can, preserve the right to refuse to serve anyone.

And because government gets income from taxes, it needs to raise those when costs go up. In business terms, taxes need to be seen as investments and not a way to gut transportation needs and education.

What we need is a return to common sense and a fair, progressive tax system. Business needs to pay its fair share and loop holes need to be closed. While there is wasteful spending, taxes need to be fairer.

-- Robert Montgomery, Madison