Federal Gasoline Tax vs Toll Roads

We are going to hear the words highway infrastructure, broken bridges, and such like coming out of Washington loud and clear right shortly!   Obamanation is already floating balloons on the topic. Can GOP balloons or Dim balloons be far behind?

Background - we been paying federal taxes on gasoline at the pump since 1933. Most of it went into the Highway Fund for road work and repairs - but much went into the general fund (read -rat hole) or to pay down the federal debt (we see how well that worked out).

The biggest incremental raise to the tax came in after the Interstate highway system was built in the Fifties... for their capitalization and maintenance.  Long story short, the original one cent tax imposed in 1933 has been raised and raised to it's current 18.4 cents on every gallon of gasoline sold in the USA on any given day...   

Now, the socialist in chief in the Oval Office ... is suggesting that in addition to these gas taxes at the pump..... we turn the national interstate system into toll roads!!    

Think about that for a minute....

When I was on my way to England in the mid-fifties, I drove down the New York State Thruway -- paying tolls from Buffalo to New Jersey to pay for a four lane limited access highway - two lanes in each direction. I drove on that same highway a few years ago, and much of it's length, outside of the cities,  it is still four lanes.

So..... where does all the money go? Not all of it, but a heck of a lot of it goes to pay the wages, salaries, benefits, and perks of those dudes who sit in the booths and collect the tolls, and their bosses and secretaries and such like... not to mention the thousands now collecting their retirement checks all these years, and their children who are as well.    

Okay - back to BHO's proposition about toll roads instead of increasing the gas tax at the pump.  A tax at the pump is paid electronically, requires nobody in uniform to collect three shifts per day, 24/7.  No long lines and traffic jams at on ramps and off ramps.  Most economical way to raise federal highway money there is. So why would this administration start pushing for hiring thousands of new toll collectors across the nation?  

Can you say 'new union members', Pilgrims?  Thousands and thousands of new federal/state employees to help fill the roles depleted from the union roles these last few years....  That's my best guess!

As deep throat said so wisely fifty years ago -- follow the money!!