Look who got dragged into the rhetoric on Capitol Hill trying to convince lawmakers to raise the gas tax: patriarch of the modern conservative movement Ronald Reagan. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Tom Petri (R-WS) evoked Reagan’s name to convince lawmakers to raise the gasoline tax to fund the interstate system by raising the tax by 15 cents over three years. In a statement, the two wrote, “The two Congressmen will be joined by the words and image of former President Ronald Reagan, who spoke eloquently on the need for Congress to raise the gas tax in 1982. At that point, Congress did raise the gas tax, and did again in 1993, but has not done so in the subsequent 21 years, leaving it with greatly diminished purchasing power. Blumenauer and Petri will speak on the need for Congress to immediately enact this modest increase to adjust for modern times, and on the necessity of repairing our nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure.” While a consumption tax is arguably the most preferable type of tax, the two lawmakers are asking to raise taxes after the government told automakers how fuel-efficient their cars must be only to realize cars that use less gas produce less tax revenue. It takes money to pay for a bloated government. More…