Posted on 05/17/2005 12:36:07 PM PDT by katieanna
WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled Senate brushed aside a presidential veto threat Tuesday and passed a $295 billion highway bill, arguing that massive spending on bigger and better roads was necessary to fight congestion and unsafe roadways.
Give me a V
Give me an E
Gime me a T
Give me an O
Yeah. I saw another one a while back that had a fold up rotor disk on it that would drive like a motorcycle on the ground.
I think it would make more sense to have cut, or at least frozen, other spending to make funds for the highway bill available without an increase. Supporters of the bill are correct in saying that next to Defense it's Infrastructure that is most important to maintain.
Bush ought to have proposed (unpopular freezes or cuts), and Senate Republicans should have backed him up on it, making it a trade for the highway bill both parties in the Senate wanted to get.
Oh, sorry. That would've required Democrats to have behaved like educated, civilized representatives of the people. My bad.
Every time I get a telephone call from the RNC wanting a contribution, I say, "Fine, I'll give you $100 for every major spending bill Bush has vetoed. Now, how much do I owe you?"
On April 13, 1992, water from the Chicago River poured into a breach in the 63 mile freight tunnel system that crisscrosses underneath the heart of the City of Chicago. That Monday morning the Chicago River started pouring into the tunnel system through bridge pilings driven into the tunnel near the Kinzie Street Bridge. A 20 foot wide hole broke into the roof of a tunnel 20 feet below the river bed and 50 feet below street level. More than 200 million gallons of water quickly began flooding the basements and electrical controls of over 300 buildings throughout the downtown area. An estimated 1.3 million people were evacuated from Chicago’s loop that morning. Chicago came to a standstill- the financial markets, the commodities markets, the banks and all major businesses were closed. ...
None of the above are part of our INFRASTRUCTURE.
OK, I was off on the dates. I am getting old faster than I thought!
I mentioned an entire industry of hard working professionals doing work in exchange for compensation and providing a service to the travelling public, not a bunch of freeloading scumbags.
What industry are you in?
Take my word for it; the social infrastructure is just as important to its constituency (hospitals, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, farmers,) as the physical infrastructure is to our construction guys. There is always a plausible excuse to spend money. BTW, I thought the national highways were part of the defense infrastructure. I guess the tanks will be rolling up those bike paths any day now.
So that makes me a liberal? Besdies, I mentioned the industry as a whole, not just me personally.
Bush has not used his veto power since he came into office. He obviously likes to be seen as someone who gets along with people.
But I don't think he can afford not to veto this bill unless they cut out most of the excess spending. Once he raised the threat he really put his credibility on the line. Especially since, as previous comments on this thread indicate, he has a considerable reputation among conservatives as a big spender.
Hey, who knows? This may turn out as well as that fiscally responsible little road project in Boston!
I guess Democrats are not the only doom and gloomers.
Rt 495 bridge, Lawrence Massachusetts
71 posted on 05/17/2005 1:37:06 PM PDT by ARCADIA (Abuse of power comes as no surprise): "Take my word for it; the social infrastructure is just as important to its constituency (hospitals, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, farmers,) as the physical infrastructure is to our construction guys. There is always a plausible excuse to spend money. BTW, I thought the national highways were part of the defense infrastructure. I guess the tanks will be rolling up those bike paths any day now."
OK, I haven't been that way in a while. I wouldn't know what the holdup was.
Here in CT, we had a bridge on I-91 tht was held up for quite some time because the DOT wouldn't issue a transport permit for the new bridge beams to be used in a DOT project. Sometimes the oversight is amazingly stupid.
I noticed that tidbit and knew right then & there it was absolutely not worth trying to have a logical conversation with that kind of idiocy.
Agreed. Made no sense to me either.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.