Buyer's Remorse

[Tigermike 3,840]

GOP suffering buyer's remorse for Highway Bill

Nov 5 2005 03:22 PM

By TimChapman

Republicans are not bragging about pork projects secured in the Highway bill anymore. On the contrary, those projects are becoming a political liability. This is the latest in a series of signs that fiscal conservatism is making a comeback in the GOP.

The Washington Post:

The highway bill seemed like such a good idea when it sailed through Congress this summer. But now Republicans who assembled the record spending package are suffering buyer's remorse.

The $286 billion legislation was stuffed with 6,000 pet projects for lawmakers' districts, including what critics denounce as a $223 million "Bridge to Nowhere" that would replace a 7-minute ferry ride in a sparsely populated area of Alaska. Usually members of Congress cannot wait to rush home and brag about such bounty -- a staggering number of parking lots, bus depots, bike paths and new interchanges for just about every congressional district in the country that added $24 billion to the overall cost of maintaining the nation's highways and bridges in the coming years...

Conservative groups, government watchdogs and ordinary folks around the country are so offended by the size of the legislation -- signed into law by Bush in early August -- that efforts are underway in the House and the Senate to rescind or reallocate a portion of its funds.

Lawmakers say voters are stopping them back home to ask whether the "Bridge to Nowhere" is a joke or whether it actually exists.

link

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[TrueBlue72 0]

It is about time that the Republican leaders in congress realize that the issues that have kept them in power over the last decade are not pro-life, anti-gay marriage, and the like, but fiscal conservatism. Congressmen, both Republican and Democrat, have long felt the need, or maybe obsession, to "deliver" pork to their districts, whether needed or not. Is a line-item veto the ONLY way to solve this problem, or can individual senators and congressmen actually excercise fiscal restraint?

The TRUE conservative says, "the function of government is to provide those services that the individual CANNOT provide on his own". This includes police, fire, and needed infrastructure such as roads, airports and public buildings. If only we could move back in that direction, the US economy would continue to grow and our country stronger.

[AURaptor 1,137]

The TRUE conservative says, "the function of government is to provide those services that the individual CANNOT provide on his own". This includes police, fire, and needed infrastructure such as roads, airports and public buildings. If only we could move back in that direction, the US economy would continue to grow and our country stronger.

Here,here.

[DKW 86 7,948]

The TRUE conservative says, "the function of government is to provide those services that the individual CANNOT provide on his own". This includes police, fire, and needed infrastructure such as roads, airports and public buildings. If only we could move back in that direction, the US economy would continue to grow and our country stronger.

Here,here.

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