Chairman of the House Budget Committee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) claims in his budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 that the Department of Transportation can generate savings through consolidation of duplicative programs to fund our highway repair efforts at their current level. He cites a recent report from the Government Accountability Office to back up his contention but this is sloppy work on the congressman’s part since the GAO never said anything of the sort.
As our nation’s infrastructure crumbles due to federal disinvestment, the congressman asserts that his budget “anticipates that Congress can keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent without additional general fund transfers or increases in the gasoline tax by consolidating dozens of separate highway programs that GAO has identified as duplicative.“
That sounds great but it simply doesn’t add up. Rep. Ryan either has the math wrong or he’s proposing a drastic cut in federal highway and transit spending veiled with good government rhetoric.
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