Posted on 03/08/2005 9:57:37 AM PST by Richie Rich
Rossputin recently had a post about the 2005 Transportation Bill, or the “Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy For Users (TEA-LU).” The bill comes in at the everyday-low-price of just $283.9 billion – a mere 42% increase over the 1998-2003 bill.
The Transportation Committee proudly asserts, the bill “will continue and protect existing U.S. jobs in the transportation sector and related industries. Millions of new jobs will be created and sustained by the infrastructure funding increases in TEA LU.” Or:
In other words, the transportation bill is about buying the votes of those who do or will feed at the trough of government construction projects. Each item in this bill must be considered through that lens: Incumbents protecting their jobs at the expense of the average citizen.
So, taking Rossputin up on his suggestion that I read the bill for myself, I took a gander at the 798-page pork-infested novel, along with the 122 pages of 3,315 “High Priority Projects” and 14 pages of “Bus Related Projects.” As he suggested, I laughed – and cried. Below are my Top 10 favorite projects.
1) The construction of a bridge joining the Island of Gravina to the community of Ketchikan in Alaska for $100 million, as a courtesy to Alaska Rep. Don Young, Chairman of the Committee. [The infamous “bridge to nowhere” will be nearly as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and taller than the Brooklyn Bridge. Because the town of Ketchikan has fewer than 8,000 residents, the cost per person will be about 10x the cost of the Big Dig in Boston.]
2) A pavement marking systems demonstration that changes the edge lines on paved roads from 4 inches to 6 inches: cost $6 million. [Apparently this widening technique is a major innovation for further study.]
(Excerpt) Read more at bizblogger.blogspot.com ...
Or to pay back big contributors with tax payer extorted funds.
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