From: gl4317@yahoo.com   
      
   In article ,   
    Stephen Sprunk  wrote:   
      
   > ... because the tax is a fixed amount per gallon, which goes down with   
   > inflation and efficiency, rather than a percentage of the price, which   
   > would have kept tax revenues roughly level in real dollars.   
   >   
   > That still wouldn't have been enough, though, because the costs of steel   
   > and concrete have risen far faster than general inflation due to China's   
   > rapid industrialization over the same time period.   
      
      
   Gasoline taxes haven't been raised since about 1993.  The price of a   
   gallon of gasoline was around $1.20 then.  Today, it is approaching 3   
   times that.   
      
   If gasoline taxes were a straight sales tax rather than a price per   
   gallon, gasoline taxes would be bringing in about 3 times what they were   
   then, and we wouldn't need to be having this conversation.   
      
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