Well, I, Mike, and Steve are all over HB617, the bill that will raise the gas tax 18 cents over the next four years – and to hammer home the point, we can thank Republicans for greasing the skids to push this through without nary a cross vote. Well, one NH House Representative has spoken up about it – NH State Representative Bill O’Brien. And he has sent some information our way as well. In my post, it is obvious that Democrat David Campbell is all aflutter about his “hoodwinking” : “the gift that keeps on giving” – he is just ecstatic that he’s widened a revenue source for feeding Leviathan. Notice that wording – spoken as a true Statist in that the orientation is from State Treasury aspect.
Sidenote: Never mentions that in order for the State to “receive”, it is taking, by force, monies that New Hampshirites would otherwise be able to spend on their families. But, that’s how Progressives are – they are always convinced that they have a better purpose for your money than you do. They delight in using other peoples money (but really believe it was theirs to begin with).
Well, Bill decides to take Campbell to task for playing magician with the facts of the bill to one set of folks but boasting about it to the Democrat Leadership (Campbell’s letter after the jump) and adds some figures (emphasis mine):
David,
There is an additional spreadsheet you have on the 83% hike in the gas tax, but up to now you have only given to the Democratic leadership of the Finance, Resources and Fish & Game committees. That spreadsheet, which was prepared by the Department of Safety, points out that this near doubling of the gas tax will apply to all gas sales, but that gas used for snowmobiles and boats is not placed in the Highway Trust Fund, but instead is deposited into other funds.
Your disclosure of this fact to those committee leaders is inconsistent, of course, with the documents you have forwarded today showing only money going to roads and is contrary to your public protestations that “every dollar” of the gas tax hike will be going to roads. Instead, and as you said in the late afternoon Friday, February 22, 2013 email to the leadership of those committees, “[w]hen fully phased in [the gas tax] will generate $658,000 annually in General Fund revenue, $1,251,000 for Fish & Game and $593,000 for DRED/Trails.” This “extra revenue” going to Fish & Game and DRED will not, of course, be used to repair red-listed bridges.
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