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===Text: The United States federal government should increase the federal excise tax rate and phase-in a price floor and variable tax on gasoline for transportation infrastructure in the United States. ===

Observation One: Topic Education –
(American Road and Transportation Builders Association to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform “The Contribution of the Federal Transportation Investment Programs to Fiscal Responsibility and Deficit Reduction,” pg online @ [] //um-ef)
 * First, transportation infrastructure is financed in one of two ways – through the general fund, or through increased revenue – Stimulus Programs finance through the general fund while failing to repair the Highway Trust Fund **
 * ARTBA 2k10 **

Transportation Investment and User Financing When Congress... increase to finance an expanded transportation improvements.
(Tanya Snyder became Streetsblog's Capitol Hill editor in September 2010 after covering Congress for Pacifica and public radio. She lives car-free in a transit-oriented and bike-friendly neighborhood of Washington, DC., pg online @ [] //um-ef)
 * Second, Congress just passed a MASSIVE transportation bill – it should have triggered your disads, but didn’t fix the Highway Trust Fund **
 * Snyder 6/26 **

Congressional leaders announced opaquely last week that... just to avoid raising the gas tax.

Advantage 1: U.S. Energy Policy
(Evan N. Turgeon, Legal Associate at the Cato Institute; J.D.University of Virginia School of Law 2009; B.A. Tufts University 2004, “Triple-Dividends: Toward Pigovian Gasoline Taxation,” Journal of Land, Resources, & Envir onmental Law 2010, pg lexisum-ef)
 * First, current Federal Energy Strategies fail – they impose market distortions, and ineffective constraints on private industry **
 * Turgeon 2k10 **

The United States' current energy policies take... "as they impoverish society as a whole." n44

(Michael, “34.1 MPG CAFE Standards for 2016 Upheld by U.S. Court of Appeals” http://www.treehugger.com/cars/341-mpg-cafe-standards-2016-upheld-us-court-appeals.htmlHH)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">And, specifically new CAFE regulations are coming – **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Greene 6/28 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The 2012-2016 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards... The can then figure out what solution works best.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(Mike, “How Will Obama’s EPA Regulations Affect the Auto Industry?”, http://www.askheritage.org/how-will-obamas-epa-regulations-affect-the-auto-industryHH)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">They’ll collapse job growth and the Auto Sector **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Brownfield 11 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Say goodbye to cars and trucks as... and to 10 times that many serious injuries.”

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(“Is the U.S. Auto Industry on Track for a Comeback?,” pg online @ [] um-ef)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">And, Auto Recovery is essential to U.S. Economic recovery – the auto industry will drive other sectors and ensure job growth **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">U.S. News 2k12 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">More than three years after bad management... in what they're selling. That's going to be hard for the Japanese."

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Royal 10** – Jedediah Royal, Director of Cooperative Threat Reduction at the U.S. Department of Defense, (Economic Integration, Economic Signaling and the Problem of Economic Crises, Economics of War and Peace: Economic, Legal and Political Perspectives, ed. Goldsmith and Brauer, p. 213-215)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">And, a weak economy causes conflict – all emprirical analysis goes our way **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Less intuitive is how periods of economic decline ... the view presented here should be considered ancillary to those views.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(Charles, American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician, McGill University degree in political science and economics, Commonwealth Scholar in politics at Balliol College, Oxford, Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School “The Net-Zero Gas Tax; A once-in-a-generation chance,” pg lexis//um-ef)//
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The plan kills damaging CAFÉ Standards and transitions away from government interventions into the market **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Krauthammer 2k9 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">So why even think about it? Because the virtues of a gas tax ...undertaking the enormously complicated review and rewriting of fuel-efficiency regulations.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(Evan N. Turgeon, Legal Associate at the Cato Institute; J.D.University of Virginia School of Law 2009; B.A. Tufts University 2004, “Triple-Dividends: Toward Pigovian Gasoline Taxation,” Journal of Land, Resources, & Envir onmental Law 2010, pg lexis//um-ef)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Finally, an increased gas tax is the transition method – it transforms U.S. foreign policy and re-energizes U.S. Diplomacy **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Turgeon 2k10 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Significantly increasing federal taxes on gasoline would... Not only is the pen mightier than the sword; it is cheaper to use.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Advantage Two: Deficits –
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(“U.S. Deficits and the National Debt,” pg online @ [] //um-ef)//
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">First, the deficit is on an unsustainable path – now is the CRITICAL time to re-orient policies to stave-off a new debt tragedy **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Council on Foreign Relations 3/2/12 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">At some point in the not-too-distant future... the sustainability of an active U.S. foreign policy," he says.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(American Road and Transportation Builders Association to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform “The Contribution of the Federal Transportation Investment Programs to Fiscal Responsibility and Deficit Reduction,” pg online @ [] um-ef)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">And, Congress has two options for the future – increased revenue generation, or deficit spending – only NEW REVENUE ensures Fiscal Responsibility **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">ARTBA 2k10 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">For more than 50 years, the federal... fiscally responsible and budget-neutral user taxes and levies.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(“A fiscal test for Congress,” pg lexis//um-ef)//
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">And, the plan is a KEY TEST for future budget debates – increasing revenue ensures a sustainable fiscal path **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Washington Post 3/7 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Over the past year, many Republicans and Democrats... Erskine Bowles called "the most predictable economic crisis in history"?

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(Eswar, Eswar Prasad holds the New Century Chair in International Economics. He is the Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy at Cornell University and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He was previously head of the Financial Studies Division and the China Division at the IMF, “The U.S.-China Economic Relationship: Shifts and Twists in the Balance of Power,” pg online @ [] um-ef)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">And, Failure to Reign-In Deficits and Establish Fiscal Discipline Guts U.S.-China Relations they’ll be over-aggressive, gutting cooperation **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Prasad 2/25 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The lopsided nature of trade and financial flows... stability, reform of the international monetary system and tackling climate change.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Wenzhong**, PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2-7-4 (Zhou, “Vigorously Pushing Forward the Constructive and Cooperative Relationship Between China and the United States,” [])
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Multiple Scenarios for Extinction **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">China's development needs a peaceful international environment, particularly... two countries, we will see even greater accomplishments in China-US relations.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Advantage 3- Manufacturing:

 * First, U.S. Manufacturing is contracting – lack of sales and demand **

(“U.S. manufacturing shrinks, 1st time in nearly 3 yrs,” pg online @ [] //um-ef)// (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing shrank in June for the first… June, albeit at its slowest rate in 18 months. //** And, surface transportation investment is CRITICAL to U.S. Manufacturing – props up dependent industries **//
 * Reuters 7/3 **

//** Hermann 2k11 **// // (Andrew Herrmann, P.E. SECB, F.ASCE President American Society of Civil Engineers, Impact Of Infrastructure Investment On The Manufacturing Sector, pg lexis //um-ef) ASCE commends the Joint Economic Committee for holding a hearing today on how,,, the nation's infrastructure: Increase federal leadership in infrastructure;


 * And, manufacturing capabilities key to technology necessary for U.S. DIB deterrence **

(Mackenzie Eaglen, American Enterprise Institute Rebecca Grant, IRIS Research Robert P. Haffa, Haffa Defense Consulting Michael O'Hanlon, The Brookings Institution Peter W. Singer, The Brookings Institution Martin Sullivan, Commonwealth Consulting Barry Watts, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments “The Arsenal of Democracy and How to Preserve It: Key Issues in Defense Industrial Policy January 2012,” pg online @ [] //um-ef)// The current wave of defense cuts is also different… as opportunities for the United States in a globalized marketplace. //** Defense industrial base deters war with Russia **//
 * O’Hanlon et al 2k12 **

//** Watts 2k8 **// // (Senior Fellow @ The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (Barry D, “The US Defense Industrial Base, Past, Present and Future,” CBA, __http://www.csbaonline.org/4Publications/PubLibrary/R.20081015._The_US_Defense_In/R.20081015._The_US_Defense_In.pdf__) // Since the 1950s, the US defense industrial base has been …advantage in the decades ahead as it has been since the 1950s.  //** Extinction **//

//** Bostrum ‘02 **// // [Dr. Nick, Dept. Phil @ yale, “Existential Risks: Analyzing Human Extinction Scenarios and Related Hazards,” www.transhumanist.com/volume9/risks.html/] // A much greater existential risk emerged with… existential risks that we will encounter in the 21st century. //** And, All levels of manufacturing and R&D are interconnected – a sustainable manufacturing base in the U.S. is critical to Advanced Manufacturing and R&D **//

//** Lind 2k12 **// // (Michael Lind is policy director of New America’s Economic Growth Program and a co-founder of the New America Foundation. Joshua Freedman is a program associate in New America’s Economic Growth Program. “Value Added: America’s Manufacturing Future,” pg online @ http://growth.newamerica.net/sites/newamerica.net/files/policydocs/Lind,%20Michael%20and%20Freedman,%20Joshua%20-%20NAF%20-%20Value%20Added%20America%27s%20Manufacturing%20Future.pdf //um-ef) Manufacturing, R&D and the U.S. Innovation Ecosystem Perhaps the greatest …costs is expected to rise from 20-30 percent in 2007 to 50 percent by 2020.33
 * And, advanced manufacturing technology will make war IMPOSSIBLE **

(Chuck, 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs for the US Air Force, 8-10-09, “Technology convergence could prevent war, futurist says,” http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123162500) The convergence of "exponentially advancing technologies" …Many of these are already embedded in systems or products, he says, even if people don't know it.
 * Paone 2k9 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Solvency:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(Adam, J.D., University of Iowa College of Law, 2010; B.A., Wake Forest University, PHd Student @ Univ of Indiana, “Why the Government Should Drink Your Milkshake: The Case for Restructuring the Federal Gas Tax,” The Journal of Corporation Law Winter, 2009, 35 Iowa J. Corp. L. 393 pg lexis um-ef)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The plan solves – establishing a price floor decreases gas consumption while increasing revenue for transportation infrastructure **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Abelkop 2k9 **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Congress should enact legislation to restructure the...be distributed to any single use, but should be allocated as the government deems appropriate.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Previous 2NRs:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">i'm probably forgetting some
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">T-Pipelines
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">States and ptx
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">ptx and case
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Oil
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Co2 Ag
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Spending
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">T-Investment