AS THE DYSFUNCTIONAL PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CONTINues to rage, one of the leading contenders is suggesting that he has
the ability to make America great again.
I realize the country has some issues, but I don’t think we need to
make it great. We just need to keep it that way. Even with its warts
and blemishes, it is not such a bad piece of geography, and I’m not
at all sure that turning Wall Street into a shopping mall, expelling
the immigrants, and building a wall around us is going to be an
improvement.
However, if building something is on the mind, I think the
nation’s highway infrastructure might be a good place to start. As
far as I know, not one candidate has expressed a meaningful view on
dealing with this ongoing critical problem.
That’s not to say infrastructure has disappeared
from the public policy agenda. In the absence of
legislative progress on this and other issues, an
organization called “No Labels” has stepped
in to fill the gap. The foundational premise of
this group, chaired by Joe Lieberman and Jon
Huntsman, former Utah governor, is that our
problems are eminently solvable. In what it calls
a policy playbook, the organization lays out a set
of 60 proposals that “support good politics and
good policy” that it would like to see considered
by the next president.
Certainly, not everyone will agree with all 60,
but there are two that should be of interest to those working in the
supply chain and other users of roads and bridges. Idea number 28
reminds us that our infrastructure is in increasingly poor condition,
given a grade of D+ by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Thirty-two percent of major roads are mediocre at best, and 63,000
bridges need significant repairs. The funding gap will be $4.7 trillion
by 2040. The suggested fix is one we have heard before—i.e., create
an infrastructure bank that will rely on public-private partnerships
to “design, build, finance, operate, and maintain” the public infrastructure. The bank would be funded by the federal government
and led by a bipartisan group. Each project would be undertaken by
a public-private partnership and funded by taxes, tolls, and other
dedicated revenue. The group cites polls showing that 62 percent of
those surveyed were in favor of the plan, but I am sure that many
will object to increased tolling and the government’s abdication
of its legislative responsibility to provide a national infrastructure
system.
BY CLIFFORD F. LYNCH fastlane
Keeping America great
Idea 29 seems to be an attempt to compromise on a delicate subject: raising the fuel
tax. The group supports increasing the tax,
but with the revenues split three ways, with
equal portions going to reducing personal
income taxes, reducing the federal deficit,
and shoring up the Highway Trust Fund.
I think this is a weak suggestion and no
doubt springs from the belief that few politicians will vote for a straightforward increase
in the fuel tax. What we need, of course, is
an increase in this 1993-level tax with 100
percent of the proceeds
going to the Highway
Trust Fund.
In the meantime, I continue to be intrigued by
the fact that state legisla-where Congress will not. Over the past few
years, several states have raised their fuel
taxes by anywhere from $0.035 to $0.10 per
gallon. Iowa, for example, with an increase
of $0.10, hopes to raise $215 million for its
infrastructure improvements. While it is
easy to understand why they are acting, there
is always the risk that in doing what is good
for the state, they may overlook what is best
for the national network.
Clifford F. Lynch is principal of C.F. Lynch & Associates, a provider of logistics management advisory services, and author
of Logistics Outsourcing – A Management Guide and co-author
of The Role of Transportation in the Supply Chain. He can be
reached at cliff@cflynch.com.
