Posted on 08/03/2007 6:10:10 AM PDT by yankeedame
The media waited less than 17 hours after the tragic bridge collapse before pointing fingers. At least one U.S. Senator, Patty Murray, seemed to blame Bush when she said yesterday that the Bush Administration has not supported Democrat efforts to increase spending on critical infrastructure. One of the problems here is that in so many instances a Democrat demand for infrastructure spending is merely a thinly disguised attempt to funnel money to construction unions as thanks for electoral and financial support.
Nick Coleman at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune says that this collapse never would have happened if it wasn't for Governor Tim Pawlenty (a Republican) and his refusal to raise taxes.
He writes:
"For half a dozen years, the motto of state government and particularly that of Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been No New Taxes. It's been popular with a lot of voters and it has mostly prevailed. So much so that Pawlenty vetoed a 5-cent gas tax increase - the first in 20 years - last spring and millions were lost that might have gone to road repair. And yes, it would have fallen even if the gas tax had gone through, because we are years behind a dangerous curve when it comes to the replacement of infrastructure that everyone but wingnuts in coonskin caps agree is one of the basic duties of government."
What Mr. Coleman fails to point out is that there was no need for a tax increase. None. Because at the time when Governor Pawlenty vetoed this 5-cent gas tax increase, the state of Minnesota already had a $2.1 billion budget surplus. This surplus came from over-taxation.
Over-taxation in America? Imagine that!
And around the same time that the Governor vetoed the tax, the state legislature passed an amendment to spend all, rather than half, of the motor vehicle sales tax revenue on transportation. This added $60 million a year to road, bridge and transit spending. And that is expected to more than double in five years.
Coleman wants us to believe that more taxes would have saved these people, and it is all the Governor's fault for refusing to increase those taxes. The fact is that the problem wasn't low taxes, the problem was fiscal irresponsibility.
Let's take a look at Citizens for Government Waste's "The Pig Booklet" for the state of Minnesota for the year 2006. Take a look at all of the "pork" projects. I'll give you a taste of a few:
And the list goes on and on, folks. This was all tax money spent in Minnesota while that bridge remained un-repaired. Now we're told that the problem is that taxes weren't high enough.
Why are MN taxpayers funding ND art museums?..........
I just heard it was fatigue.
I agree.
Light Rail is a terribly expensive boondogle. I realize that the federal govt financed the majority of it - but more than enough came from the state of Minnesota. We could have used that money for road and bridge repair.
They certainly have a "bumper crop" there..........
I didn’t hear it personally, but one of the local radio personalities here in Duluth has heard Hizzoner Representative Jim Oberstar blaming George Bush for this one, too!
The Dims and the MSM love this stuff....gory sensationalism and more reasons to have to raise taxes (never mind cut spending)!
Militant
Is it Bush’s fault that the congressionals from Minnesota didn’t ask for some money to be appropriated for bridge repairs?
Should Bush had walked over to the Minnesota delegation and stuffed some good old cashola into their pockets and said, “Here’s some money for you folks in Minnesota. You need to really look at the safety of your bridges.”
Next time you’re pointing fingers at the White House, think about how cozy and cute the new bear exhibit is going to be at your zoo.
Add that to the new sports stadium and you could have an additional $776 million.
Wake up all you people who are elected. You took an oath of office to look after things for us taxpayers. When you let bridges fall on our heads, you aren’t looking after us.
Maybe your next campaign motto ought to be “Buy Bolts Not Bears.”
Shame on each and every one of the politicians who could have brought up a budget request for bridge and road safety.
I think when taxpayers get killed because you don’t look after public safety, you ought to be able to be recalled. Immediately. Clean out your desk and get out of town. You have funerals to go to.
What????????? Monkeys can’t fly?
Not just the media. Every state government, the federal government, and anyone with a PhD who is on the government teat seemed to want to chime in about the subject.
Hold on to your wallets, folks. By the time the knee-jerk taxing is finished, you're going to have to cut back on something.
Minnesota is where North Dakotites go in the winter...
None of what they say may be true but the uncritical, undereducated general public out there will suck it up as true. The rat party has refined Goebbel’s “big lie told enough times” to a fine art and the gop doesn’t have the nads to stand up to them and call them the liars they are.
The other thing not considered is that yes, the interstate is a federal roadway. This means that the roadbed belongs to the fed and they contract repairs for that part. The bridges are the responsibility of the states because bridges are a part of their infrastructure and the state receives fed money to keep up the interstate bridges.
We also own a section of Western Wisconsin where our non-tax paying population resides.
Do they pay excise tax on their vehicles in Minn.? If so, isn’t that money for road and bridge repair?
The defects in the bridge were reported during the Klinton administration. Hillary’s fault!!!
“WERE doing maintenance work? How would more taxes have helped?”
How old are you? Its so simple. More tax money means more union road workers leaning on shovels watching one guy do the work. This means more union dues going to Dem. candidates which means more dem. politicians. More dem politicians means more taxes. More taxes means more union guys leaning on shovels... Its so simple!
Over the 4th of July weekend my fiance and I were driving through Philly. RT 95 lost two lanes for road construction on the Saturday of the 4th of July weekend. I mean, who travels on the 4th of July weekend? I don’t think anyone travels during the 4th of July. These guys were getting triple time to stand there and laugh as traffic ground to a halt.
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