McCain Has a Bridge He Wants to Sell You

It's not in Brooklyn:

Republican John McCain said Wednesday that the bridge collapse in Minnesota that killed 13 people last year would not have happened if Congress had not wasted so much money on pork-barrel spending.

Federal investigators cite undersize steel plates as the "critical factor" in the collapse of the bridge. Heavy loads of construction materials on the bridge also contributed to the disaster that injured 145 people on Aug. 1, according to preliminary findings by the National Transportation Safety Board.

"The bridge in Minneapolis didn't collapse because there wasn't enough money," McCain told reporters while campaigning in Pennsylvania. "The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was spent on wasteful, unnecessary pork-barrel projects."

I never took physics, but I'm pretty sure it collapsed because it wasn't strong enough to hold the weight it was bearing.  It probably would have held up if some money had been spent to strengthen it, but the Republicans neglected infrastructure investment the entire 12 years they controlled Capitol Hill, because they were more concerned with tax cuts to the rich and war in Iraq.  

But the man does offer a compelling argument against electing a Republican Congress.

Also, does McCain think he's already been elected President?  Doesn't he know that he shouldn't be blaming Congress, especially his own Republican leadership, while he's still a member of Congress?  

And I love this:

"I think there is a long, long list of earmarks which went to unnecessary and unwanted projects that I think should have gone to the bridge in Minnesota," McCain said.

"I don't know whether it would have gone or not, but if you're spending $223 million on a bridge in Alaska to an island with 50 people on it ..."

McCain said such projects "have everything to do with the power and influence of an individual congressman or senator and has nothing to do with the actual transportation needs of the United States."

On the same day, McCain was confronted with an earmark he did consider worthy. During a forum at Lehigh Valley Hospital, he met a woman with ovarian cancer who was treated in a clinical trial funded with $80 million in congressional earmarks.
The hospital was showing off an electronic medical records system that is virtually paper-free.

McCain insisted he was not trying to have it both ways and said that deserving projects can get money through regular channels.

"It's the process I object to," he said. "I'm sure that I can give you a list of projects the Mafia funds, and they would probably be good projects. But I can't give you a justification for the Mafia. I can't give you a justification for the corruption that's been bred which has sent members of Congress to the federal prison," he said.

Did John McCain just compare Ted Stevens to a tool of the Mafia?  

•  McSame wants a gas tax repreive that takes away

  $$$ for highways and infrastructure.

  Flip flop.

  by Sam Loomis on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:46:57 PM PDT

  •  Exactly - Obama showing his cajones on this one

    McClinton and McCain aping one another, falling over one another in a race to pander to the lowest common denominator, while Obama rightly points out that the half a tank of gas you'll be able to buy means the potholes they won't fix because of the lack of federal highway funds from the tax will cost you another whole tank of gas, anyway.

    by TheCrank on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:49:36 PM PDT

    •  and EVERY ECONOMIST worth their salt

      agrees with Barack, what a surprise the MSM doesn't mention shit about that

      by Irixsh on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:52:32 PM PDT

      •  Reuters did.

        by Sam Loomis on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:53:10 PM PDT

        •  was that in between stories of Wright

          wiping his bottom with the US flag??? I must have missed it in the clutter

          by Irixsh on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:57:40 PM PDT

    •  Those greedy bastards would only raise it more

      While they laugh at me and my disappearing bank account.

      by Sam Loomis on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:52:42 PM PDT

  •  reprieve

    by Sam Loomis on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:51:44 PM PDT

  •  Can you do me a favor

    Find me something harder than a steel gusset plate to bang my head against?

    Thx.

    by Joe Bob on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:53:20 PM PDT

    •  Steel gusset plate with a side of road salt?

      Less than 3/4-inch thick... Toss liberally with rust.

      Gusset Plate Design Specifications

      by bushondrugs on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:57:44 PM PDT

    •  McCain and/or Bush's skulls. n/t

      by Skid on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:15:53 PM PDT

    •  Well, I don't know about a steel gusset plate

      specifically, but I bet if you stand under a bridge long enough...

      by The Gryffin on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:18:53 PM PDT

  •  Got Potholes?

    in your state? Not to mention "deficient-rated" bridges, etc.

    I'll gladly pay the gas tax. It's Exxon-Mobil's OBSCENE profits that incense me. HRC is advocating a windfall profits tax as a substitute? No, let's do that in addition, and get some more crumbling infrastructure fixed--and create some good-paying construction jobs as a byproduct.

    by earicicle on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:55:21 PM PDT

    •  Profit percentage has not increased

      Take a look at Exxon's revenue versus their profit.  They're still only making seven percent.

      by i8pikachu on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 09:55:10 PM PDT

      •  Are you f***ing kidding me? Anyone coming here to

        defend the MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE profits of ExxonMobil et. al. ("only 7%"=BILLIONS in record profits every quarter) might as well be wearing a giant neon sign saying "I'm a Republican and/or corporated-financed troll troll ginormous troll."

        The oil companies are clearly manipulating the market. They're only avoiding criminal/Congressional investigation b/c our leaders have sunk almost as low as their corporate masters.

        Get thee gone, i8pikachu (R-Exxon).

        by earicicle on Thu May 01, 2008 at 02:32:02 AM PDT

        •  Do you have proof?

          Do you have proof that the oil companies are "clearly" manipulating the market?  It would seem to me that if they were manipulating the market, that they would increase their prices together while forcing lower prices for themselves on oil.

          by i8pikachu on Thu May 01, 2008 at 11:41:54 AM PDT

    •  Yup.

      
      [The original photo I used is via a Creative Commons license]

      I was really angry when McCain first proposed this crap... then when Hillary decided to join the Pander Express, that did it.

      I so want this primary over...

      by highacidity on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 11:15:16 PM PDT

  •  Gas tax holiday/earmarks

    Stripping the transportation budget and bashing the "bridge to nowhere", McCain sure has convinced me of one thing: he really hates bridges.

    by ManahManah on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:06:19 PM PDT

    •  And civil engineers. n/t

      by JeffW on Thu May 01, 2008 at 06:39:56 AM PDT

  •  I'll just keep repeating this:

    McCain Rule Prime: It's not what he does, it's what he says he'll do.  And if that doesn't paint him in the best light, then SHUT YOUR HIPPIE MOUTH!

    This is how he operates.  This is how journalists and politicians allow him to operate.  He'll do it on taxes, war, crime, and every other subject he's asked about.

    by electricgrendel on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:13:07 PM PDT

  •  McCain diminates!

    by Liberal Youth on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:31:31 PM PDT

•  His strategy

  grows more puzzling by the day. He is inextricably bound to both President Bush and to the Republican Congress. And he keeps drawing attention to it.

  Good. He should keep going.

  by MeMeMeMeMe on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:47:33 PM PDT

•  He was against pork before he was for it

  by TheCrank on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:47:43 PM PDT

  •  Just as he was against torture before

    he was for it.

    How many media BBQ's does it take to avoid getting tagged with the flip-flopper label? I guess John Kerry didn't have a good baby back rib recipe or something.

    by earicicle on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:50:52 PM PDT

    •  This argument is only effective

      with people who actually have a conscience and want to do something.  McCain is not one of those people.
      McCain's role is to take orders.  He's an obedient bloke.  And what I've just realized is that obedience doesn't just have the potential to promote risky and irrational and violent behavior; that's its inevitable result.  

      Just as power has to hurt to be felt, obedience has to produce violence to be evident.  That's it's main function--to overcome the natural prudence and interest in self-preservation that produces self-control and self-direction.
      Obedience is the antithesis of self-control.  That's why McCain exhibits those maverick behaviors.  

      by hannah on Thu May 01, 2008 at 02:21:48 AM PDT

  •  Not the first time

    Yglesias

    First, John McCain says he'll veto any bill that contains earmarks. Second, ThinkProgress notes that American aid to Israel is handled through earmarks and wonders if McCain plans on cutting that. McCain's campaign responds, of course, that aid to Israel will keep flowing.

    by ManahManah on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:10:35 PM PDT

•  Covering this story,

  Fox News will probably put a "D" by Ted Stevens' name.

  by sunbro on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:48:55 PM PDT

  •  And probably show a picture of

    Thaddeus Stevens.

    by Its the Supreme Court Stupid on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:56:24 PM PDT

•  So that is what the FBI is investigating.

  Ted Stevens is a tool of the mafia. Who wulda thunk it?

  by realalaskan on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:49:57 PM PDT

  •  The mafia is an organization

    held together by strict obedience.  That's why the government sees it as a competitor.

    Our Constitution allocates the use of physical force to deal with various kinds of assault and insult to the agents of government, conditioned on its being used according to very specific rules and regulations.  That is, if the agents of government are subservient (obedient) to the rule of law, we let them use force.  What's happened recently is that our agents of government have decided that because they have pledged their subservience to the law, they can use force whenever they want to.  

    This is the same rubric that the Mafia follows; that their oath of subservience to the authority of the Don (leader) permits the performance of violent acts without consequence.

    In the case of the agents of government, you could say that the pledge (intent) has come to replace the act.  The Mafia would never put up with that.  But then, the Mafia are honest about the fact that their intent is violent.  The agents of government are supposed to keep the peace.

    by hannah on Thu May 01, 2008 at 02:37:34 AM PDT

•  Dontcha see?

  It's saying things like that about Stevens that makes him a Maverick&trade

  by jazzmaniac on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:49:58 PM PDT

•  Stevens and McCain DO NOT get along

  I imagine Ted is going to hit the roof over this.

  by Angry White Democrat on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:50:10 PM PDT

  •  Pfft.

    Ted hits the roof if they run out of his favorite flavor of coffee creamer.

    by Kuparuk on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:51:39 PM PDT

    •  "Hulk Smash!"

      insert pic of Stevens and his Hulk tie...

      by Lurtz on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:53:35 PM PDT

  •  I think that bridge is already a punchline

    Not much more to lose over it. Stevens has probably already managed to squirrel away another $250 in other spending for Alaska.

    by Lurtz on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:52:36 PM PDT

  •  NO!!!

    I can just hear him now...

    by Lord Sphere on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:53:37 PM PDT

•  Also, infrastructure spending IS porkbarrel

  $millions to build or maintain bridges in one's congressional district (or funding a military base, or tax subsidies for some investment, and so on)is porkbarrel.

  If it's all porkbarrel, then all government spending is porkbarrel, so why aren't we nominating the 'real' libertarian, Ron Paul?

  He'll reduce the federal budget to zero and let God sort it (us) out...

  by Lurtz on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:51:26 PM PDT

  •  $1b for pork, -$1b for everthing else

    This is McCain's message.  I'm shocked to see people against it.  Pork has got to go!

    by i8pikachu on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 09:56:42 PM PDT

  •  Until the advent of government in the

    sunshine, civil rights and public accountability measures, all our elected officials did was dole out various benefits to their constituents (people allowed to vote who elected them).  They did that under the guise of allocating "rights."

    fishing rights
    hunting rights
    landing rights
    mineral rights
    rights of way
    development rights

    Civil rights, consumer rights and human rights were unknown quantities and, even when known, virtually impossible to hand out--i.e. frustrating as hell.
    Substituting dollars for projects and handing those out to the suddenly much more numerous constituents is a solution to the problem of what to do for the many.  The drawback is that dollars are easy to count and make it easy for the dissatisfied to know why.  

    The pork barrel is actually an attractive concept because it's not easy to tell what's hidden in it.  And the earmarks (secret allocations) serve the same purpose--to protect our elected officials from being accountable.

    See, it's not really much fun being an elected official if every tom, dick and harry can expect an explanation for each and every decision.

    by hannah on Thu May 01, 2008 at 02:51:41 AM PDT

•  here's the dirty scumbag trying to take more $$$$

  from road repairs and enrichen big oil that's setting record profits trying to make his ideas look good, somebody really needs to call him out on this in the msm, nevermind, they are stuck on his zipper at the moment

  by Irixsh on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:51:34 PM PDT

  •  You're for pork?

    McCain said the money should go through regular channels, not pork barrel spending.

    by i8pikachu on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 09:57:30 PM PDT

•  And he wants the gas tax holiday...

  ...taking money directly out of the budgets for road and bridge repairs, etc.

  Ugh, yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

  by pointsoflight on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:52:47 PM PDT

•  Do any of you Obama supporters...

  really believe that Barack could give you a list of projects the Mafia funds?

  And that's why I'll be voting for McCain this fall.

  ;-)

  by Trix on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:53:46 PM PDT

  •  Oil and gas costs are Reverends Wrights fault

    and forget you for thinking otherwise...If only that asshole would stop raising health care costs and causing terrorists to hate us, we would be good as apple pie...

    by Irixsh on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:56:34 PM PDT

    •  He's also responsible for...

      the recent rise in the price of bagels.

      by Trix on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:57:38 PM PDT

      •  Damn him, now John Hagee, there is an American

        red white and blue, I would love his endorsement as much as McCain, just as long as 9-11 was the gays, and the Aids fault, I can feel good about the fact that McCain doesn't know the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'te

        by Irixsh on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:00:00 PM PDT

        •  It doesn't really matter what you call them...

          in a million year's time, both the Sunnis and the Shi'tes will have become totally Americanized.

          by Trix on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:02:13 PM PDT

          •  Especially since they have been fighting about

            3000 years, while the US has been around about 200

            by Irixsh on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:20:55 PM PDT

  •  ".. and they would probably be good projects."

    That's my favorite part of his statement. Yes, yes, I'm sure the mafia funds excellent projects.

    by Lord Sphere on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:57:33 PM PDT

    •  LOL

      The Mafia is like the Red Cross and the Human Rights Campaign combined.

      by Trix on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:59:03 PM PDT

      •  But Tougher My Friend, Tougher

        by DHinMI on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:01:19 PM PDT

        •  Indeed

          if you don't accept their help, they break your legs.

          by Trix on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:03:13 PM PDT

    •  Pasta nights and free guns to employees. n/t

      by Skid on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:20:29 PM PDT

•  did he hit the bears again?

  it is almost not worth breaking down why its so stupid. we should mention stuff when its good. that would be news worthy. his default position is crap.

  by Liberal Youth on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:55:35 PM PDT

•  McCain doesn't know diddly about bridges.

  We don't need no stinkin' bridges in AZ

  by Desert Rose on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:56:59 PM PDT

  •  Isn't that where the London Bridge

    ended up?

    Lake Havasu City, AZ, right?

    by Brooke In Seattle on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:28:52 PM PDT

    •  Yes, its in Lake Havasu City, been there... nt

      by anth on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 10:46:00 PM PDT

      •  Did we need the London bridge? n/t

        by Desert Rose on Thu May 01, 2008 at 05:03:38 AM PDT

•  He's just trying to pass along ...

  ...the bridge he bought sight unseen. He's a very sad case who was once was his own man, he should have stuck to flying fighters.

  by Bobjack23 on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:57:54 PM PDT

  •  He crashed 5 in the short time before he was shot

    down. Don't think he was good at that, either.

    by laurak on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:05:52 PM PDT

    •  Yep but he was better at it than politics,

      by Bobjack23 on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:09:30 PM PDT

•  high speed train

  Did you hear Obama talking today about a high speed train in the midwest? I like that idea. Improve our railroad infrastructure and save energy at the same time. Yes.

  by loud zoo on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:57:58 PM PDT

  •  It's a proposal that's been around for awhile.

    You can find out more here.

    by TheElop on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:00:19 PM PDT

    •  We need 9

      super multi modal hubs (air, local rail, bus) around the country, linked with 300 mph trains, powered by algae-based biodiesel hybrid locomotives.

      The benefits spin off like crazy, for 100 years.

      Maybe the Mafia will fund it.  

      by RichRandal on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:14:59 PM PDT

  •  Did not hear about this talk but discussion of

    these types of good ideas is sorely needed, and would stand is sharp contrast to the types of discussions we have seen thus far in this presidential election cycle.

    This is one more reason for Obama to decline further toxic but otherwise meaningless debates, and talk instead directly to the electorate. Then again, perhaps the reason I did not hear of his remarks today is....because they were meaningful, and therefore not newsworthly?

    by Knarfc on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:07:51 PM PDT

  •  Sadly, Midwest HSR

    has been in the planning stages since the Clinton Administration. It has been shown that, with a Chicago hub, many city centers are close enough to make it work profitably (and that was with radically lower gas prices). Of course, little has been done since. We should be riding the rails by now.

    One note though, "high speed" here means 100+ mph (sometimes even 90 mph)-- nothing like TGV, unfortunately.

    by Olds88 on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:35:45 PM PDT

  •  Not Dissing the Midwest, but . . .

    Where bullet trains are even more urgently needed than Midwestern cities is along the I-5 (California) and I-95 (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) corridors.

    I don't know how LA's highway system was designed, but the NYC metro area's system as designed by Robert Moses was obsolete from the get-go.

    Right now the "fastest" train on the I-95 corridor is the Acelera, and that can't even run its top speed through NYC, Westchester and most of southern Connectict.

    by pfeffermuse on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:57:33 PM PDT

    •  Considering the cost

      of the Iraq War I don't think it would have to be an either/or. There is a history of opposition to railroad infrastucture by those who profit from no or fewer railroads. Freight is another example. It is far cheaper to move freight on the rails than in trucks. Our energy problems are getting to the point where we need a more efficient system. Midwest, East Coast, West Coast, everywhere. Don't get me talking about the maglev. Now that is expensive--but very cool.

      by loud zoo on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 09:43:43 PM PDT

  •  CA/NV Maglev

    Harry Reid gets about 1M/yr for the continuation of the study examining the possibility of a maglev from LA (Anaheim) to Las Vegas (airport).

    Its been in the planning stages since the early 1980s and has never gone anywhere.

    There have been other studies that would tie into this line - from SD up to LA, and up the coast to SF and over to Reno.

    by anth on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 10:50:03 PM PDT

•  I have to get in here with my rec

  for the title alone. It's really all McCain has to offer, other than fear.

  by 4Freedom on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:58:34 PM PDT

•  Design Flaw

  NTSB Early reports were I35W Collapsed due to a design flaw.

  http://www.startribune.com/...

  Federal officials investigating the Interstate 35W bridge disaster said Wednesday that they are looking at a possible design flaw in some of the steel plates under the bridge and issued an alert that added weight from construction work may have been a factor in its collapse.

  Given this design is in thousands of bridges, Houston we have a problem.

  by JML9999 on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 07:59:39 PM PDT

  •  No.

    The NTSB has released an interim report that has identified a design flaw in the gussets. They have not said the bridge collapsed due to that flaw. As your quote point out, it "may have been a factor."

    However, it isn't like the gusset problem came out of the blue. Bridge inspectors knew the bridge was in bad shape for years. They, in fact, worried about the possibility of it collapsing.

    http://www.startribune.com/...
    http://www.startribune.com/...

    This is an important point, because McCain will try to paint this as some unforeseen flaw, instead of a chronic maintenance problem. A problem that will only get worse by starving road and bridge funds.

    by Olds88 on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:29:09 PM PDT

    •  MN Veep Candidate Responsible?

      McCain's possible VP is Republican MN Governor Tim Pawlenty, who assigned his underqualified Republican Lt. Governor Carol Molnau as the head of the transportation department.  

      The State of MN transportation department knew of the issues for a number of years, but Carol Molnau did not want to spend the money to truly fix the problem.  Instead, a cheaper, less reliable approach of resurfacing the bridge was implemented.  It was during this resurfacing that the bridge collapsed.

      Carol happened to be in China during the collapse and was unable to provide any leadership in the aftermath and has since been ousted from her role in the Transportation Department (although, regrettably she is still Lt Governor).

      by Gumpster on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:39:48 PM PDT

      •  And lookee here at the timeline

        for the replacement and when they are finishing the center span.  Guess who's going to be in town in September when they get near the end of completing the structure of the bridge.

        35W Replacement Bridge Timeline

        Gov. TP and McW wearing their hardhats.... "It was only a year ago that we were here at the site of a tragedy.  Now we can see what Republican leadership can accomplish as we build a bridge to the 19th Century."

        by Slartibartfast on Thu May 01, 2008 at 08:11:32 AM PDT

•  Bomb, Mafia, Bitter, Cling, Activists, Obliterate

  ... Perhaps our current crop of presidential candidates could benefit from one page out of the playbook of Bush (that would be GHW Bush): a greater deference to the code of prudence.

  by Knarfc on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:00:17 PM PDT

•  Can we finally have Obama destroying that jerk?

  instead of useless fighting with pastors, Fox and a loser lady?

  by vanguardia on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:00:47 PM PDT

  •  It's already happening

    Even with the news media in McCain's corner, the American people aren't fooled:

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

    by Phoenix Woman on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:08:01 PM PDT

    •  So basically saying

      as long as Bush doesn't endorse Obama we'll be fine.

      by vanguardia on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:10:30 PM PDT

•  McCain wants to take "holiday" from bridge build.

  McCain wants to eliminate the gas tax which fund the bridge and road rebuild needed due to the decades of neglect under the Reagan/Bush/Bush administrations.

  McCain is pushing for a "gas tax holiday" which means a "holiday" from building roads and bridges unless McCain plans to borrow the lost $20B from China.

  by Tuscany on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:00:50 PM PDT

•  Apparently McCain has the same limited grasp of

  physics, metalurgy, and mechanical engineering that he does of economic policy.  Yes, pork barrel projects are sometimes wasteful, but that's not why the bridge in Minneapolis collapsed.  Let's face it, McCain is not a numbers guy and it seems that no one around him is either.

  by MrJersey on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:00:50 PM PDT

•  Speaking of infrastructure

  The Urban Land Institute  released its report.

  The pull-no-punches report says the United States is headed toward decline, and needs to wake up to the dire state of its infrastructure, but cautions that "political will may only emerge when people face imminent reward or immediate risk–a bridge collapse or a burst levee, and maybe not even then." The report estimates that the U.S. has at least a $170 billion annual funding gap in addition to its outmoded land use and infrastructure models. "America heads for a crisis in the next 10 years if nothing is done," warns the report.

  China spends more on infrastructure than the US..

  China leads the world in infrastructure spending topping out at $150 billion annually or 9 percent of its GDP

  by AbsurdEyes on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:02:45 PM PDT

•  After November John McCain will be quieter

  .. much, much, much, quieter.

  by apostrophe on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:03:43 PM PDT

•  So now we see McCain's strategy for

  dealing with Congress once he takes office:  He will make them an offer they can't refuse.

  (Uh, Ted, better double the guards on that prize racehorse of yours.)

  by Its the Supreme Court Stupid on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:03:55 PM PDT

•  Earmarks are because in a thug controlled

  congress you can't get stuff funded the regular way.(and they're still controlling congress by requiring 2/3 votes for everything) Earmarks are abused by thugs mostly, but my congresswoman uses them for stuff like clinic funding. Not all earmarks are pork.

  by laurak on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:03:56 PM PDT

  •  Actually, earmarks ARE the regular way...

    From talking to my sister, who is a Fed employee and actually works on part of the Federal budget...

    Earmarks are a catch-all process, a sort of "miscellaneous expenditure" category, for any and all Federal projects that don't, as she put it "fall within the strict definition of the agency's mission statement."  

    A lot of such projects are long-term research grants to universities, or funding for various programs that are useful and beneficial -- it's just that they don't meet the exact definitions of the line items in the federal budget.  

    Now, granted, some earmarks ARE pork -- though one Congressman's "pork" bridge to nowhere is another Congresswoman's children's cancer research program (which translates to jobs in her district, and a program that has been ongoing for perhaps a decade or more), or some other Congressman's alternative energy development program, or anther one's sports stadium, or medical or nuclear research in conjunction with a big university's science faculty. So they shouldn't be lumped all together -- they need to be evaluated with relation to costs, feasibility, practicality, and so on.  

    One of the best things Barack Obama has worked on in his time in the Senate was the "google government" program, where anyone can see just what all the earmark projects are, what they cost, and who is responsible for them being included in the budget. Accountability is something these projects need -- and then it's a lot easier for Congress and the public to see what spending on federal programs is wasteful and what is supporting long-term research projects that no commercial company would touch, because of the development time and limited profitability.  

    Now if you want to talk about WASTEFUL SPENDING, the millions we are spending in Iraq every week -- especially on all those contractors -- certainly deserve some more careful oversight.... It's absolutely appalling that after five years, the Iraq war is STILL being financed by supplemental funding, which keeps its enormous cost item from making our defense/military budget even higher than it already is...

    by JanetT in MD on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 09:52:39 PM PDT

•  Meanwhile we spend billions on bridges in Iraq...

  by msc on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:04:44 PM PDT

  •  Bridges too far

    by vanguardia on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:05:55 PM PDT

•  McCain Fights Other's Pork, Pushes His Own

  http://www.democrats.org/...

  by vanguardia on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:05:09 PM PDT

•  Um, let's compare the total cost of all

  pork (200+ billion, I think) to the cost of wasteful defense department programs (300-500 billion) and a useless war ($1 trillion).

  I guess he's forgotten how to do math.

  by Foxwizard on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:05:09 PM PDT

•  The Mafia funds good projects?

  WTF is he talking about?

  As many profoundly dumb things that have passed W's lips, this sort of stink is at another level.

  I guess it would matter if there were any real reporters or news editors in the traditional media.

  The media's failure takes the joy out of anticipating Obama counting coup in debates. (Which will be awesome to those of us with functioning brain cells.)

  by RichRandal on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:05:09 PM PDT

  •  Yeah, while we're on distractions, let's continue

    on to discuss what, pray tell, are the many worthwhile projects funded by the mafia?  R & D for quicker setting cement?  Less painful ways of tagging humans for the slave trade?  A high tech surveillance room for Uncle Vinny?

    by geomoo on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:12:18 PM PDT

  •  Mafia funds good projects like Cindy does,

    such as various charity tax write-offs and such.

    by Skid on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:27:32 PM PDT

•  Every time I start getting nervous

  about our prospects in November, John McCain opens his mouth, and I feel better.

  by RickMassimo on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:07:45 PM PDT

  •  Yeah but thats how I felt in 2000.

    Look what happened. Twice.

    by Skid on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:29:07 PM PDT

•  InsiderAdvantage NC: Clinton 44 Obama 42

  http://www.southernpoliticalreport.c...
  April 30, 2008 — A survey of 571 registered likely voters in North Carolina’s May 6 Democratic primary shows Sen. Hillary Clinton having moved from a double digit deficit in an InsiderAdvantage poll taken in mid-April to a two point lead over Sen. Barack Obama in this telephone survey, conducted April 29. The survey was weighted for age, race, gender, and political affiliation. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8%  

  The results were:

  Hillary Clinton: 44%
  Barack Obama: 42%
  Undecided: 14%

  Prior to his appearance on FoxNews Network’s "Hannity & Colmes," on which the poll was released, InsiderAdvantage’s Matt Towery noted: "The shift has come almost entirely from white voters age 45 and over. There was a small drift of African-Americans back towards Clinton, but not so significant as to establish any trend.

  "I believe when all is said and done, Obama will likely carry North Carolina; or if he loses the race, it will be by just a few points.

  "Our polling generally does not indicate the eventual compression of black voters that Obama usually enjoys just before Election Day. If that happens, my guess is that he will pull this out. However, this poll is clearly an indication of reaction to the latest statements by his former pastor; and it forces Sen. Obama to split resources between Indiana and North Carolina.

  "If this white vote shift does not erode, given that North Carolina’s white Democratic voters are primarily in the Research Triangle, where education and personal finances are in the top tier for the nation, then I would say this suggests a major shift in all future primaries towards Clinton," said Towery

  by Beauregard on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:09:38 PM PDT

•  Don't let them pull any "gusset design" shit

  The NTSB came out with an interim report saying the gussets were undersized-- it has not said the gusset design was responsible for the collapse.

  However, the media jumped on this as saying the collapse as if it were due to some unforeseen design error-- not maintenance. But the real story is that the state knew what bad shape this bridge was in. The gussets were bowed for years. It chose inspections over reinforcement in part due to money concerns:

  Internal MnDOT documents reviewed by the Star Tribune reveal that last year bridge officials talked openly about the possibility of the bridge collapsing -- and worried that it might have to be condemned.

  The documents provide the first look inside MnDOT's decision-making process as engineers weighed benefits and risks, wrestling with options to prevent what they believed was a remote but real possibility of the eight-lane freeway bridge failing.

  ...

  Dorgan and senior engineer Gary Peterson denied in interviews that money was a factor in deciding what to do with the Interstate 35W bridge, which was not due for replacement until 2022. They provided a written timeline showing that MnDOT supervisors on Nov. 1, 2006, funded the reinforcing project for $1.5 million, with work to begin in January 2008.

  But at least three internal documents suggest that money was a consideration.

  http://www.startribune.com/...

  by Olds88 on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:10:09 PM PDT

•  You could build a bridge to the moon

  with the money wasted in Iraq.

  by muledriver on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:15:32 PM PDT

•  My father...

  My father used to talk like that when he was in his 70's.  We would just tell him to go sit in the living room and watch TV while we made him some warm milk.

  by Tom Paul on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:16:12 PM PDT

•  DH, you heard GWB yesterday.

  Everything is Congress' fault. Everything!  Gas prices.  Housing market. Iraq.  All congress' fault.  You know that asparagus that I bought and left in the crisper?  Gettin' all slimy?  Yep.  Congress.  

  Bastards.

  by CJB on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:22:11 PM PDT

  •  But now you have compost!

    Be thankful.

    by Skid on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:32:05 PM PDT

    •  Spot on, actually! That's where it went. n/t

      by CJB on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:34:38 PM PDT

•  Yeah, right. He's not cutting the military pork.

  I would love for the transportation pork (and it definitely exists) to be redirected to spending on mass transit-infrastructure/reurbanization encouragement, but unless Paul Weyrich becomes Transportation Secretary, that ain't happening (Weyrich is a train buff [I'm willing to bet he has a massive model railroad in his basement] and supports such things].

  by DemocraticLuntz on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:24:22 PM PDT

•  No but...

  ...It's not in Brooklyn:

  ... it certainly is a bridge too far.

  by Bobjack23 on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:25:19 PM PDT

•  McCain's no fool

  It's very easy to be glib about McCain's flip-flops and apparent blunders but this type of tactical bait and switch works. He's running against Congress which has an even worse voter approval rating than Bush. Doesn't matter that the repugs have dominated for the last decade, his point, while bogus to any keen observer of Congress, will resonate with a large number of voters.  

  by detler on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:27:04 PM PDT

•  Please let McSame be dumb enuff to say that in MN

  We just passed our first gas-tax increase in over 20 years -- and Republicans crossed party lines to override Pothole Pawlenty's veto.

  We KNOW better, fool.

  by Phoenix Woman on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:31:13 PM PDT

  •  McCentury is trying to shield Pawlenty, I think

    shifting the blame elsewhere so his potential VP pick looks good

    by nicolemm on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:39:06 PM PDT

    •  I live in Minnesota and....

      I live in Minnesota and I have to say I find McCain's remarks absolutely disgusting.  

      Congrats on being the lowest denomiminator politician Mr.McCain.  You and your goopers sure do like politicizing disasters don't you?  What about New Orleans, my friend.  Was the disaster that fell on it caused by pork barrel spending?  Oh wait, it was us fags, wasn't it?  At least thats what all your religious buddies say.  

      As "not in Brooklyn" points out, perhaps it was underfunding several of our gov't's programs.  

      Perhaps it was your pal Pawlenty's tax cuts.  Perhaps it was Pawlenty's complete absence on the issue of transportation in MN.  Perhaps it was Pawlenty's awesome decision to combine the Lt. Gov and the head of MNDOT into one position.  Lt. Gov. Molnau was inept and she ran MNDOT ineptly.  She did not read bridge inspection reports.  Maybe it was people like Sonia Pitt, the director of Emergency Management(and hired by Molnau), who was on vacation when the bridge collapsed and didn't return for 10 days afterwards.  Negligent officials under Molnau's leadership?  ABSOLUTELY.

      Our highway infastructure has been crumbling for decades, and nothing has been done about it. Pawlenty and Molnau both knew this, but oh no, we can't raise taxes, can't raise the gas tax, or the sales tax in Minneapolis, oh no!  Taxes=death. God, forbid we fund something with taxes.

      Fuck you, McCain.  Fuck you, Pawlenty.  Fuck every last damn disaster politicizing Republican who blames the lack of revenue on whatever the issue of the day is and Democrats, and then refuses to raise taxes to meet our basic needs.

      In conclusion, if you want more negligent officials, if you want more lack of funding for basic needs, if you want no increases in revenue to provide for these basic needs, if you want more bridge collapses, go ahead- vote McCain.

      Taxes=death?   No, Republican bullshit=death.

      by josephcast on Thu May 01, 2008 at 08:15:16 AM PDT

•  $17.2 billion is the ceiling on pork for last

  year (what Citizens Against Government Waste, a far-right anti-spending group which publishes a "pig book" says).

  While too much, it is about 0.7% of total spending.

  That's probably not enough to even offset eliminating the gas tax.

  by DemocraticLuntz on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:33:23 PM PDT

•  I thought it was Don Young...

  ...with that bridge to nowhere, not Ted.

  Though stevens does get a TON of pork (you wouldn't believe!).

  Still, McCain has been railing against pork for years.  This is not inconsistant with his beliefs on the matter.  However it is disingenuous to say if we had less pork, the money would have gone to bridges.  

  It wouldn't have.  it would have gone to Iraq.  Or it would have gone to Halliburton to lose tens of millions of dollars of equipment and then bill the government for it.

  by DawnG on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:35:54 PM PDT

  •  We never had that money.

    It would've meant a bunch less debt, though.

    by DemocraticLuntz on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:36:56 PM PDT

•  Pork Barrel spending

  Why don't we call the spending on the Iraqi war as "Pork Barrel"? Certainly the funds are lining the pockets of military contractors, especially Halliburton, Blackwater, et al. Why don't they call THAT "pork barrel"?

  My main point in posting (first time on Daily Kos) is to say that I live in the Twin Cities and Transportation has been an extremely sore point of contention between our Repug Governor Tim Pawlenty and the MN Legislature (which is predominantly DFL, although there's a contingency of "Anti" Taxpayer League Republicans). Pawlenty vetoed three different Transportation bills that would have increased funding for, among other things, bridge repair and maintenance. Ol' Timmy tapped his Lieutenant Governor to serve a dual role as head of MnDOT. She basically wrecked the department, applauded each veto of bipartisan Transportation bills that had been passed in the MN Legislature. There has not been a single state gas tax increase in Minnesota for the past 20 years. Under Lt. Governor Molnau's "leadership," MnDOT asked a road construction contractor to front the funds for a construction job themselves because Pawlenty and Molnau wanted to keep in good graces with the Taxpayer League. (By the way, Pawlenty is working on McCain's campaign and there have been rumors that he's on the short list for the VP slot. Good riddance!)

  Since the bridge collapse, there have been many steps taken in the correct direction. The DFL-controlled MN Legislature passed a new Transportation bill and overrode Pawlenty's fourth veto. You should have heard the cries of outrage over the 2-cent increase in the state gas tax, which began on April 1st. (Incremental increases will be phased in until it rises to 8-cents per gallon.) Molnau is OUT as head of MnDOT. They closed the DeSoto bridge in St. Cloud, Minnesota, recently as MnDOT inspectors were alarmed to find four bowed gusset plates. (The DeSoto bridge is similar in design to the one that collapsed in Minneapolis on August 1st.) They've put the DeSoto bridge and another fault-critical bridge in Hastings on FastTrack.

  There's work to do and IT IS NOT PORK. Bridge and road maintenance have been starved for years now and we are working to catch up. Of course I don't want to spend more on gas than I have to--but I'd rather it go to maintaining our bridges and infrastructure than in the pockets of Big Oil.

  I'd like to see McCain meet the families that were personally affected by the 35W bridge collapse. I'd like him to look each one of them in the eye and hear their stories. It'll never happen (or in a very limited photo op, ala BushCo).

  by WobegonGal on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:38:28 PM PDT

•  As a resident of Minnesota

  and as someone who, over the years, has been over the (former) I35W bridge many, many times, I would like to take this opportunity to tell John McCain to FUCK THE HELL OFF.

   
  Stupid sick fuck.

   
  But it's only playing politics when Democrats point out that taking funding away from MNDOT was a direct cause of the bridge collapse. When Republicans use talk about the bridge collapse as a reason for cutting taxes/changing the rules to benefit them/as another excuse to trash Democrats even though the funding was all denied by a fucking Republican - oh, that's not politics. Oh, no, not at all.

   
  Go to hell, McCain. You make me sick.

  by Lashe on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 08:53:53 PM PDT

  •  It wasn't just taking money from MN DOT

    it was the willful incompetence of Morneau and Pawlenty, who I sincerely believe deliberately underfunded that agency in