Tag: White House: Page 2

Roadbuilding

With oil prices plummeting, Obama says now is time to raise gas tax

Gas prices are continuing to drop to historic lows, and there’s really no sign the trend will reverse any time soon. With that in mind, President Barack Obama thinks now is as good a time as any to raise the gas tax. According to The Hill, Obama told reporters last week the low prices on […]

February 9, 2016

Roadbuilding

USDOT, White House to honor transportation “champions of change” for innovation

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the White House will honor several transportation officials tomorrow in a ceremony recognizing their work for “innovating transportation and growing the American economy” in the White House Transportation Champions of Change program. The program is also referred to as “Beyond Traffic: Innovators in Transportation for the Future” and this year will […]

October 12, 2015

Roadbuilding

White House releases infrastructure planning and design guide

The White House has made available the “Federal Resource Guide for Infrastructure Planning and Design” as part of President Obama’s Build America Investment Initiative launched last July. The guide was released May 5, the same day the White House held a roundtable with infrastructure experts in partnership with the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations. The meeting’s purpose […]

May 7, 2015

Roadbuilding

Recent toll road poll proves nothing; private financing of public roads is still a bad idea

The Reason Foundation and the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates recently traded jabs over a poll that purports to show Americans prefer toll roads as a solution to our declining transportation infrastructure. Not unexpectedly, the Reason-Rupe Poll  found favor with Reason’s longstanding position advocating toll roads. The Alliance shot back with a press release citing a Rasmussen Report that said […]

September 1, 2014

Business

White House, transportation leaders push Congress to find a long-term highway funding solution sooner rather than later

The White House, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and several industry associations are urging Congress to find a highway funding solution before the primary source of money, the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), becomes insolvent. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) projects that insolvency to occur by the end of August. White House press secretary Josh Earnest […]

July 9, 2014

Roadbuilding

White House, transportation leaders push Congress to find highway funding solution

The White House, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and several industry associations are urging Congress to find a highway funding solution before the primary source of money, the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), becomes insolvent. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) projects that insolvency to occur by the end of August. Related: VIDEO: What lawmakers are saying about […]

July 8, 2014

Roadbuilding

Obama, Biden call for infrastructure investment

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden pushed for transportation infrastructure investment during their respective trips to New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge and Ohio’s Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority this week. While at the site of the $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge project in Tarrytown, New York, Obama urged Congress to pass the administration’s […]

May 15, 2014

Roadbuilding

Obama taps Victor Mendez for deputy transportation secretary, Peter Rogoff for under secretary for policy

The White House on Wednesday announced who President Barack Obama intends to nominate for the open deputy transportation secretary and under secretary for policy positions. Obama has tapped Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez as deputy secretary for transportation. Mendez has been federal highway administrator since 2009 and took on his temporary position as acting deputy […]

May 15, 2014

Roadbuilding

House could consider bill to bring back 330 NHTSA employees

The House may consider a bill next week that would bring back about 330 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) employees who were furloughed last week when the federal government shutdown began. The shutdown suspended several operations within the U.S. Department of Transportation, including NHTSA activities involving defect information distribution. Representative Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said […]

October 10, 2013

Roadbuilding

White House “strongly supports” Senate DOT, HUD spending bill

The White House said on Tuesday that President Obama “strongly supports” the $54 billion budget for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development that the Senate is considering, according to a report from The Hill. The announcement follows a White House statement on Monday that President Obama’s “senior advisors would recommend that he […]

July 24, 2013

Roadbuilding

White House threatens to veto House’s $44.1 billion DOT, HUD bill

The White House threatened on Monday to veto a $44.1 billion budget for the Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that the House is considering, according to a report from The Hill. The THUD bill calls for $7.7 billion less than the current spending levels, cuts which the White House said […]

July 23, 2013

Roadbuilding

Bowles and Simpson try again. Again.

Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome back, Simpson and Bowles! Alan Simpson, a Republican and  Democrat Erskine Bowles have come up with a new deficit reduction plan. You will recall that the duo were co-chairs of the White House’s 2010 deficit-reduction panel, which put together a bipartisan package of tax and spending changes. That plan, of course, […]

February 20, 2013