Retro Rick Still Loves a Gas Tax

 

Retro Rick Nolan is at it again – this time championing higher gas taxes just like he did in the 1970s.

As Congress negotiates how to fix the depleting federal Highway Trust Fund, Rick Nolan thinks it’s past time to make working families pay a bigger price.  As the Associated Press reported yesterday,

“Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan said he’s prepared ‘to consider a gas tax or a sales tax on petroleum or additional general revenue funds. We simply have to fund our transportation and infrastructure.’”

Rick Nolan’s plan would drive up the costs for Minnesota families to drive to work, take the kids to school and put food on the table. It’s not just higher prices at the gas pump, but rising costs for goods and services as higher fuel prices strain businesses.

Real world consequences aside, Rick Nolan still has a “liberal and radicalized” ideology at the top of his dance card.

In 1975, Nolan supported a plan for a 23-cent gas tax hike – even voting against amendments that tried to remove the tax.  In a letter, Rick Nolan wrote:

The Ways and Means Committee proposal to institute an additional .23¢ gas tax was defeated. I voted in favor of the defeated proposal and in favor of the final passage of this comprehensive energy program. (Rep. Rick Nolan, Constituent Correspondence, St. Cloud University, 6/28/75)

If Retro Rick thought a 23-cent gas tax hike was a great idea in the 1970s, just how high does he think gas taxes should go now?

The Bottom Line:
Rick Nolan’s go-to answer in Congress: make Minnesotans pay more so Washington can spend more. Many working families can’t afford Rick Nolan’s liberal and radical agenda to make gas prices even higher. Minnesotans deserve a leader in Congress who fights Washington’s raid on Americans’ pocketbooks, not dreams of growing the government on the backs of working families.