Ask not for whom the road tolls

It tolls for thee:

This, however, is the same type of arrangement called for in the Infrastructure Bank Act that is a key part of the agenda of President-elect Barack Obama (D). Obama hopes to establish the bank to provide $60 billion for infrastructure projects with "a preference for projects which leverage private financing, including public-private partnerships" (view details). Moreover, Senator Obama in March endorsed New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's idea to charge a $9 toll on cars and a $22 toll for trucks that enter downtown Manhattan during working hours.

"I think Mayor Bloomberg's proposal for congestion pricing is a thoughtful and innovative approach to the problem," Obama told WNYC radio in March. "The basic notion that we should do what we can to reduce congestion, to reduce pollution, to reduce consumption of foreign oil and to then to reinvest dollars into our infrastructure in mass transit."

Excellent. Less than twenty-fours hours after the fact, the conversation drifts to taxation.

It's nice to have another Roads Scholar in the White House.