From CHUCK MUTH'S NEWS & VIEWS
July 30, 2005
So exactly what's in that bloated Transportation bill? Here's a sampling of the "high priority" highway projects the REPUBLICAN-controlled House of Representatives passed this week:
* $220,000 for one line-item for trolley buses in Puerto Rico
* $366,000 for one line-item for intermodal transportation at the Bronx Zoo
* $835,000 for a second line-item for intermodal transportation at the Bronx Zoo
* $4.2 million for intermodal transportation at the Philadelphia Zoo
* $146,000 for a second line-item for trolley buses in Puerto Rico
* $1.3 million for sidewalk lighting and landscaping around Cedar's-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles
* $1.3 million for a daycare center and park-and-ride facility in Champaign, IL
* $1.7 million for an intermodal park and ride facility at the Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA
* $2 million for a third line-item for intermodal transportation at the Bronx Zoo
* $440,000 for a bike path in Powers, OR
* $480,000 for pedestrian and bicycle sidewalks, lighting, and handicapped ramps in Miramar, FL
* $200,000 for trails and bike paths on Bird Mountain, TN
* $960,000 for a bike path in Riverhead, NY
* $2.3 million for landscaping enhancements "for aesthetic purposes" along the Ronald Reagan Freeway, CA
* $240,000 for boardwalks at Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, CA
* $1.6 million to enhance the Battery Park bikeway perimeter, New York City
* $200,000 for a historical trolley project in Issaquah, WA
* $200,000 for trails, bike paths, and recreational facilities on Black Mountain, TN
* $144,000 for paths and trails at the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, OH
* $144,000 for paths and trails at the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, OH
* $160,000 for a bike path, Petal, MS
* $200,000 for a bike path "network", Evanston, IL
* $2.9 million for a bike path, Delta Ponds, OR
* $240,000 for bike and pedestrian improvements, Windermere, FL
* $2.4 million for bike trail, Smyrna, TN
* $1.2 million for a bike trail, LaVergne, TN
* $800,000 for regional bike routes on existing highways, Austin, TX
* $480,000 to rehabilitate a historic warehouse, Lyons, NY
* $320,000 for a bike path from San Luis Obispo to Avila Beach, CA
* $280,000 for a bike path, Fairview Park, OH
* $600,000 for horse-riding trails, Jefferson National Forest, VA
* $2 million for a bike trail, Cookeville, TN
* $2 million for an intermodal bikeway, Independence, OH
* $640,000 for bike, pedestrian and other improvements at Georgia Veterans Memorial Park
* $1.2 million for pedestrian bicycle access project, Newark NJ
* $1.2 million for a bike path, East Long-meadow Redstone, MA
* $8 million for the Harlem Hospital parking facility
* $1.8 million for a bike path, Portage, WI
* $2.6 million for pedestrian walkway and bikeway improvements along the NYC Greenway System in Coney Island, NY
* $400,000 for a bike path in Dunkirk, NY
* $532,000 for a bike and pedestrian trail, Gallatin, TN
Tell me again why it's so important to elect Republicans to Congress.
Me again: Bike and pedestrian trails, parking facilities, boardwalks, landscaping. Yep, sounds "high priority" to me.
What do any of these have to do with "highways"? And why are any of them on a highway bill? Well, they will create (maybe) jobs for the cities and towns that receive this money. And silly me! I forgot the most important jobs! Keeping the congresscritter in office! By bringing money home, the voters will forget the disasterous things the congresscritter already did! Republicans and Democrats alike are guilty of backing stupid legislation.
Taxpayer money gives congresscritters (and voters) amnesia. The voter's memory is only as long as the last thing the congressional rep did.
What taxpayers forget is that money "brought home" by their congresscritter is their money to start with. It should have stayed home in the first place and shouldn't have gone to Washington to be "given back". Why should Florida money (or Texas or Maine, or Iowa or Oregon or whatever state's) go to Washington so that the Feds can "give it back" in the form of "highway bills"?
Sort of makes me think of a kid giving money to Mom and Dad so that Mom and Dad will give it back as "allowance."
4 comments:
I agree about taking my money and giving "me" back 75%...
But I would much prefer most of the items on your list to more lanes on I-75 (and I admit I drive on it almost every day). We need other transit options... more lanes will never solve traffic problems.
Joe Moraca
Sarasota Livin'
I agree that more lanes on I-75 would not be much help (and don't even get me started on the shoddy construction). I would also like to have better transit options, but I think we can both agree it ain't gonna happen.
My point was that most of the items on the "highway" bill have nothing to do with highways. Perhaps I am being too literal, but it looks like a lot of pork to me.
And I object to politicians bringing home pork, especially when done to ensure their re-election.
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