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Pump price validates Corbett’s highway bill funding plan
“Millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf continues to run false attack ads against Governor Tom Corbett and even his fellow Democrats for passing a bipartisan, comprehensive transportation funding plan that escaped the last administration. Tom Wolf even praised the plan the day before debuting an ad attacking it and lying about the effect it has had on gas prices. Unfortunately, we continue to see this kind of hypocritical rhetoric from millionaire Tom Wolf who wants to grow the size of government by raising taxes on job creators and middle class Pennsylvanians and won’t even address the tough issues, like the need for pension reform, facing our Commonwealth. Millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf has been bought out by the public sector union bosses and extreme liberal special interests, and just can’t be trusted to do what’s right for all Pennsylvanians.” -- Chris Pack, Communications Director
Pump price validates Corbett’s highway bill funding plan
In November, Gov. Tom Corbett signed a $2.3 billion transportation bill meant to answer Pennsylvania's highway and bridge needs for the next generation. He was criticized heavily for a portion of the bill that called for the state to collect about 10 cents more per gallon of gasoline in the future. We were told that it would mean continued hikes in gasoline prices.
As usual, the critics left the free market out of their thinking. The current price of gasoline is quite a bit lower than it was last fall, about $3.30 per gallon.
While those prices will go up from time to time and are still not as low as a more energy-independent situation in this country would create, it is clear that the signing of the transportation bill did not have the at-the-pump impact critics said it would have.
But don't be surprised if you see ads in the coming two months of gubernatorial campaigning claiming that Corbett engineered a transportation bill that hit the lower and middle classes with an unaffordable gasoline price increase. What the governor and the practical-minded lawmakers who signed on to the bill engineered was a way to finally rescue the state's highway and bridge situation a $3 billion PennDOT deficit and a crumbling infrastructure. It was a situation that had to be addressed and this was the only way it was going to get done.
Drive this country's roads and bridges. You can close your eyes and almost tell when you are leaving or entering Pennsylvania in many cases. The highway and bridge infrastructure is that much in need.
The biggest contributor to assuring that the gasoline tax hike included in this bill will not send pump prices into the stratosphere is a dirty little secret the big government apologists don't want to talk about the free market. Pennsylvania has a highly competitive gas station market with several chains competing for business. They are glad to break even on gas if it will bring customers inside to purchase other items.
Pennsylvania has a heavy refinery presence in its southeast corner and New Jersey. The close proximity helps keep the prices lower.
Corbett inherited an unwieldy state government that was spending its way into debt, a major transportation problem and a looming pension crisis. He has been resisted at every turn regarding pensions, but the budget has been brought relatively under control with minimal fee increases and the transportation problem may have a long-term solution.
Certainly, he has made decisions open to criticism. But that is not a bad report card.
Read the article online HERE.
