Midday Roundup: U.S. highway funding critically low

Nearly broke. The U.S. Highway Trust Fund, which uses federal fuel taxes to maintain interstate highways and public transportation systems, is due to run out of funding July 31. The Congressional Budget Office says the fund would need $126 billion by 2023 to meet all its obligations. Both Senate and House members agreed in hearings this week the problem is urgent, but disagreed on how to find sustainable long-term solutions. Suggestions for funding include increases in federal gas taxes, privatized transportation projects, user mileage taxes, and interstate tolls. Heritage Foundation fellow Stephen Moore said a gas tax increase is unlikely and suggested the federal government return to the states the power to maintain and improve local transportation systems. “My argument is that it’s much more efficient to have the states fund their own roads,” Moore said, adding the federal government should run only interstate transportation projects. “For projects that are within a state—that affect local state people and not people on the other side of the country—those should be funded by people who are going to use them.”

Legal weed. Delaware became the 20th state on Thursday to allow people to possess small amounts of marijuana. Under the new law, people 21 and older caught with less than an ounce of the drug would face a civil fine, not a criminal charge. The law goes into effect in six months. “The governor remains committed to reducing the number of people entering the criminal justice system and refocusing resources where they are needed most,” said Kelly Bachman, a spokesperson for Gov. Jack Markell. Selling marijuana remains illegal in the state.

Dangerous trip. One man is dead and another hospitalized after they stowed away in the wheelwell of a plane flying from South Africa to London. The man who died fell from the plane as it approached Heathrow Airport. A body discovered on the rooftop of a London office is believed to be his. Airport personnel found the second man after the plane landed. He survived temperatures likely as low as minus-76 degrees Fahrenheit during the 11-hour trip on the Boeing 747.

Conflict brewing. A new study by the Cato Institute forecasts greater conflict between the millennial generations of the United States and the Middle East. The study shows Arab millennials have a negative view of America. “The interactions between these two millennial groups are really going to define foreign affairs for the next 50 years,” said A. Trevor Thrall, international affairs professor at George Mason University, who co-authored the study. For Americans born between 1980 and 1997, the critical period for developing a worldview included events like 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For young Arabs, Thrall said, their experiences with America have been brutal, and negative views of America will be permanent. American millennials surveyed were less patriotic than any other generation, with only 32 percent agreeing the United States is the greatest country in the world. The study also showed less than one third of young Americans support military force intervention when dealing with foreign conflict.