PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: MCCAIN RAPS CONGRESS FOR BRIDGE COLLAPSE:
Republican John McCain said Saturday that Congress could share in the blame for the Minnesota bridge collapse because lawmakers diverted billions of dollars in transportation money from road work to pet projects. . . .
“We spent approximately $20 billion of that money on pork barrel, earmark projects,” said McCain. “Maybe if we had done it right, maybe some of that money would have gone to inspect those bridges and other bridges around the country. Maybe the 200,000 people who cross that bridge every day would have been safer than spending $233 million of your tax dollars on a bridge in Alaska to an island with 50 people on it.”
McCain spoke during a town hall-style meeting with activists, saying he was angered not just by Congress wasting money on special projects, but also by it approving reform packages he labeled a sham.
“I’m angry today because we just had a chance to reform this process in Washington and we punted,” said McCain. “We pushed off on the American people a joke and a sham in the name of earmark reform.”
Actually blaming Congress for this particular tragedy is a bit hyperbolic. But we have big infrastructure needs, and we’re spending money on other stuff — and members would rather have their name on something shiny and new than on unglamorous repairs. So in terms of distorted priorities, he’s got a point.
UPDATE: Reader Gregory Hill emails:
Hyperbolic? Yes. But this may just be the shot-in-the-arm that his campaign needs. This can help re-establish his creds as the ‘town maverick’. It allows him to play the ‘us vs them’ game, with them being an incredibly corrupt Congress. He’s got plenty of material to work with and nothing to lose….
If I were his campaign advisor, I’d tell him to play this for all it’s worth. Me, I’m in the Giuliani camp. But McCain declaring open season on Congress would be a good thing for everyone!
True enough.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Ed Morrissey says McCain is wrong. “Just as I criticized Amy Klobuchar and James Oberstar for exploiting the tragedy for their political hobby horses, we need to ask Senator McCain to have a care how he uses the dead in our community. I fully support his efforts to end earmarks and push towards legislative reform, but let’s stick to the real consequences of earmark abuse.”