COL Gene

Join Date 09/2004

Bush Opposes Funding Bridge Repairs

President Bush expressed his opposition to an increase in the Federal Gasoline tax to provide the needed funding to deal with the 70,000 bridges that are in need of repair. The Chairman of the House Transportation Committee has proposed a 5 Cent increase in the 18.4 cent Federal gasoline tax to help provide the federal contribution to the Bridge Repairs. Bush only wants to look at reallocating the $24 Billion in Highway funds that are allocated by Earmarks. The vast majority of the $286 Billion of Federal Highway funds are given directly to the states for allocation to repairs within each state.

Here again we see the faulty judgment of Bush. The man wants to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic rather then steer away from the ice burgs. The magnitude of repairing 70,000 bridges is such that without added money the job can not be accomplished. President Bush is obsessed with not increasing taxes even when there is a clear NEED for more funding. We saw this in Katrina which is the LARGEST disaster we ever had in the United States. We see it in paying for the Trillion dollar war in Iraq. We see it in his refusal to increase taxes to fund Social Security and Medicare.

His father made a stupid pledge of “NO NEW TAXES”. However when it became clear to Bush 41 that added tax revenue was needed to move toward a balanced budget, he did what was needed not was good from him politically. GWB has not such integrity or vision of doing what is needed and right for the long term needs of our country. GOD help the next President. The unresolved issues that GWB will hand the 44th President will be daunting!

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Yet another BUSH lie article.

Bush opposes new taxes for funding bridge repairs because there are far too many questions about the way congress people continue to slip ear-mark after ear-mark of (many times) unneeded pork-barrell projects into the roads and transportations bills -- ear-marks to build bridges to no-where, and things like that.

Bush has said that he will not allow gasoline tax increases for transportation funding until after congress cleans up it's own act and stops wasting money on things that are not needed.

After that, he's open to suggestion and negotiation about funding items that are deemed necessary.

Nice try hypocrite (that means you Clueless One).

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If Congress didn't ear-mark the funding to unnecessary projects, we'd have enough money for our transportation without raising taxes, even with a war in Iraq.

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Reply By: terpfan1980 Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
Yet another BUSH lie article.

Bush opposes new taxes for funding bridge repairs because there are far too many questions about the way congress people continue to slip ear-mark after ear-mark of (many times) unneeded pork-barrell projects into the roads and transportations bills -- ear-marks to build bridges to no-where, and things like that.

“Bush has said that he will not allow gasoline tax increases for transportation funding until after congress cleans up it's own act and stops wasting money on things that are not needed.

After that, he's open to suggestion and negotiation about funding items that are deemed necessary.

Nice try hypocrite (that means you Clueless One).”

It is time for Congress to give Bush a Lesson on the responsibilities of the Legislative Branch. That is the branch that sets spending NOT the President. Congress is the DECIDER when it comes to spending and taxes. It is time to pass the needed legislation and override the Veto of Bush and show him that HE DOES NOT have to power of the purse!

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Reply By: Jythier Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
“If Congress didn't ear-mark the funding to unnecessary projects, we'd have enough money for our transportation without raising taxes, even with a war in Iraq.” BS!

I agree the Earmarks should END. However, in total they are $24 Billion which will not come close to funding the repair of 70,000 bridges. We need BOTH an END to Earmarks and more money to repair bridges, and Fund Social Security and Medicare. Just think all the Highway earmarks are equal to what we are wasting in Iraq in TWO months!

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So which way do you want it?

1. Do you want lower prices at the pump?

-or-

2. Do you want to pay more in taxes for gas?

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Reply By: just john Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
So which way do you want it?

1. Do you want lower prices at the pump?

-or-

2. Do you want to pay more in taxes for gas?

That is not the question. The question is do I want the bridges my family and I drive over to be safe? YES YES YES! That will take money to insure they are safe!

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Here's the best part, the title says Bush Opposes Funding Bridge Repairs leading people to believe that Bush does not want to pay to fix the bridge. Instead it should have said Bush Opposes Gas Tax For Funding Bridge Repairs, talk about misleading. Then he writes on this same article Bush only wants to look at reallocating the $24 Billion in Highway funds that are allocated by Earmarks. which means that Bush does want to fix the bridge but from earmarks that he believe are not priorities. And he dares to say that Bush has "faulty judgment"? Sounds to me like he wants to fix the bridge with money that would otherwise be wasted. More like a good judgment than a faulty one.

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Island Dog

Join Date 06/2003

+1048

That is not the question. The question is do I want the bridges my family and I drive over to be safe? YES YES YES! That will take money to insure they are safe!

Then tell the states and federal government to stop spending their money on useless projects like sports arenas and get their act together.

You are something else gene. The first one to whine and cry about how bad the "poor" people are due to high gas prices, but yet here you are complaining about a tax.

You are a typical liberal who thinks the solution to every problem is raising taxes. The useless federal and state spending is the problem.

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I agree the Earmarks should END.

So then why did you not point this out in the article as well? Why do=id you just point to the part where Bush refuses but did not point to the Democrats being wrong as well. You see? This is what I mean by you not being balanced in placing blame where it belongs. Give the Democrats a pass in the article while condemning Bush. Nice job Col.

However, in total they are $24 Billion which will not come close to funding the repair of 70,000 bridges.

You're right, it's not enough, but you forget there is already money for this as well. In 2005 a $286 billion highway and transit bill was passed. The sad part is that much of this money was actually earmarked for projects that the states they were intended for had to match in order to use and because of this that money would not be used and instead wasted and lost. Here's one, remember earmark for the bridge to now-where for 223 million dollars? That came from these 286 million. Another thing you have to keep in mind Col which you seem to ignore quite often, 70,000 bridges can not be fixed over night, it would take many many years and a whole lot more money to fix them. Money that will come from future highway and transit bills.

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That is not the question. The question is do I want the bridges my family and I drive over to be safe? YES YES YES! That will take money to insure they are safe!

OK so that makes this question legit then:

2. Do you want to pay more in taxes for gas?

I don't. They need to stop earmarking and start spend the money more wisely. The problem is you keep thinking that more money is the solution to our problems when better management of the funds is the real solution. We only add more money when what we have is not enough, not when we mismanage and have to make up for it.

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Here's a hypothetical question:

If you have a child and he breaks a neighbors window. You apologize and pay for it. Then your son breaks another window in another house. What then, do you throw more money at it every time he breaks a window or do you stop him from breaking more windows?

Obviously this is bad money management because you fix the end result but maintain the problem which will result in a repetition of the end result and in turn costing more and more every time the problem repeats itself. The solution is to solve the problem and avoid the repetition which will result in a positive end result or an elimination of the end result.

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$342,857. Per bridge. How much does it cost to inspect a bridge? How much does it cost to repair a bridge before it collapses? How much does it cost after it collapses?

I'm sure plenty of the bridges just need to be inspected to be sure they're not falling down. Others need some repairs. Between the two I think an average of $343k isn't too bad.

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I like pie.

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That is not the question. The question is do I want the bridges my family and I drive over to be safe? YES YES YES! That will take money to insure they are safe!

The vast majority of the $286 Billion of Federal Highway funds are given directly to the states for allocation to repairs within each state.

So you want an increase in the gas tax to pay more money to the states that are not fixing the bridges with the $286 billion that they already get. I'm confused.

No more confused though than you camplaining about the high price of gas and then wanting to add 20% of the latest price drop in gas prices back to the bottom line. I guess it's only ok when the government makes you pay more for gas.

BTW- Why didn't you write a blog about the drop in gas prices?

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I like pie.

So does Gene... as long as the only person who profits from the sale of the pie is the government.

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Reply By: CharlesCS1 Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
Here's the best part, the title says Bush Opposes Funding Bridge Repairs leading people to believe that Bush does not want to pay to fix the bridge. Instead it should have said Bush Opposes Gas Tax For Funding Bridge Repairs, talk about misleading. Then he writes on this same article Bush only wants to look at reallocating the $24 Billion in Highway funds that are allocated by Earmarks. which means that Bush does want to fix the bridge but from earmarks that he believe are not priorities. And he dares to say that Bush has "faulty judgment"? Sounds to me like he wants to fix the bridge with money that would otherwise be wasted. More like a good judgment than a faulty one.

No it is the same old refrain NO TAX INCREASES. Bush wants to reallocate NOT provide added money. I agree we should not use EARMARKS which were at an all time high when the GOP was in control of Congress. That does not address the 70,000 bridges that require work. If you or Bush believes that reallocating 24 Billion will provide all the needed funds, you are both in denial. Again it is NOT up to Bush it is the decision of Congress who under our system has the power of the purse. Bush thinks he in the DECIDER for all aspects of the federal government. HE IS WRONG!

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Reply By: Island Dog Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
“That is not the question. The question is do I want the bridges my family and I drive over to be safe? YES YES YES! That will take money to insure they are safe!

Then tell the states and federal government to stop spending their money on useless projects like sports arenas and get their act together.

You are something else gene. The first one to whine and cry about how bad the "poor" people are due to high gas prices, but yet here you are complaining about a tax.

You are a typical liberal who thinks the solution to every problem is raising taxes. The useless federal and state spending is the problem.”

IF you look back over my Blogs you will see I have called for an END to PORK and EARMARKS which were at an ALL TIME HIGH under Bush and the GOP controlled Congress. There were ten time more earmarks under the GOP then under then Democrats!

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Reply By: Jythier Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
“$342,857. Per bridge. How much does it cost to inspect a bridge? How much does it cost to repair a bridge before it collapses? How much does it cost after it collapses?

I'm sure plenty of the bridges just need to be inspected to be sure they're not falling down. Others need some repairs. Between the two I think an average of $343k isn't too bad.”

I bet you can not do any major Bridge Repair for $343,000. That is Chump Change when talking about major bridge repairs.

The real issue is that Bush wants to prevent a tax increase even though a lot of money will be needed to deal with a problem of this size. It is the same approach no matter what the issue. The Social Security Trustees have estimated it will take almost $5 Trillion dollars of ADDED money to pay the Social Security Benefits to the baby Boomers. GOD knows what the number is for Medicare. We have a Trillion Dollars spent on the Iraq War and how much for Katrina. Bush has not requested not said he would support one cent on money to pay for all these issues. He passed a $60 Billion per year entitlement with Part D under Medicate and did not provide ONR CENT to pay for it. That is irresponsible!

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Bridge repairs, no, not 343k. But bridge maintenance? I bet we can maintain our bridges just fine. Then they won't collapse or need major repairs.

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No it is the same old refrain NO TAX INCREASES. Bush wants to reallocate NOT provide added money. I agree we should not use EARMARKS which were at an all time high when the GOP was in control of Congress

Gotta wonder why we should give more to something that was already given money before. If it was gonna cost more, why did we not give more in the first place? BTW, you really need to stop leaving the Democrats out of things when they are just as much responsible for these earmarks as the GOP is.

That does not address the 70,000 bridges that require work. If you or Bush believes that reallocating 24 Billion will provide all the needed funds, you are both in denial

So I guess the $286 billion highway and transit bill of 2005 was for anything else other than bridges? The only one here in denial is you because you won't even address these $286 billion of which the Democrats earmarked 223 million to that "bridge to nowhere". Talk about being blind.

Again it is NOT up to Bush it is the decision of Congress who under our system has the power of the purse. Bush thinks he in the DECIDER for all aspects of the federal government. HE IS WRONG!

I'm curious, if it's not up to the President then why does the bill have to be passed to him? Why does it need his approval and why does he have the power to veto if he does not have the power of the purse? I mean if this is illegal in some way than Congress is stupid for letting him get away with a crime, but if not I don't see where he is wrong here.

You however never address the issue and instead changed you stance on Bush not wanting to fix the bridges to Bush not giving enough to fix all the bridges. Make up your mind, you sound like Hillary catering to the audience in front of her. In this case the question posed

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Bridge repairs, no, not 343k. But bridge maintenance? I bet we can maintain our bridges just fine. Then they won't collapse or need major repairs.

Please, Col does not understand this. His idea is to replace something used with something new. I bet he probably changes his car every time he needs an oil change. probably does it with tax payers dollars too.

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Reply By: just john Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
So which way do you want it?

1. Do you want lower prices at the pump?

-or-

2. Do you want to pay more in taxes for gas?

That is not the question. The question is do I want the bridges my family and I drive over to be safe? YES YES YES! That will take money to insure they are safe!

he wants higher prices at the gas pump as long as the democrats control the money.

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Reply By: Jythier Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
“Bridge repairs, no, not 343k. But bridge maintenance? I bet we can maintain our bridges just fine. Then they won't collapse or need major repairs.”

Per the Civil Engineers, we need more then $1.7 TRILLION dollars of repair to the infrastructure of this country which includes more the just our bridges. The amount of money far exceeds anything currently available. That is more that all the state budgets combined for years. For example the TOTAL state Budget for Pennsylvania, one of the larger states, is $26 Billion. $1.7 Trillion is 65 Times the total PA budget in 2007.

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Reply By: danielost Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
Reply By: just john Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
So which way do you want it?

1. Do you want lower prices at the pump?

-or-

2. Do you want to pay more in taxes for gas?

That is not the question. The question is do I want the bridges my family and I drive over to be safe? YES YES YES! That will take money to insure they are safe!

he wants higher prices at the gas pump as long as the democrats control the money.

Let’s face facts.

First, gas prices have NEVER been higher then now under GWB>

The Republicans have spent more, had more PORK and EARMARKS then the Democrats have EVER had.

The largest increase in entitlements took place with the Prescription Drug Plan under Bush and the GOP controlled Congress.

It is PURE HYPOCRACY for any Bush supporter to complain about the spending of the Democrats. The GOP has out spent, and approved more pork then anything the Democrats EVER accomplished. In addition, it has all been put on the tab so not only did the GOP outspend the Democrats but we can now pay interest on that spending spree for decades to come! Bush signed every one of those bills that has spent us into debt! WHERE WAS THE BUSH VETO PEN to stop all that spending, PORK and EARMARKS?????????

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the Prescription Drug Plan

now he wants to take drugs from the poor.

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Reply By: danielost Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007
the Prescription Drug Plan

“now he wants to take drugs from the poor.”

No you moron-- The issue is Bush and the GOP passed a new entitlement that costs $60 Billion per year and did not pay for the new entitlement.

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