Page 22 - User Fee News Today

Well. >> the hitch with that one, though, thats everybody that comes over the border. thats not mexico paying for the wall, thats anyone who crosses the border. hor would you set something up where it was only mexican citizens that were paying that tax. >> well, probably have to do it in a way that everybody pays the sort of tax when it comes to the border. that wouldnt necessarily be a bad way to fund it. because you know, its sort of like a user fee, youre using the border and you pay for the ...

Substantially. the president-elect donald trump has talked about tax credits which i think are valuable. but i dont think that would be the entire bill. i think well have to pay for a substantial part of this bill, yes. >> substantial part but not all of it? >> well, well see. were talking about a tax reform as well. talking about using some repatriated funds, perhaps revenues from drilling offshore and perhaps, you know, i think even the user fee can be on the table. so there are a lot of thing...

I think its important. but i think we should pay for it substantially. the president-elect donald trump has talked about tax credits which i think are valuable. but i dont think that would be the entire bill. i think well have to pay for a substantial part of this bill, yes. >> substantial part but not all of it? >> well, well see. were talking about a tax reform as well. talking about using some repatriated funds, perhaps revenues from drilling offshore and perhaps, you know, i think even the u...

Infrastructure projects and give investors an 80 plus percent tax credit for their investment in these projects. anytime you have a private investor, paying for public infrastructure, it means that they have to get a return on their investment. so you have to go to a toll road or something else that spins off a user fee. so this is the privatization of public infrastructure, a terrible idea. >> for profit, for profit. >> exactly. wasting these tax credits on investors who frankly they dont need ...

>> bob corker has a proposal out there. others have suggestions as well. we appreciate the fact that weve got solutions that are being put forward. i dont think we take anything off the table at this point. i think its important to recognize we have a problem, an issue we need a solution for. and we need to look at all the possible, you know, ways out there in which we can address the challenge and address the problem. thats one proposal thats out there. bob corker has been taking a strong stand...

There. others have suggestions as well. we appreciate the fact that weve got solutions that are being put forward. i dont think we take anything off the table at this point. i think its important to recognize we have a problem, an issue we need a solution for. and we need to look at all the possible, you know, ways out there in which we can address the challenge and address the problem. thats one proposal thats out there. bob corker has been taking a strong stand on that issue. >> one final ques...

>> so how did republicans who had signed grover norquists pledge never to raise taxes in any form get away with doing this? well, it was only one way. grover norquist helped them get away with it. he let them off on a technicality. grover said at the time, by far the worst element of the bipartisan budget act of 2013 as the per ticket airline fee hike that goes to the transportation security agency, the bill, however, structures the tsa ticket fee not as a tax but as an offsetting receipt to pay...

Cbos scoring methodology is gimmicky and does not hold up to strict scrutiny as a serious policy initiative. and i thought grover was all about strict. but even though grover didnt like it, he didnt fight it. he did not call it a tax even though it is. he went along with republicans pretending its a user fee. that is a fee collected on each airplane ticket simply to cover the costs of running the tsa budget and running those airlines with the tsa security in effect. the trouble with that and gro...

It took him a while to get into it. we have to keep him up there. be a builder. be robert moses. do something. >> absolutely. the chamber of commerce and the aflcio that could barely agree today is tuesday agreed to raise the gas tax. it was last increased 21 years ago. does anybody think they could have gone 21 yeas without a raise in income or supplements? you couldnt do it. the gas tax is now worth 11 centses in 1993 dollars. its going down, down, down. its a user fee. the best way to pay for...

Or theres something in the senate that has to do with a fund for coal miners who are owed payments. they want to use this for that. republicans previously proposed to use this to repeal the medical device task. >> the underlying thing is we havent raised the gas tax. that strikes me as -- there are arguments against the gas tax and arguments on distributional equity in terms of who gets hit by a gas tax. that, to me, is the problem. >> right. so given we havent raised the gas tax in 21 years, it...