Well said Dr. Sowell! A rising tide truly does raise all boats big and small but these neo-Marxists masquerading as "progressives" are destroying the very waters that lift us all.

The real problem isn't the amount of gas tax receipts but how they are spent. For years our gas tax receipts and other tax dollars have been hijacked for such boondogles as high speed rail, light rail, recreational bike paths, train museums, "peace gardens" and the like instead of focusing on the basics like road and bridge repair and maintainance. If a private sector business or non profit were run this way you can be sure some state AG would be hot on the case. Being that it's the government the usual response is, as Emily Litella used to say, "Never Mind". What has happened to our gas tax receipts is symptomatic of the disease that afflicts our government at all levels- federal, state, and local ............. misplaced priorities.

"Leave it to the government to lose money on a sure thing" That 2004 comment was from a former supporter of direct lending (FDLP), former Federal Reserve Governor Lawrence Lindsey. http://www.aei.org/article/20521 The program has lost money since its inception and continues to do so- the program is currently $16 billion in the hole. Who covers that? ........ the taxpayer! The talk of non existent "savings" is just more snake oil from the left. FDLP (direct lending) hasn't saved the taxpayer a penny- it has cost us money- lots of it. And it is telling that though the two programs have existed side by side for years, the vast majority of schools choose to use the FFELP program; if direct lending was as great as it's backers say, why...