Taxing Our Way To Shorter Commutes

KW writes:

Following up on your post about George Will and automobile subsidies, I want to call your attention to a brand-new set of ads in the Union Station Metro station. They're sponsored by what looks to me like a new Astroturf group called Bankrupting America. The billboards read, "Cutting your commute time is wishful thinking. Cutting government spending shouldn't be." The key point they're trying to make, of course, is in the second sentence, while the first sentence appears to be meant as a cute throwaway meant to get the attention of frustrated commuters. But isn't this a perfect illustration of the mainstream Republican view – or as you put it, "the identity politics of middle aged white suburban conformists" – that endless sprawl and unbearable traffic reflect an immutable state of nature, unaffected by government policy? These ads struck me as the apotheosis of that strain of politics.

The group is, indeed, just another rightwing astroturf group. They're allegedly obsessed with the budget deficit and the national debt, but like Scott Walker and Chris Christie and all Republicans in fact favor lower revenue and higher deficits. Which is fine, there's certainly a large low revenue constituency in the United States of America. But neither the media's unwillingness to accept the fact that the low tax lobby isn't concerned with budget solvency is perennially annoying.

Meanwhile, the idea that cutting commuting times is futile is ludicrous. You could, in fact, drastically reduce commuting times and reduce debt through higher taxes, aka "congestion pricing." The way the current system works is that space on a smooth flowing road in rush hour is valuable. But it's free to occupy that space. Consequently, too many people try to occupy it. If the Lakers didn't charge admission to go to basketball games, the Arena would be overcrowded. And if we don't charge to take up space on a useful commuting thoroughfare, the thoroughfare will be overcrowded. Levying taxes on people who want to take up valuable space will reduce overcrowding and provide some much-needed revenue.