146 Earmarks for Minnesota

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: ericlp

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Shivetya
Shortly after this month's Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, which killed at least nine people, Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., proposed a 5-cent increase in the federal government's 18.3-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax to pay for bridge repairs across the country.


<<<<"If you're not prepared to invest another five cents in bridge reconstruction and road reconstruction, then God help you," Rep. Oberstar told the Rochester Post-Bulletin.


Take more money from us and try to shame us into it? What about all the wasted money in earmarks? Why wasn't bridge repair more important than those? He could spend 14.6 MILLION dollars for a recreation trail yet not find money to examine or fix bridges?

Typical Congress. Yet people will vote his sorry tail back in again and again and fork over their taxes to an irresponsible Congress without real complaint. Oh sure, they will whine about high gas prices, much of it taxes like this new proposal, but they certainly won't support candidates who might try and make government work

Where was your moaning and groaning about your heroes the last 7 years???

And there are the republicans talking about God and Money

umm, Rep. Oberstar is a Democrat... reading comprehension FTW!

 

[heartsurgeon]

my mistake for not fact checking my source..

the estimated surplus is 2.16 billion this year

MPR

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: GenHoth

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Then why do we put their names on them?

We don't, they do

and only nice new shiny ones.

Have to have all the old bridges fall down first.

 

[GoPackGo]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: GenHoth

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Then why do we put their names on them?

We don't, they do

and only nice new shiny ones.

Have to have all the old bridges fall down first.

Sad but true.

 

[MonkeyK]

Originally posted by: heartsurgeon
my mistake for not fact checking my source..

the estimated surplus is 2.16 billion this year

MPR

from your source:

For the first time in six years, the state has a projected surplus?$2.16 billion.

Part of the surplus is money that will be in the bank on July 1. Part is a prediction that tax collections will exceed spending over the next 24 months. And the effects of inflation are not included in the spending estimates.

how many months in your year?

Here's a slightly better article: http://minnesota.publicradio.o...web/2006/11/28/budget/

 

[shortylickens]

Doesnt seem special to me. They just get tips from the Federal govt.
When the postal service has trouble, they up the cost of postage, and service goes down.
They put more and more taxes on gas, they made a tax on cigarettes, they get more from our paychecks, and NOTHING improves. They get more & more and do less & less.
I think the time for writing our congressmen is over.
We need to institute some serious bitch-slapping.

 

[jackace]

System is broke, doesn't matter which party they are from, but all the politicians have so many special projects and pork that very little of our taxes actually go to the project the money was originally supposed to support.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: Shivetya
Shortly after this month's Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, which killed at least nine people, Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., proposed a 5-cent increase in the federal government's 18.3-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax to pay for bridge repairs across the country.


<"If you're not prepared to invest another five cents in bridge reconstruction and road reconstruction, then God help you," Rep. Oberstar told the Rochester Post-Bulletin.


Take more money from us and try to shame us into it? What about all the wasted money in earmarks? Why wasn't bridge repair more important than those? He could spend 14.6 MILLION dollars for a recreation trail yet not find money to examine or fix bridges?

Typical Congress. Yet people will vote his sorry tail back in again and again and fork over their taxes to an irresponsible Congress without real complaint. Oh sure, they will whine about high gas prices, much of it taxes like this new proposal, but they certainly won't support candidates who might try and make government work

Recreation trails aren't a waste of money. I think it's ridiculous that people are attacking recreation area and bike lanes funding because they don't collect enough money to fix the bridges. I happen to use both, and they are great ways to exercise and commute to work. If more people took advantage, we wouldn't have this obesity epidemic that kills a lot more people than some bridge collapse.

 

[MonkeyK]

Originally posted by: Shivetya
Shortly after this month's Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, which killed at least nine people, Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., proposed a 5-cent increase in the federal government's 18.3-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax to pay for bridge repairs across the country.


<"If you're not prepared to invest another five cents in bridge reconstruction and road reconstruction, then God help you," Rep. Oberstar told the Rochester Post-Bulletin.


Take more money from us and try to shame us into it? What about all the wasted money in earmarks? Why wasn't bridge repair more important than those? He could spend 14.6 MILLION dollars for a recreation trail yet not find money to examine or fix bridges?

Typical Congress. Yet people will vote his sorry tail back in again and again and fork over their taxes to an irresponsible Congress without real complaint. Oh sure, they will whine about high gas prices, much of it taxes like this new proposal, but they certainly won't support candidates who might try and make government work

While I agree that all pork is bad, hid did not spend 14.6 million for a recreation trail:
http://blog.thehill.com/2007/0...s-porker-of-the-month/

In the final bill, he came away with five projects totaling $14.6 million for Duluth, Minnesota, including $3.2 million for the Munger Trail extension. The 69-mile Willard Munger State Trail, named after former Rep. Willard Munger (D-Minn.), stretches from Duluth to Hinckley. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, it is the longest paved recreational trail in the nation. In-line skaters, bicyclists, hikers and snowmobilers enjoy the Munger Trail, which is now being subsidized by non-participating taxpayers.

 

[piasabird]

We just built a new bridge in Illinois (ten years ago almost) Nice Suspension Bridge. So if you really want to build a bridge and it is needed it is easy to find the money. You just have to decide what else you can live without to build that bridge. Often how it works is with a Bond Sale, or matching government funds, or something like that.

I see lots of transportation dollars spent on hiking trails and bike trails, and what not. So, the money is out there, it is just being wasted in some other area.

 

[Mxylplyx]

Originally posted by: Genx87
I heard the number of pork in his district was closer to 26 million. Anyways some of the earmakrs and pork that guy has brought in for the iron range keeps him getting elected every year. Those people up in his district literally live off govt subsidies.

When I heard him invoke God I knew he was a bigger douchebag than previously believed.

These vultures are unbelievable. How somebody can ask for more money after failing so miserably with the money they have is beyond me. It would be like me royally screwing up my job to the point of catastrophy, then ask my boss for a raise under the premise that I would have only did the job better if I had more money in my pocket.

Now do you think my boss would give me that raise or fire my ass. Yet amazingly we the tax payers give the raise over and over.

Isnt that the theme of our entire government?

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: MonkeyK

Originally posted by: Shivetya
Shortly after this month's Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, which killed at least nine people, Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., proposed a 5-cent increase in the federal government's 18.3-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax to pay for bridge repairs across the country.


<<"If you're not prepared to invest another five cents in bridge reconstruction and road reconstruction, then God help you," Rep. Oberstar told the Rochester Post-Bulletin.


Take more money from us and try to shame us into it? What about all the wasted money in earmarks? Why wasn't bridge repair more important than those? He could spend 14.6 MILLION dollars for a recreation trail yet not find money to examine or fix bridges?

Typical Congress. Yet people will vote his sorry tail back in again and again and fork over their taxes to an irresponsible Congress without real complaint. Oh sure, they will whine about high gas prices, much of it taxes like this new proposal, but they certainly won't support candidates who might try and make government work

While I agree that all pork is bad, hid did not spend 14.6 million for a recreation trail:
http://blog.thehill.com/2007/0...s-porker-of-the-month/

In the final bill, he came away with five projects totaling $14.6 million for Duluth, Minnesota, including $3.2 million for the Munger Trail extension. The 69-mile Willard Munger State Trail, named after former Rep. Willard Munger (D-Minn.), stretches from Duluth to Hinckley. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, it is the longest paved recreational trail in the nation. In-line skaters, bicyclists, hikers and snowmobilers enjoy the Munger Trail, which is now being subsidized by non-participating taxpayers.

I wish we had a 69 mile paved trail here in California, I'd so rock it. Especially if they kept it smooth enough for inline skating. As far as non-participating taxpayers, so what? I don't see them complaining when other non-participating taxpayers fund their schools or their mortgage interest deductions, or whatever. Not everyone has to participate for it to be a good thing. Plus they have the option of participating.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: piasabird
We just built a new bridge in Illinois (ten years ago almost) Nice Suspension Bridge. So if you really want to build a bridge and it is needed it is easy to find the money. You just have to decide what else you can live without to build that bridge. Often how it works is with a Bond Sale, or matching government funds, or something like that.

I see lots of transportation dollars spent on hiking trails and bike trails, and what not. So, the money is out there, it is just being wasted in some other area.

You can also live without a tax cut to build a bridge... Also, it's not being wasted, it's being spent on hiking and bike trails. We need to get more Americans exercising.