“There is no doubt old school graft, but I don’t think highway funds are sent off for mass transit or social welfare programs in the two states.”
You never saw the condition of I-40 through Arkansas didja?
I used to stop before entering Arkansas and take my TV, microwave and anything else that wasn’t bolted down and strap it into my bunk. The potholes and crappy repaving (more like cold patch shoveled in) in AR would bounce anything not bolted down into the floor. It was like driving on a rumble strip all way across the state.
Bill Clinton spent every dollar of highway money either buying votes or lining his own pockets.
He did build a nice expensive highway to Bentonville though..but that is where Wal-Mart is headquartered and Tyson Foods has a huge facility there.
Clinton was followed by democrat Jim Guy Tucker who would later be convicted on charges concerning the Whitewater affair. Lt Governor Mike Huckabee assumed the governors office when Tucker resigned under threat of impeachment.
Huckabee ended up having to raise takes by $505 million to spend on roads and schools.