Redstate

"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling

The sole purpose of the highway bill is pork distribution. The bill at issue here, today, is a supplemental military spending bill to support operations in Iraq. The sole reason for the pork here is to buy off Democrats so Miss Nancy can win a Pyhrric Victory before finally passing legislation POTUS will sign.
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Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

It looks like from reading the soup in there that the DOT cash is being appropriated from the Highway Trust Fund.

Folks may complain about pork, but its pork that's paid for dedicated user fees.

Now you can quibble about some of the specific expenditures, but given the expected growth in traffic and especially in freight, the overall federal highway program is a vital economic engine.

Folks who worry about job exportation and outsourcing ought to be beating the drums for a fuel tax hike in 2009 (one is likely anyway), we've already paid a premium on gas since the last bill without crashing the economy, so adding 20, 25 cents to the gallon will pay for billions of new lanes, new roads and the like - all of which generates construction jobs and manufacturing jobs in the U.S. due to the "buy America" provisions in the bill.

"...so adding 20, 25 cents to the gallon will pay for billions of new lanes, new roads and the like - all of which generates construction jobs and manufacturing jobs..."

Sounds very "New Deal" to me. Big FDR fan are we?

Well, as much as I like the idea of the New Deal, this is much more about taking care of what we have and preparing for increases in population and freight movements in the coming years.

You have freight industries like trucking and rail screaming for capacity increases - the railroads looking for capital tax credits, and trucks looking for more lanes and less congested highways - the DOT has already made congestion relief a priority.

Heck, in 2002/03, the DOT did a needs assessment that called for a $375 billion bill - but we ended up at a $286.5 billion or so.

While the interstate system is built, its capacity is being stressed, and in some areas, now it needs to be rebuilt or overhauled. The roads paid for by fuel taxes aren't built in China then shipped over, and the users of those roads are American motorists and American trucking companies, so why not make an investment here?

Transportation is a place where voters don't mind spending money, as evidenced by 70% or so of local and state fee/tax hikes and bonding passing in the last three election cycles.

International container freight is expected to double in the next 25-30 years or so, and it has to move from the West Coast to consumers east of California.

Politically, I do tend to lean left, but as many transportation officials will say: there are no Republican roads nor Democratic bridges.

Since when does a honest Republican consider a highway bill pork distribution. Only a Democrat would even suggest such a thing.

Dragon

We have no room to complain? I suppose if you consider yourself a republican first and a conservative second, then that might be true. But for those of us who adhere to Mike Pence's stance (a.k.a. "I'm a Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican... in that order"), we were complaining about the highway bill before it was even signed in 2005. It was the RSC that came out bashing the bill and informed the press of all of the pork (i.e. the "Bridge to Nowhere"). So do we have a right to complain? I'd say we not only have a right, we have a responsibility to complain whether it is a democrat or a republican congress that is recklessly spending out tax money. I can honestly say that if the republican-led congress had been more fiscally responsible, I would have actually voted in 2006. Instead, I sat out my first election since I became eligible to vote. Just because both democrats and republicans do it doesn't make it right and doesn't mean we have no right to complain about it.

Well said. Your right, we do have the right and the responsibility to complain. I posted those facts to show that we have to clean up our own act before we can take the moral high ground.

It is hard for me to believe that we have sunk to such levels that the highway bill is now a pork distribution system. Ronald Wilson Reagan is rolling over in his grave.

I too felt the Republican Party was drifting away from the Republican ideals. Finally, I woke up and realized, it was not me who left the party but the elected Republicans who deserted the party.

I had posts over a year ago complaining about the massive deficits and the increase from 4000 to 16000 lobbyists.

I will not blindly vote for someone who calls himself a Republican. I will vote for the person who is best for this country. It’s time to start voting to protect American interests.

Dragon

Both voted against Coburn's amendment.

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NARF

Lott and McConnell in rejecting the Coburn amendment. My 2 Indiana Senators voted for the amendment.

You’re a persistent cuss, pilgrim.
John Wayne to Jimmy Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Not Voting - 4
Enzi (R-WY)
Johnson (D-SD)
McCain (R-McCain)
Nelson (D-NE)

I confess. I kinda modified party affiliation from what Roll Call recorded for McCain. I just wanta be accurate. :)

You’re a persistent cuss, pilgrim.
John Wayne to Jimmy Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

the roll call vote is up at Thomas
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm...

You’re a persistent cuss, pilgrim.
John Wayne to Jimmy Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

It is even worse than it looks. If all Republicans had voted together for this it would have passed with flying colors. It is not even the usual Republican suspects that sunk this:
Allard (R-CO)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Domenici (R-NM)
Lott (R-MS)
McConnell (R-KY)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Are these guys really this politically stupid? This bill is headed for a Bush veto anyway. The Democrats are giving a campaign issue two-fer: anti-war and pro-pork. At least vote against the pork. Didn't you learn anything from the last election?