Maureen Hayden, writing for CNHI, has an article in the Terre Haute Trib Star, entitled No-tax pledge clouds Indiana’s road funding debate in which Rep. Bob Cherry muses about the impact on Grover Norquist’s no-tax pledge in light of Indiana’s road funding needs. The broken bridge on I-65 is the specific trigger for these thoughts, but Indiana’s overall infrastructure needs are also a concern.
(Note: The Trib Star web page is unpleasant with pop ups and ads and whatnot — I really have to be interested in an article before I click on one.)
Back in 1998, then-candidate Bob Cherry made a promise never to raise taxes.
Seventeen years later, as the state needs billions of dollars to fix its crumbling roads and bridges, the Greenfield lawmaker wonders if it was a mistake.
“How can we make good public policy for the future if we’re tied to the past?” he said.
. . .
Cherry, a vice-chairman of the House’s Ways and Means Committee, said he fears the no-tax pledge will keep the General Assembly from acting on a long-delayed but needed solution.
The article mentions, in addition to the I-65 bridge, that 350 others maintained by the state are deemed structurally deficient. The gas tax, used to fund such repairs, has not been raised since 2002. Inflation and more efficient cars have reduced the amount available even as the infrastructure has continued to age.
Norquist’s no-tax pledge is an anti-government suicide pact. Norquist famously said he wants to shrink government to size where he could drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub. This dysfunctional relationship to government is one thing for an activist and ideologue like Norquist, quite another for lawmakers who have to govern. I’m not thrilled by the prospect of higher taxes. I’m less thrilled by the idea of traffic jams and sketchy bridges.
Another note – The Interim Committee on Roads and Transportation currently has no meetings scheduled. What to do about I-65 specifically and our roads and bridges in particular would be an excellent topic of study.
Maybe this proves that Bob Cherry is a dolt? On second thought, leave the “maybe” out of the last sentence.
Why continue to be beholden to a scam artist like Grover after 17 years. Do the job you were elected to do and be a good steward of the State of Indiana. If it means raising taxes, raise taxes.
Pence, and Cherry and all the politicians of their ilk aren’t stupid (foolish maybe, but not stupid). Sooner or later they should figure out that we have to pay for things and taxes are the way govenrments do that. After 17 years and multiple tax cuts, one should figure out that the magic elf of trickle down economics doesn’t exist.
With respect to Norquist, I think if you really drill down, his position would be that we spend too much on poor people and that the tax money we do take in should be more than enough to spend on the right kinds of government services (those that benefit people who have money).
The politicians who made pledges to Norquist may believe that to a greater or lesser extent but that belief (or lack thereof) is probably incidental. Their primary motivation for making such a pledge is the more pragmatic fact that it helps them get elected and avoid primaries.