In two blog essays and one newspaper column I have advocated that we get on with the business of tending to our deteriorating roads and bridges -- and that we continue to use the gasoline tax as a way of funding the projects. "Paying By The Mile Is A Terrible Idea," Sept. 25, 2013; Nicholas Johnson, "Think Long and Hard Before Diluting the Gasoline Tax," Iowa City Press-Citizen, Dec. 5, 2013, p. A7; "Gasoline Tax Is Our Friend," Dec. 5, 2013.
There are, of course, those who disagree with this approach. Sometimes I have responded, online when the comments are made in response to a newspaper's online article; other times the responses are appended to the three items above.
Because these are important issues, and those who seek to enter into a dialogue are entitled to some kind of response, the responses have now been compiled, and added to, in a new blog essay.
We begin with a Letter to the Editor in this morning's [Dec. 10] Press-Citizen regarding my Dec. 5 Press-Citizen column, above. For more, click on "Gas Tax Critics: A Response; What's the Alternative?" Dec. 10, 2013 (which includes links to the prior three items).