How are our federal and state highways funded?

"What to do?" in deed.

I know that the state of Missouri has tried twice so far to make the rather outdated and extremely congested stretch of I-70 between Kansas City and St. Louis a toll road. It failed twice to pass a vote in general elections.

I-70 is only two lanes going each direction once you get out of the Metros of Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis. It's like having to fight city traffic in those two stretches of basically rural highway. It's heavily traveled by truck traffic as it's a main artery of this country. It's getting [somewhat] dangerous [so far] for both truck traffic and smaller vehicle traffic. As an ex-trucker, I really feel for those commercial drivers who have no choice but to use that route after construction starts. What's a P.I.T.A. now will become a real headache until the project is finished. It'll likely take several, if not many, years to complete. But, I also know that there are bound to be many other areas of the country where the same thing is likely true, too. You are correct. It boggles the mind!

Note: Title edited by moderator.

in your searches for information that every tax the State collects "on behalf of the Federal Government" all goes back to DC and that THEY make the decision how much of it they will send back to each State and actually 'redistributes' it according to what pressure is used by individual Congressional (both House and Senate) members put on the budget committee? Therefore, smaller States usually end up literally getting the short end of the stick because newer members are usually low on the pressure totem pole and don't get much attention. States like CA, NY, and FL most times end up with the largest portions of Federal funding because they have more representation and are long term members who are voted into office repeatedly. A good majority of taxes paid by smaller States like RI or DE are actually given to other States rather than getting back what they actually paid.

I've always felt that the system was unbalanced and definitely not fair and should be changed dramatically to give back to the States exactly what they paid into it and if they need more, like CA that has a severely large population compared to other States), their Governor should be required to figure out how to get the extra from within their own State by cutting back on the 'entitlements' that they give away on the backs of others or other ways. When you get to the point where your State 'needs' to depend on the other States to keep them going, it's time to get new leadership and change the 'rules'.

I HATE typos! LOL!

Will join in with another comment soon.

I'm told it's so much trouble that few people do it. PPM will motivate more cheaters, won't it?
The "big picture" is, in my view, all of government as a package. The US is currently fighting wars on three fronts. Syria*, Afghanistan, Homeland Security. That's the elephant in the room. What chance do infrastructure, education, health care have against that?
*Drones, and now $90,000,000 for one rocket attack, parts only.

Years ago, many used car dealerships were convicted of fraud because they would put vehicles on a machine that would spin the rear tires in reverse for long periods of time in order to cause the odometer to 'rewind' and take actual mileage readings down in order to increase the pricing of those vehicles.

Healthcare should be, in my opinion, a personal responsibility that you take on.....just like life insurance. They are both a gamble where only the insurance companies win in the long run.....they are betting you live a long time and never actually collect what you've paid into it, and you're gambling just the opposite will happen.

Infrastructure and Education also, in my opinion, except for certain circumstances, should be a State responsibility.

That to me means it's very tamper prone.

My point in my first reply is that demand destruction is real.