Trump announced on Monday that he is willing to raise the taxes on gasoline to pay for infrastructure improvements. The Trump priorities come down to giving the richest Americans a tax cut while raising taxes on the fuel that working people use to get to their jobs.
President Donald Trump said he’s willing to raise the U.S. gas tax to fund infrastructure development and called the tax-overhaul plan he released last week the beginning of negotiations.
“It’s something that I would certainly consider,” Trump said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg News in the Oval Office, describing the idea as supported by truckers “if we earmarked money toward the highways.”
The Trump tax plan is estimated to cost $3-$7 trillion over the next decade, with the 51% of the benefits going to top 1% of earners.
The current federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents a gallon. Instead of raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for infrastructure improvements, Trump is going to make everyone else pay for his infrastructure plan while giving the richest Americans the biggest tax cut in history.
Conservatives have argued that raising the gas tax harms middle-income Americans the most, and each one cent raise of the tax takes $1 billion out of the pockets of consumers.
Beyond economic impacts, the basic question is one of fairness and policy priorities. Is it fair that working people should have to pay for infrastructure while the richest Americans get a tax cut? A vast majority of Americans would say no.
Trump’s comments also emphasize the priorities of his administration. Trump’s White House is working for the wealthiest Americans. Trump’s priority is giving people like himself more while taking away from everyone else.
The bottom line is that if Trump gets his way, it will cost you more to go to work because the President and his rich pals want a big tax cut.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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