Martin Hoke: “I am completely opposed to this amendment because it is such horrible, horrible policy. It misses the fundamental point…”

“I am completely opposed to this amendment because it is such horrible, horrible policy. It misses the fundamental point of how we raise money, of how we tax and why we tax and what the circumstances are for taxation. The fact is, why do we tax gas? Sure, there is some connection between the tax that is raised and spending on the roads. But we tax gas because we can tax gas, because we are able to tax gas, the same way that we tax tobacco and alcohol and income and tariffs on goods that come into this country. It fundamentally misses the whole point. Once you go into this kind of a policy, you are running down a slippery slope that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. This is just terrible, terrible policy. Do we take all of the money that we tax alcohol and tobacco with and put it into the BATF? I do not think so. Do we take all of the money that we use taxing goods that come into this country under tariffs and use it to fund the customs agency? No. This notion, and maybe what this means is we should not have had a trust fund in the first place. I will grant you that. But the idea that somehow this is separate and that it ought to be absolutely dedicated only to one thing just completely misses the fundamental model of taxation, the fundamental model of why we do this in the first place.”