Roadtaxes should charge drivers for four sorts of damage they do: to road surfaces, to the climate, to other people's health and to other drivers by creating jams.
Some of the seasoned legislators said we shouldn’t raise the license fees at all, and instead should finance the road program with an increase in fuel taxes.
True, a "road map for America's future", published by Mr Ryan last year, included ideas for broadening health-care coverage. But it focused on steep cuts to taxes and entitlements.