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.
When reading about Soviet Communism, one aspect stuck with me, which is how the Communist society was always quick to play the blame game with every problem. Blame became more important than solutions.
My big question is where does the taxes on gasoline go? Not knowing what Minnesota may add in addition to the federal gas tax, but at least Minnesota is getting a kickback of the taxes collected from the feds. Where is this going? Isn’t the purpose of it to fix roads, and oh, bridges?? More likely, it is going to whatever social experiment boondoggle of the week that people like Nick Coleman get all chubbied up about.
I think all politicians are to blame.
Living here in the Twin Cities, I can assure you that blame game is not only restricted to a-holes like Nick Coleman.
Since Wednesday night, local news reporters have commented on the fact that Minnesota hasn’t raised its gas tax since 1988 and that GOP cuts in transit funding have led to this tragedy.
Here’s a letter to the editor in today’s StarTribune. Read it. You’ll see the Democrat blame game machine is only getting cranked up...
Americans should hold politicians accountable for preventable disasters like the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis and the levy failures in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
It has been far too easy for Republican politicians in particular to scoff at any tax increase that pays for needed services and infrastructure repairs while saying nothing about the hundreds of billions of dollars being wasted in the Iraq War debacle.
When one considers that these same politicians have allowed our nation’s infrastructure to deteriorate and fail in a way that leads to the loss of so many innocent lives, it reveals the ugly underside of our political landscape.
It is high time for our nation to hold politicians accountable for the lack of investment in our roads, bridges and transportation systems.
The next time one of these slick politicians says “no more taxes” during some political speech, I hope that Americans remember all the lives that were lost as a result of their shortsighted and irresponsible rhetoric.
CORBY PELTO, PLYMOUTH
I say let the citizens of Minnesota sort it out and get it fixed themselves. I want the Old Deal back.
sure glad we built that boondoggle LR line in the 55 corridor for the few thousand that may use it a day from the Mall to downtown...
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Why are MN taxpayers funding ND art museums?..........
$129,000 for state art grants for North Dakota museums and theaters?...........
Agreed. The media chanted all day yesterday that our entire national infrastructure has failed. Excuse me, but it was just one freak accident. We don't know why the bridge collapsed because they've not had time to get in there.
where does the taxes on gasoline go?
Here in Tn. Last year our Governor (D) balanced the state budget, says before leaving office he will see it paid back to road funding. Yeah!!! when monkeys fly!!!!!
Hello?
Weren't six of the eight lanes of the bridge closed because they WERE doing maintenance work? How would more taxes have helped? (And isn't it obvious that this maintenance work had something to do with the collapse, since the bridge was only carrying a quarter of its usual load due to the lane closures?)
ML/NJ
A guy that I served with in the USMC was from SD. He told me there was no such place as ND...................
Verdict first, trial second............
If Sen. Murray wants the states to use the gas tax money for road/bridge maintenance and repair, perhaps Congress should stop siphoning those funds off for their pet pork projects. One of the reasons we are hearing that there isn’t enough gas tax money to maintain roads and bridges is because Congress and state legislatures alike have taken the money and used it for other purposes.
It seems that these finger pointing senators always forget that every time they point their finger at the Bush administration, there are four others pointing back at them!!
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