[Grovenet] Head in the Sand ? ? ? ? ? ?

Sat Aug 11 14:45:23 PDT 2007

That's not just the President. Indeed, it's not the President's doing at
all. Remember just two years ago?

"AT $286.4 BILLION, the highway bill just passed by Congress is the most
expensive public works legislation in US history. In addition to funding the
interstate highway system and other federal transportation programs, it sets
a new record for pork-barrel spending, earmarking $24 billion for a
staggering 6,376 pet projects, spread among virtually every congressional
district in the land. The enormous bill -- 1,752 pages long -- wasn't made
public until just before it was brought to a vote, and so, as The New York
Times noted, ''it is safe to bet that none of the lawmakers, not even the
main authors, had read the entire package."

That didn't stop them from voting for it. It passed 412 to 8 in the House,
91 to 4 in the Senate."

>From the Boston Globe, August 4, 2005*

Note those voting numbers. That means it had huge DEMOCRATIC support as well
as Republican support. 

There are times when pointing fingers at party affiliation isn't helpful. 

Ron D'Eau Claire 

* http://tinyurl.com/buro6

-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of allnutt
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2007 12:43 PM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Head in the Sand ? ? ? ? ? ?

Perhaps his plan is to wait for another bridge to fall, then dole out money
to pay for rebuilding it as he did with this bridge, reaping the the
politcal pat on the back for being generous, and of course letting the
grandchildren ultimately pay for it. Our grandchildren may have to raise the
gas tax to pay back all the interest plus the principle but that still lets
our 'glorious leader' claim that he never needed to raise taxes to pay for
anything.

Katie 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bob Browning 
  To: Grovenet 
  Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 10:02 AM
  Subject: [Grovenet] Head in the Sand ? ? ? ? ? ?

  Or maybe in the sands of Iraq ? ? ? ?

    Bush against raising gas tax 
    By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago 

    A week after a deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis, President Bush on
Thursday dismissed raising the federal gasoline tax to repair bridges at
least until Congress changes how it spends highway money.

    "The way it seems to have worked is that each member on that
(Transportation) committee gets to set his or her own priorities first,"
Bush said. "That's not the right way to prioritize the people's money.
Before we raise taxes, which could affect economic growth, I would strongly
urge the Congress to examine how they set priorities."

    About $24 billion, or 8 percent of the last $286 billion highway bill,
was devoted to highway and bridge projects singled out by lawmakers. The
balance is distributed through grants to states, which decide how it will be
spent. Federal money accounts for about 45 percent of all infrastructure
spending.

    The Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee proposed a
5-cent increase in the 18.3 cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax to establish
a new trust fund for repairing or replacing structurally deficient highway
bridges.

    More than 70,000 of the nation's bridges are rated structurally
deficient, including the bridge that collapsed over the Mississippi River
last Wednesday. The American Society of Civil Engineers says repairing them
all would require spending at least $9.4 billion a year for 20 years. Rep.
Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., says his tax-increase proposal would raise about $25
billion over three years.

    On terrorism, Bush said he is confident in the ability of Pakistani
President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants at the Afghan border
and cooperate with the U.S.

    He said he expected Musharraf to take "swift action if there is
actionable intelligence inside his country." Bush refused to address whether
the U.S. troops would go into Pakistan without permission from leaders
there.

    "We spend a lot of time with the leadership in Pakistan talking about
what we will do with actionable intelligence," Bush said. "Am I confident
they (terrorists) will be brought to justice? My answer is, `Yes I am.' "

    Musharraf, a key ally in Washington's fight against terrorism, is under
growing U.S. pressure. But the Pakistani leader is under considerable
pressure at home too.

    At home, Bush ruled out any bailout of homeowners hit with foreclosures
in the form of direct assistance. But he said "enormous empathy" is in order
for such people and indicated he was open to some federal help for people to
refinance and keep their homes.

    "The word bailout - I'm not exactly sure what you mean. If you mean
direct grants to homeowners, the answer would be no," the president said.

    The delinquency rate on home loans was almost 5 percent in the first
three months of the year.

    On the controversy of former NFL player Pat Tillman's friendly fire
death while serving in the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Bush said "the best
way to honor that commitment of his is to find the truth."

    The president described Iran as "a destabilizing influence in the Middle
East."

    Noting that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was in Iran Thursday,
Bush said he hoped his message would be the same as the United States' -
that Tehran should halt the export of sophisticated explosive devices into
Iraq or "there will be consequences."

    He did not say what those consequences would be.

    Bush got angry over a question about whether embattled Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales should be held accountable. Members of Congress from both
parties have called Gonzales' credibility and leadership of the Justice
Department into question after congressional testimony on a number of
issues.

    "Why would I hold somebody accountable who's done nothing wrong?" the
president said, then turning the issue back on the Democratic-led Congress. 

    "Matter of fact, I would hope Congress would become more prone to
deliver pieces of legislation that matter rather than being the
investigative body," he added. 

    The August news conference has become a tradition for Bush, a move
designed to clear the decks and have the last word before heading away from
Washington for vacation and travel. 

    Bush opened by announcing that he had signed legislation to promote math
and science skills and develop the technology needed to compete in the
global economy. The measure calls for spending $33.6 billion over the next
three years for science, technology, engineering and mathematics research
and education programs across four federal agencies. 

    The midmorning session was Bush's first full news conference since July
12 when he inaugurated the newly refurbished White House briefing room.
Since then, he has had brief question-and-answer sessions with Britain's new
prime minister, Gordon Brown, and Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai. 

    With Congress already out of town, Bush was leaving Washington right
after the question-and-answer session for a three-night stay at his father's
oceanfront compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he is attending the
wedding of a friend. On Saturday, Bush also will meet over lunch at his
parents' home with France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy. The French
leader is vacationing at an estate on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, N.H.,
about 50 miles away. 

    The president is to return to the White House on Sunday and then head
out the next day to spend most of the rest of the month at his Texas ranch
and traveling. 

    Among Bush's scheduled outings from his ranch is a meeting with the
leaders of Mexico and Canada Aug. 20-21 in Ottawa.

    Copyright C 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The
information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The
Associated Press. 

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