Chris+&+Alex

=Highway Trust Fund 1AC=

Observation One: This aff is topical
===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 (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 @ http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/documents/ARTBA.pdf-http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/documents/ARTBA.pdf //um-ef) Transportation Investment and User Financing When Congress created the National System of Interstate and Defense AND supporting a federal motor fuels excise increase to finance an expanded transportation improvements.

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 (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 @ http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/06/26/where-did-the-senate-get-the-extra-money-to-pay-for-its-bill/-http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/06/26/where-did-the-senate-get-the-extra-money-to-pay-for-its-bill/ //um-ef) Congressional leaders announced opaquely last week that they~’d "moved forward" on a deal AND that~’s a lot of complicated math just to avoid raising the gas tax.

=Advantage 1: U.S. Energy Policy
=

First, current Federal Energy Strategies fail – they impose market distortions, and ineffective constraints on private industry
Turgeon 2k10 (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, %26 Envir onmental Law 2010, pg lexis//um-ef) The United States~’ current energy policies take an ineffective, piecemeal approach to addressing the AND illusion of good government "as they impoverish society as a whole." n44

And, these Energy strategies gut U.S. Foreign Policy strategy – they ensure ineffective diplomatic leverage and lack of U.S. legitimacy
Turgeon 2k10 (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, %26 Envir onmental Law 2010, pg lexis//um-ef) C. Foreign Policy Detriment In 1828, James Madison expressed his fear that insufficient AND policies. n60 International law detrimental to the United States~’ interests may result.

That lack of legitimacy ensures Nuclear and CBW War
Dr. Barlow 2k2 (Jeffrey, March, Director of the Berglund Center for Internet Studies, holds the Matsushita Chair of Asian Studies at Pacific University, Ph.D. in history from UC Berkeley, 2K2, "American Power, Globalism, and the Internet: Editorial Essay", The Journal of Education, Community and Values, http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2002/03/editorial.php%236) Much of Nye~’s analysis is intended to make a relatively simple point: That the AND international goals acting alone."14 The uproar, both domestic and international.

But effective Multilateralism – led by the United States Solves – prevents multiple triggers for conflict and destruction
Dr. Zakaria 2k8 (Fareed, Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University, %26 editor of Foreign Affairs magazine %26 Newsweek Internationa %26 professor of IR and political philosophy at Harvard and Columbia University, "Wanted: A New Grand Strategy", 12/8/08, http://www.newsweek.com/id/171249-http://www.newsweek.com/id/171249 ) The "Global Trends" report identifies several worrying aspects of the new international order AND reshape the world. This is his moment. He should seize it.

And, specifically new CAFE regulations are coming –
Greene 6/28 (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.html//HH) The 2012-2016 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, better known under the acronym AND by how much. The can then figure out what solution works best.

They~’ll collapse job growth and the Auto Sector
Brownfield 11 (Mike, "How Will Obama~’s EPA Regulations Affect the Auto Industry?", http://www.askheritage.org/how-will-obamas-epa-regulations-affect-the-auto-industry//HH) Say goodbye to cars and trucks as you know them. Say hello to a AND a single representative year, and to 10 times that many serious injuries."

And, Auto Recovery is essential to U.S. Economic recovery – the auto industry will drive other sectors and ensure job growth
U.S. News 2k12 ("Is the U.S. Auto Industry on Track for a Comeback?," pg online @ http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/01/09/is-the-us-auto-industry-on-track-for-a-comeback-http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/01/09/is-the-us-auto-industry-on-track-for-a-comeback //um-ef) More than three years after bad management, a swooning global economy, and foreign AND in what they~’re selling. That~’s going to be hard for the Japanese."

And, a weak economy causes conflict – all emprirical analysis goes our way
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) Second, on a dyadic level. Copeland~’s (1996. 2000) theory of AND popularity, are statistically linked to an increase in the use of force.

Finally, an increased gas tax is the transition method – it transforms U.S. foreign policy and re-energizes U.S. Diplomacy
Turgeon 2k10 (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, %26 Envir onmental Law 2010, pg lexis//um-ef) Significantly increasing federal taxes on gasoline would generate results vastly superior to those produced by AND is the pen mightier than the sword; it is cheaper to use.

First, the deficit is on an unsustainable path – now is the CRITICAL time to re-orient policies to stave-off a new debt tragedy
Council on Foreign Relations 3/2/12 ("U.S. Deficits and the National Debt," pg online @ http://www.cfr.org/united-states/us-deficits-national-debt/p27400-http://www.cfr.org/united-states/us-deficits-national-debt/p27400 //um-ef) At some point in the not-too-distant future, analysts say, AND sustainability of an active U.S. foreign policy," he says.

And, Congress has two options for the future – increased revenue generation, or deficit spending – only NEW REVENUE ensures Fiscal Responsibility
ARTBA 2k10 (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 @ http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/documents/ARTBA.pdf-http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/documents/ARTBA.pdf //um-ef) For more than 50 years, the federal highway, public transportation and airport investment AND transportation investment through fiscally responsible and budget-neutral user taxes and levies.

And, the plan is a KEY TEST for future budget debates – increasing revenue ensures a sustainable fiscal path
Washington Post 3/7 ("A fiscal test for Congress," pg lexis//um-ef) Over the past year, many Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have indicated support AND avoid what Erskine Bowles called "the most predictable economic crisis in history"?

And, Failure to Reign-In Deficits and Establish Fiscal Discipline Guts U.S.-China Relations they~’ll be over-aggressive, gutting cooperation
Prasad 2/25 (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 @ http://www.brookings.edu/testimony/2010/0225_us_china_debt_prasad.aspx-http://www.brookings.edu/testimony/2010/0225_us_china_debt_prasad.aspx //um-ef) The lopsided nature of trade and financial flows between the U.S. and AND macroeconomic stability, reform of the international monetary system and tackling climate change.

Multiple Scenarios for Extinction
Wenzhong, PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2-7-4 (Zhou, "Vigorously Pushing Forward the Constructive and Cooperative Relationship Between China and the United States," http://china-japan21.org/eng/zxxx/t64286.htm-http://china-japan21.org/eng/zxxx/t64286.htm ) China~’s development needs a peaceful international environment, particularly in its periphery. We will AND countries, we will see even greater accomplishments in China-US relations.

The plan solves – establishing a price floor sends a signal for renewable energy development, while increasing revenue for transportation infrastructure
Abelkop 2k9 (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) Congress should enact legislation to restructure the federal gasoline tax to better internalize the external AND any single use, but should be allocated as the government deems appropriate.

The plan kills damaging CAFÉ Standards and transitions away from government interventions into the market
Krauthammer 2k9 (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) So why even think about it? Because the virtues of a gas tax remain AND than undertaking the enormously complicated review and rewriting of fuel-efficiency regulations.