Bush Opposes Raising Gas Tax for Bridge Repairs

A week after the deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis, President Bush dismissed the idea of raising the federal gasoline tax to repair the structurally deficient bridges across the nation. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers more than 70,000 of the nation's bridges are rated structurally deficient, including the bridge that collapsed over the Mississippi River last week. The group claims that repairing all the bridges would cost at least $9.4 billion a year for 20 years. The Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee proposed a 5-cent increase in the federal gasoline tax to establish a new trust fund for repairing or replacing structurally deficient highway bridges. However, President Bush has sworn to veto any tax increases. To read more check out this article in the New York Times.