Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman. I think we are talking in circles here. The bottom line is those who are receiving more than dollar for dollar, once the general fund revenue is not supplanting or supplementing what is taken in by the gas tax, those who are receiving more than a dollar are going to argue to keep the current disparity in place. But those of us who represent donor States are going to want a better return. That's the bottom line. That's what this argument is about. And so the more than 300 Members who represent donor States who will be coming to this floor soon to vote on this motion, that's all they need to remember: let's send a signal to the conferees to give us a better shake and to treat us more fairly. The gentleman mentions our decaying infrastructure and whatever else around the country, and it is abysmal to look and see what's happening. But you've got to understand from the perspective of a Representative of taxpayers from Arizona who are receiving only 92 cents on the dollar that they kick in, why in the world would they tell me, their Representative, yeah, go raise the Federal gas tax, we enjoy getting 92 cents on the dollar and we'd like to get less of that. Instead, if Arizona was to impose an additional--raise their own gas tax, they get to keep dollar for dollar everything. Plus, it's not encumbered with Davis-Bacon requirements and all the other set-asides which raise the cost of construction projects.…”