Bush tackles highway spending He dismisses raising federal gas tax to repair bridges

Bush is also confident in
Pakistan’s president to crack down on militants.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A week after a deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis, President Bush on Thursday dismissed raising the federal gasoline tax to repair bridges at least until Congress changes how it spends highway money.

“The way it seems to have worked is that each member on that [transportation] committee gets to set his or her own priorities first,” Bush said. “That’s not the right way to prioritize the people’s money. Before we raise taxes, which could affect economic growth, I would strongly urge the Congress to examine how they set priorities.”

About $24 billion, or 8 percent of the last $286 billion highway bill, was devoted to highway and bridge projects singled out by lawmakers. The balance is distributed through grants to states, which decide how it will be spent. Federal money accounts for about 45 percent of all infrastructure spending.

The Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee proposed a 5-cent increase in the 18.3-cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax to establish a new trust fund for repairing or replacing structurally deficient highway bridges.

More than 70,000 of the nation’s bridges are rated structurally deficient, including the bridge that collapsed over the Mississippi River last Wednesday. The American Society of Civil Engineers says repairing them all would require spending at least $9.4 billion a year for 20 years. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., says his tax increase proposal would raise about $25 billion over three years.

Addressing terrorism

On terrorism, Bush said he is confident in the ability of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants at the Afghan border and cooperate with the U.S.

He said he expected Musharraf to take “swift action if there is actionable intelligence inside his country.” Bush refused to address whether the U.S. troops would go into Pakistan without permission from leaders there.

“We spend a lot of time with the leadership in Pakistan talking about what we will do with actionable intelligence,” Bush said. “Am I confident they [terrorists] will be brought to justice? My answer is, ‘Yes I am.’”

Musharraf, a key ally in Washington’s fight against terrorism, is under growing U.S. pressure. But the Pakistani leader is under considerable pressure at home, too.

At home, Bush ruled out any bailout of homeowners hit with foreclosures in the form of direct assistance. But he said “enormous empathy” is in order for such people and indicated he was open to some federal help for people to refinance and keep their homes.