Action Alert: Please Call Your Senators to STOP the Highway Bill
THE COMMON SENSE CITIZENS NETWORK
Fellow Common Sense Citizens:
The Senate Highway Bill (S. 1813) is coming up for a vote early this week. A coalition of conservative free market groups have weighed in on the bill--and the consensus is that this bill must be stopped. The bill hikes spending and pork, raises taxes, centralizes authority, allows for new tolling on roads already paid for and even raises taxes on individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
Club for Growth says:
The Club for Growth urges all Senators to vote "NO" on Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act (S. 1813). The vote on the motion to proceed to the bill is expected to occur on Thursday, February 9. A final vote on passage of this plan, and perhaps procedural votes, will be included in the Club's 2012 Congressional Scorecard.
Just like the House bill, this plan requires politicians and bureaucrats to make decisions that are best left to the individual 50 states. http://www.clubforgrowth.org/perm/?postID=15754
U.S. Senate Switchboard : (202) 224-3121
Continuing to fund programs above dedicated revenue sources will inevitably lead to revenue increases (i.e., tax hikes) or bailouts. And while it does not contain earmarks, MAP-21 would reward states whose congressional delegations were successful in obtaining above-the-line-earmarks in SAFETEA-LU by locking in those higher funding levels. Congress should live within its means, as opposed to perpetuating ever growing albeit somewhat streamlined government, and focus on ways to empower states such as opt-out provisions or devolution. http://heritageaction.com/2012/02/key-vote-alert-%E2%80%9Cno%E2%80%9D-on-the-senate-transportation-bill/
U.S. Senate Switchboard : (202) 224-3121
This week, the U.S. Senate will consider S. 1813, the highway spending reauthorization bill. As part of the mechanism for paying for new federal spending on roads, the bill raises net taxes by $7 billion over the next decade.
S. 1813 is a net tax increase, and support for it would be a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. If the Senate wants to pay for new federal spending on roads, they should do so with spending cuts, not tax hikes.
http://atr.org/senate-highway-bill-violates-taxpayer-protection-a6724
U.S. Senate Switchboard : (202) 224-3121
An amendment to allow tolls on ALL existing interstates in all 50 states is expected to be presented on the floor by Senator Carper of Delaware. Imposing tolls on existing freeways is a massive DOUBLE TAX -- charging motorists an additional tax, a toll, to use what they've already built and paid for!
The current House Bill, HR 7, only bans tolls on existing FEDERAL interstates. It GUTS the ban on imposing tolls on existing STATE highways -- a ban that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison put in place for Texas since 2007. The fate our public freeway system is under attack! http://texasturf.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1274&Itemid=1
U.S. Senate Switchboard : (202) 224-3121
Other articles on the bill:
Town Hall: http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/michaeltanner/2012/02/12/highway_robbery_by_republicans
Redstate:
http://www.redstate.com/dhorowitz3/2012/02/08/alert-senate-republicans-vote-to-raise-taxes-with-highway-bill/
WSJ:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/02/07/senate-highway-bill-would-tap-into-individuals-retirement-money/
