Can Portman Replace Voinovich Tomorrow, Please?

As he heads towards a long overdue retirement, Sen. George Voinovich is demonstrating once again why he will not be missed.

Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, are proposing a fuel tax increase to address two looming fiscal problems -- a burgeoning budget deficit and a shrinking highway trust fund.

In a letter sent Friday to the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, Carper and Voinovich proposed a 25-cent-per-gallon increase in the fuel tax, to be gradually rolled out over the next three years. The two senators say the levy would raise $200 billion over five years.

All this does is show his ignorance of how the economy is impacted by taxes. Voinovich's idea would cripple the economy at a point it should be rebounding. It also show the career politicians completely failed to comprehend what last Tuesday's election results mean. They think the answer to all questions is more taxes. NO! The answer is cut the spending. Every item in the budget should be examined and if it doesn't meet requirement of both being necessary and being a federal responsibility they should cut it.