Abstract: Wasteful, inequitable, and bristling with burdensome regulations, the Federal Highway Program is in dire need of reform. Although Members of Congress have attempted to enact changes in the past, the influence of many lobbyists and influential constituencies continues to thwart the process. By… Read more
Abstract: Given tight federal budget restraints and shrinking transportation trust fund revenues, states and the federal government need to find alternative financial resources to finance needed transportation infrastructure projects, especially maintaining and expanding the capacity of the Interstate Highway System. Increased use of public–private… Read more
In October, the Obama Administration took the unprecedented step of revoking funds already awarded to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to study the feasibility of absorbing the independent turnpike commission, which operates the Ohio Turnpike, into ODOT or leasing the turnpike to private investors. Unfortunately for Ohio, neither option… Read more
My name is Ronald. D. Utt. I am the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are my own, and should not be construed as representing any official position of The Heritage Foundation. Until recently, federal… Read more
Chairman Conrad, Ranking Member Sessions, Members of the Senate Budget Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is J.D. Foster. I am the Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are… Read more
In response to the credit downgrade by Standard & Poor’s in August, the grim reports on the state of the economy, and the collapse of the stock and financial markets in the week after the downgrade, President Barack Obama has re-engaged with the issue of America’s faltering economy and the… Read more
There’s a simple solution to this traffic problem. We’ll have business build the roads and government build the cars. —Will Rogers The quote above, attributed to one of America’s preeminent comedians and social commentators, came at the dawn of the automobile… Read more
Resistance to higher fuel taxes to fund state and federal transportation programs has prompted President Obama and some members of Congress to endorse a federal infrastructure “bank.” The idea is to circumvent budgetary limits on federal spending to provide more money for highways, transit, and other infrastructure. Although each proposal… Read more
Over the past year Congressman James Oberstar (D–MN), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, has introduced a partial draft of new highway legislation that would divert even more money from roads to bicycles, walking, transit, land use planning, and more federal employees to operate the program.… Read more
Resistance to higher fuel taxes to fund failed state and federal transportation programs has encouraged President Obama, some Members of Congress, and transportation lobbyists to endorse a federal infrastructure bank to invest in highways and transit. This bank would be… Read more
America's infrastructure is in need of repair. Contributing to this problem is that Americans are focused solely on protecting the country's infrastructure from terrorist attack. The greatest danger facing these structures, however, is not terrorism. The danger lies in the fact that the United States infrastructure system lacks resiliency --… Read more
As the U.S. economy continues to deteriorate and has now entered a recession of uncertain magnitude, many in Congress, the media, and the business community are pushing for a bold federally funded stimulus package that they claim will create jobs, raise incomes, and put the economy back on its path of positive economic growth. Not… Read more
President Obama's economic stimulus was supposed to revive America's economy and put people back to work. But nearly...… Read more
Imagine a high-speed train zooming down hundreds of miles of glistening train track stretching across sunny...… Read more
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. Inmates...… Read more
What’s wrong with this picture? Last night, President Obama told Congress that the nation desperately needs to spend...… Read more
[caption id="attachment_77801" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="President Obama speaks to labor unions in Detroit...… Read more
Some national business leaders are outright opposing measures of fiscal responsibility. Fortunately, fiscal...… Read more
The latest unemployment numbers, released Friday, showed that the economy created a net 18,000 jobs in June, far below...… Read more
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO do not agree on much. But they have joined forces to persuade Congress to...… Read more
Materials obtained in the U.S. SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden confirm what Heritage suspected all along: Al-Qaeda...… Read more
Some in Washington seem to believe that the way our nation currently funds infrastructure projects is the only way. For...… Read more