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OBERSTAR: “GOD HELP YOU” IF YOU DON’T SUPPORT GAS TAX INCREASE
By Michael B. Brodkorb | August 10, 2007
Congressman Jim Obserstar, who serves as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, proposed legislation on Wednesday that would raise the federal gas tax by 5 cents.
During the press conference on Wednesday, Oberstar lectured people who may not support a 5 cent gas-tax increase. Please watch the video clip below.
I want to thank the dedicated reader of Minnesota Democrats Exposed who sent me this clip.
Topics: YouTube | 44 Comments »
44 Responses to “OBERSTAR: “GOD HELP YOU” IF YOU DON’T SUPPORT GAS TAX INCREASE”
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August 10th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Looks like Tim Pawlenty doesn’t need any help
August 10th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Why do you always look for more instead of using what you got. Politicians have wasted so much money over the years and its their fault you want to raise taxes.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
God Help You, God help You? This from a man who voted against the FISA bill last week. This is just amazing folks. Talk about a political hack, even Waltz voted for the FISA bill. I thing the reauthorization of the FISA bill will do more in keeping my family safe then a new gas tax.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
This is not meant to be a dig, just a very sincere comment. I think all Minnesotans should be very happy to have the absurd power we have at the federal level on transportation issues and we have that power because of Jim Oberstar. No matter your political views I would hope that people could at least recognize how invaluable a resource this man is right now. Clearly that doesn’t mean you have to support him or vote for him, but, jeez, is it nice to have the chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in our corner right now.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
God help you if you get between Jeff Fecke and a lunch buffet.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Matt, if he’s such a great resource, why did he come here last year and threaten that we wouldn’t get transportation money unless we raised the gas tax? Shouldn’t he be able to get it for us anyway? If he is as powerful as alleged he should be able to.
Really, Oberstar has come through this as the most pompus, arrogant politician of all of them. The very next day he held a press conference blasting the Bush administration for underfunding infrastructure, somehow forgetting that it is Congress which appropriates money. He sits there on his high horse giving orders, but really, has no more connection to Minnesota anymore than Kevin Sorbo.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
I’m sure all of the road construction companies just sent Oberstar a few more contributions.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
I thought the increase of the gas tax in 1993 under Clinton regime was suppose to pay for all these new bridges and roads we never got.
Regardless – it’s always the same. No matter what happens more taxpayer money will always fix the problem. What we never see is an accounting for the tax money already being collected. How much gasoline tax money is being directed toward road construction and maintenance? How much money is diverted for other transportation schemes, and how many citizens benefit, as compared to money spent on roads? And, why does any gasoline tax money need to go to the feds at all as opposed to the state? Keeping gasoline tax money in the respective states would be one less kitty for the elected financial whores in Washington to raid for pet projects.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
On the other hand, state gas tax money has to go to roads and bridges, not social programs, kids, but roads and bridges. You can call it wasteful big government, kiddos, but the fact remains that the state has to upkeep roads.
Motorists should not have to ‘haul themselves up by their bootstraps’, get out of their cars, and repair the bridges themselves. That is the government’s job. And its better than them having to haul themselves up out of the Mississippi.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Ulysses now that the DFL and the liberals helped puch the new law through that money would fall under the “transit” money which is worded as no MORE than 60% to roads and bridges and no LESS than 40% for mass transit.
Just think of all the roads and bridges that could be built or repaired if we just stopped making any more light rail lines!!
August 10th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
DFL also pushed through a $20 million windfall bonus in transit funding this year. That woulda fixed some bridges I bet.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
What a dusche bag.
August 10th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Want an example of Oberstar’s ineffectiveness? Read this, from a town in his own district.
http://www.ecmpostreview.com/2007/August/8MaryHelenSwanson.html
He’s been involved with the county on several occassions to provide federal help, but after 10 years…nothing.
Maybe we should start labeling legislators they way they label bridges.
Oberstar – Functionally obsolete.
August 10th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
[...] August 10th, 2007 • 4:56 pmFisked By The Best Jim Oberstar tried pushing a gas tax increase by saying “God help you” if you don’t support a gas tax increase. He shouldn’t have done that because that got Michael Brodkorb’s dander up. The last thing a liberal should do is say anything that gets Michael’s investigative juices flowing. This post should be all the proof you need to trust me on that: Congressman Jim Oberstar, who is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, did a great job of leading the charge and getting the 35-W bride repair relief package passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislative process worked and every Minnesotan should be proud of how Minnesota’s congressional delegation responded to this tragedy. [...]
August 10th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Conservatives, well, make that some conservatives love to use transit as the transportation punching bag and while I definitely think it is a point worth debating, I’m not sure you guys want to get into that debate. First of all, as I’m sure all of you realize, roads are far more heavily subsidized by the government than light rail is. Whereas light rail has the direct fee in the form of the ticket, roads have the gas tax as a direct fee on using roads. BUT the gas tax pays a much small proportion of the total roads cost than do the light rail tickets. Just an initial point to keep in mind.
The main area where the anti-transit arguments fall apart, however, is where one looks at their overall affect on roads. As I’m sure all of you agree that everyone has to get to work somehow, I’m sure that we can subsequently agree that if transit is eliminated those individuals will be in cars on roads. Now, buses and (especially) rail are much higher density conduits; meaning that they can move many more people per square foot than can cars. Moreover, even light rail carries far more people per square foot of rail than do highways per square foot of road (all per hour) at any time of the day. So, light rail can relieve more traffic and congestion than can a whole new lane of highway.
Obviously this can only hold true in areas where light rail or bus (or whatever mode of transit) is used at a capacity that removes more drivers from the road than would use another lane of highway. So, high density urban areas are going to be the most prime suspects for light rail. Therefore, light rail clearly does not and can not replace roads in any significant manner; they can only supplement roads.
But if we’re talking about 35W, which, come on, we are, we’re talking about one of the most ideal supplement situations. The Hiawatha line runs at full capacity during rush hours (and most hours of the day) and this directly (it’s been measured by MNDoT) relieves traffic from 35W (and, obviously, other roads but 35W is the biggest benefactor). So, because of light rail the 35W bridge was carrying significantly fewer cars a day than it would without rail; it’s simply a fact. And, returning to my first point, it was doing so at a cost to the tax payer (over the life of the system) of much less per rider than an expansion of the artery would have cost.
Now, clearly, the light rail is not a repair mechanism. That is, no one in their right mind would argue that building the light rail was an effective way to deal with the disrepair of the bridge. But it is a more effective way to deal with a growing population and a cost effective way at that. So, my large point is that the light rail actually (relatively) frees up more transportation money than would building more lanes onto 35W. Which means that the most cost effective way to deal with these situations is to support the light rail while dedicating supplemental revenue to the repair and maintenance of the roads. Although the option you all are advocating is also an option, I suppose: scrap light rail, move the money to roads, and deal with massive congestion.
August 10th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
[...] As those who read this blog with regularity likely know, I sometimes get really long-winded in the comments. Someone will say something that simply gets the cogs moving in my head at a speed that produces a massive block of text. This happened just now over at MDE in a discussion on his post about Oberstar and it became long enough that I felt bad abandoning it in such an unsavory place. So, here are my babbling thoughts on the conservative attack on transit. I hope that here, at least, it will promote a more thoughtful discussion in the comments than it will over at MDE: [...]
August 10th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
“But it is a more effective way to deal with a growing population and a cost effective way at that.”
First I point out the Matt is talking out of his ass (a-gain).
Then I prove it:
http://restraininorder.blogspot.com/2007/05/oh-hell-yeah-we-want-that.html
“Earlier this month, the mayors of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton held a press conference with Gov. Ed Rendell about the state’s mass transit funding crisis.”
“It’s not just about the mismanaged money pit serving Philadelphia known as SEPTA. It’s about well-run but financially stressed local transit authorities like LANTA, which serves Lehigh and Northampton counties.”
“Before last year’s general election, there were rumors that Gov. Rendell would call for a higher gasoline tax to bail out SEPTA. Instead, the bipartisan Transportation
Funding and Reform Commission released a report after the election that detailed
a much bigger problem.”
“It’s a $1.7 billion annual funding shortfall — $965 million for roads and bridges, $760 million for mass transit.”
Chicago has lots of transit too:
“Huberman said the CTA would still have to divert $56.9 million in federal funds intended to pay for CTA maintenance, repairs and construction to pay everyday operating bills. The CTA is trying to close a $110 million budget gap.”
San Francisco Bay area LOVES it’s transit too:
“Dozens of angry commuters Thursday denounced BART’s proposal to raise fares and lay off station agents to cut a $51 million deficit, but some thought a plan to charge as much as $5 for parking was a good idea.”
Keep yapping, moonbat.
August 10th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
So the DFL is blaming Pawlenty for the bridge collapse because he didn’t support a gas tax increase. Now, MNPublius is calling for more transit. For the last decade or more, DFLers in the legislature have all been pushing for more transit while our roads and bridges fall further behind. I’m excited about this debate coming up in the special session: more taxes vs. transit spending. I know where most Minnesotans are on this issue and they aren’t with the DFL.
August 10th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
The “transit” system is 100 percent subsidized. Rider fairs don’t even pay for the gasoline sucked down by buses. Time to make bus riders pay the full cost of buses. … Hell, I think I read somewhere it would be cheaper to buy all bus riders a car and pay for their gasoline than it is to continue running Metro Area Transit.
Shut that union fuck-around shop down.
August 10th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
“Shut that union fuck-around shop down.”
Dead-on, 100% correct.
The main problem with any public operation, transit, health care, education, whatever, is that unions, like locusts on a corn field, quickly infest the workforce…usually with the help of the Democrats in government.
Once you have a union infestation there is usually no option but to “burn the field” and start again from scratch.
August 10th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
1/5 of last years federal highway budget was siphoned off for bike paths,bridges to no where and mass transit. The Minnesota delegation had 140 earmarks that added up to 1/2 a billion dollars. God help you Jim Oberstar, you hypocrite. You don’t possess any virtues or beliefs that makes you a statesman.
August 10th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
“So, light rail can relieve more traffic and congestion than can a whole new lane of highway.”
I know Matt probably didn’t have his driver’s license yet, but I am undoubtedly one of many
who blissfully enjoyed my commute during the
transit strike 3 and a half years ago, despite
the dire predictions of impending apocalypse, traffic was flowing so well the union boys had to back down, once it was becoming glaringly obvious what a boondoggle mass transit is in the Metro.
“So, because of light rail the 35W bridge was carrying significantly fewer cars a day than it would without rail; it’s simply a fact.”
Just because you wish something was true doesn’t
make it so…Just because your Daddy staked you
start-up $s for your blog doesn’t mean anyone should take you seriously.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Bumnut-
The bus system has been plagued for years by the Met Council’s mismanagement. They have cut routes and jacked up fares, so when you pull shit like that how do you expect the system to grow by leaps and bounds?
August 10th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Shitsy,
‘Once you have a union infestation there is usually no option but to “burn the field†and start again from scratch.’
Yep, who needs 8 hour days, minimum wages, child labor laws, and health and safety standards? We should all bow down before that blowhard in Utah who dispite mulitiple safety violations and the fact that his workforce is non-Union, he still blames the Union for causing the mine collapse. The lack thing we need is millionares with gigantic egos who don’t give a shit about their employees and many times even the product they produce, running our public infrastructure. It’s akin to giving Molnau a $100 million buy-out right now.
August 11th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Matt, #15,
“Moreover, even light rail carries far more people per square foot of rail than do highways per square foot of road (all per hour) at any time of the day.”
“Obviously this can only hold true in areas where light rail or bus (or whatever mode of transit) is used at a capacity that removes more drivers from the road than would use another lane of highway.”
Don’t the two sentences above contradict each other?
“The Hiawatha line …[running at full capacity] … directly (it’s been measured by MNDoT) relieves traffic from 35W”
Please direct us to the MNDOT study that most persuaded you of this.
August 11th, 2007 at 11:06 am
I think it’s cheesy of Oberstar to propose at this time a federal gas tax. I agree with Bush priorities must be set by the Transportation committee Oberstar chairs – the committee obviously failed to do that adequately up to now.
August 11th, 2007 at 11:39 am
I think all the dumb asses who voted for Bush should pay an “OOPS FEE.” That’ll help pay for our infrastructure and we can start in this state since we have a Neocon cult living amongst us…
August 11th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Metro Transit can’t deliver a good product for a good price. It should be shut the fuck down. It’s poorly managed, and driven by DFL union fucks.
When the bastards go on strike, traffic congestion decreases. Mass Transit is a worthless, broken experiment.
Unions do nothing good for anyone in this day and age. They destroy businesses, drive costs up and deliver no benefits to anyone. There’s a reason why union membership is down to 11 percent of the workforce. And there’s a reason why 65 percent of them are DFL cronies working in for the government. Unions are shit.
And MNbluestatebitch, fuck you. You and your lying coward, socialist, anti-American buddies should leave the damn country if you don’t like freedom and liberty. cow.
August 11th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I am just amazed at how quickly congress can act when somthing high profile happens that forces their hand instead of the business as usual politcal posturing we normally have to put up with.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Oberstar You Fu-(loud sounds of sharpening pitchforks drown out the apt description of this idiotic socialist squirrel)ride you out on a rail!
http://www.grizzlygroundswell.com
August 11th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Mr. Oberstar:
Please stop preaching to us about how we all need to raise the gas tax. Deliver a safe bridge at Stillwater. It has been caught for twenty years in red tape. I like bike trails too, but the bridge has killed three people in the last year. Your buddies at the Sierra Club, who are suing you again to keep it from being built, need to go away. Please do something.
August 11th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
MNblue,
It’s been stated here a couple of times that you are just too stupid to be a real poster. Just in case you aren’t a “bit”, the gas tax would be one of the only taxes that affect you since it’s obvious that you have to be in the lowest 10% of wage earners and pay no income taxes. I would think you would want to hold onto the little you have and avoid a tax that you actually have to pay. This would be a very regressive tax and would affect the people who can afford it the least, like yourself.
On another note, instead of parroting liberal talking points, you throw out a lefty buzz words here and there. It’s like you have tourettes or something and it’s uncontrollable. If you are indeed real. I almost feel embarrassed for you.
August 11th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Hey MNBluestategal,
You know what I think, I think your mother should have held her water and drowned you.
August 11th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
As for the Light Rail relieving traffic on the 35W bridge, where are the facts to back that up? The 35W bridge serves people going NORTH out of downtown, while the Hiawatha Light Rail line serves people going SOUTH out of downtown. I know when I leave downtown for Bloomington the first thing I do is head north on 35W. That is like saying that the new 212 in Eden Prairie is going to relieve traffic in Roseville.
As for LRT, per square foot yes it can carry more people per hour. But, there is also a point of diminishing return. Put in too many stops, the time advantage quickly decreases. Put in too few stops, ridership suffers. Also, depending on if it pre-empts traffic is also an important factor. The Hiawatha line through downtown is slow as it has to wait for the lights just like the cars and buses. After the Metrodome station, it is great until it hits Bloomington at which point the turns, lights, and stations make it slow.
As for buses, they use roads that are not figured into the cost of operating the buses. Since the buses do not pay taxes, they do not contribute to the maintenance of the roads and bridges, but they sure use them.
While I am a user of transit, it is still not the most efficient means of transportation. It is great for people needing to go from Point A to Point B where both points generate enough ridership to warrant the frequent trips, but if you are not near those points, transit does not help in any shape or form. For instance, my friend estimated it took him about 2.5 hours to get from Arden Hills to Plymouth. Why, because first he had to take a bus to Roseville, then transfer in Downtown Minneapolis, take a bus out to Minnetonka, to then transfer to a bus to Plymouth. With this he still had to walk a ways to get to and from the buses. The same trip in a car during rush hour, 45 minutes at the worst.
August 12th, 2007 at 2:42 am
Just to clear something up for future conversation:
Money from the gas tax can NOT be wasted on other projects. Why? Because its in the state constitution that all money from the gas tax must go to roads, nothing else. No LRT, no buses, no public transit. Only for roads.
August 12th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
ChestFAGAIDShole-
Why don’t you offer some answers instead of complaining like a bitch. Take it like a man or get the fuck out of this country you piece of shit.
You cowardice pussy -
August 12th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Turkish… wow, that’s quite a contribution. Typical.
My answers are, fire the all of the unions, and stop spending money on worthless socialist bullshit.
What’s hard to figure out about that… oh… never mind, you’re another worthless, ignorant liberal.
August 13th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Just curious here for some of you. Would your solution be to eliminate all public transit (LRT buses etc.)?
August 13th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Unless those who use it pay for the cost of operating it, yes.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Turkish, thems fightin words.
Just what we need, another liberal keyboard worrior.
Something tells me you would be in tears in minutes if you had to actually back those words up.
August 13th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Oberstar is a pompous ass, and I have no tolearance for those who use this tragedy to foist higher taxes on the public.
However. I am a bit disturbed by the rhetoric and language I’m hearing from my side here. Let’s keep it civil folks, OK? We’re not the Kossacks, let’s act like the adults we are. Please?
September 6th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
[...] September 6th, 2007 • 5:27 pmReprioritizing Spending vs. More Taxes Based on this article, that’s what the debate in the House Transportation Committee boiled down to. Jim “God Help You” Oberstar is defending his tax increase proposal while the Bush administration makes the case that the Transportation Committee change its priorities by spending money on road and bridge repair instead of bridges to nowhere and bike trails. If I were a betting man, I’d bet that President Bush will win this fight. At a House Transportation Committee hearing, panel chairman Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., touted his plan to pay for a bridge trust fund with a 5-cent increase in the 18.3 cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax, saying Congress can’t solve the problem with a “bake sale.” [...]
September 6th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
[...] Filed Under: Liberals, Washington, DC, Domestic Policies, Author: Gary Gross Based on this article, that’s what the debate in the House Transportation Committee boiled down to. Jim “God Help You” Oberstar is defending his tax increase proposal while the Bush administration makes the case that the Transportation Committee change its priorities by spending money on road and bridge repair instead of bridges to nowhere and bike trails. If I were a betting man, I’d bet that President Bush will win this fight. At a House Transportation Committee hearing, panel chairman Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., touted his plan to pay for a bridge trust fund with a 5-cent increase in the 18.3 cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax, saying Congress can’t solve the problem with a “bake sale.” [...]
September 6th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
[...] Based on this article, that’s what the debate in the House Transportation Committee boiled down to. Jim “God Help You” Oberstar is defending his tax increase proposal while the Bush administration makes the case that the Transportation Committee change its priorities by spending money on road and bridge repair instead of bridges to nowhere and bike trails. If I were a betting man, I’d bet that President Bush will win this fight. At a House Transportation Committee hearing, panel chairman Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., touted his plan to pay for a bridge trust fund with a 5-cent increase in the 18.3 cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax, saying Congress can’t solve the problem with a “bake sale.” [...]