ray lahood

Of the $1.9 billion worth of vouchers submitted by car dealers under the “Cash for Clunkers” program, the Department of Transportation has sent payments totaling just $145 million, a senior administration official told reporters Thursday.
The official said the DOT has reviewed “just under 170,000″ of the 457,000 dealer submissions, but incomplete forms and other technical [...]

With the hugely popular “cash for clunkers program” running short on funds, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took to the Sunday morning television circuit to urge the Senate to pass an extension this week. From The Associated Press:
“If we don’t get the $2 billion from the Senate … we would have to suspend the program next [...]

You’d think that, granted the bully pulpit, the Obama administration’s secretary of transportation might actually use it when approached by Congress for advice on public transit funding.
But you’d be wrong.
Asked yesterday by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) if the House-passed climate change bill contains enough funding for public transit, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood appeared to have [...]

As we pointed out last month, environmentalists are none too happy with the recently enacted cash-for-clunkers program, which grants a cash rebate up to $4,500 for drivers who turn in their gas-guzzling vehicles for more fuel efficient models. (In some cases, for barely more fuel efficient models).
But consumers, it seems, are on the edge of [...]

The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, established by Congress “to address the growing transportation infrastructure investment deficit,” released a report today advocating a 10-cent gas tax, to be replaced by a vehicle mileage tax in 2020.
According to the report, the Highway Trust Fund is facing a $400 billion deficit over the next five years, [...]

The latest development in the battle over Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s mileage tax proposal: House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) rips into White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs for shooting down LaHood’s suggestion.
From Jake Tapper:
In an interview with Congressional Quarterly, Oberstar said that LaHood “had the temerity to think…and what did he [...]

The White House quickly shot down Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s proposal to tax mileage, but the debate over the idea continues.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood looked a little out of his element last week, when he  proposed a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax on motorists as an alternative to a higher gas tax on Thursday, only to have it shot down in short order. Transportation Department spokeswoman Lori Irving dismissed the notion the next day, stating [...]

Citing insufficient funding for roadways, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has proposed a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax, based on the number of miles a person drives rather than fuel consumption.
In an interview with The Associated Press yesterday, LaHood rejected the possibility of raising the gas tax in the economic downturn, preferring to “[think] outside the [...]

The confirmation hearings for Transportation Secretary-designate Ray LaHood, set to begin today, may have gotten a bit more complicated this morning. The Washington Post reports that as an Illinois GOP congressman, LaHood was a big fan of earmarks — often to the benefit of some of his largest campaign contributors. LaHood retired from the House [...]