Pittsburgh bridge’s 2016 repair funding reportedly diverted to bike lanes and green energy programs

January 31, 2022 — bunkerville

 

Biden arrived in Pittsburgh just in time for a major bridge collapse. Now we learn that the funds for its repair had been diverted. This isn’t the only one.

All those shovel ready jobs like fixing bridges and highways that are obviously in need of repair are now on the back burner for bike lanes and racial and environmental justice. Here first is this refresher:

Secretary Pete: ‘Remove City Highways To Fix Racial Inequities’

November 9, 2021 — bunkerville

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Monday that his agency would use a part of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill to address racial inequities in U.S. highway design.

The program, called “Reconnecting Communities,” will focus on the “legacy of highway construction built through communities” and remove or repurpose infrastructure barriers. (Worth taking the ride out to the link.)

The GOP is quick to point out that the latest spend-a-rama bill just passed only has about ten percent for infrastructure as we know it. There is precious little discussed of the remaining 90 percent. Try as I might, I can only find a broad brush of it. But here is one jewel that deserves our attention:

Tucked in amid larger pots of money is $20 billion to “reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments (in infrastructure)” and to ensure new projects advance racial and environmental justice.

So in reality we don’t need bridges or highways according to this new theory of happy living unless they support “equity.”

American Thinker:

The collapse happened just hours before President Biden traveled to the area to speak at a previously scheduled event about the $1 trillion infrastructure bill he signed into law last year.

“We have been so far behind on infrastructure for so many years it’s just mind-boggling,” Mr. Biden told a group of elected officials and first responders during a visit to the collapse site. “…We used to be number one in the world.”

Earlier, Mayor Ed Gainey told reporters the collapse highlights the need for the federal funding.

“With him coming today to talk about this infrastructure bill, to discuss why this funding is so important, today is significant,” the mayor told reporters.

One problem: The bridge has already been to that infrastructure well earlier.

(Worth going out to twitter for the full thread)

Here’s part of a rather amazing tweet thread from a Pittsburgh local:

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There’s a website where people can post requests to repair roads and bridges in Pittsburgh. This was posted 3 years ago and listed as “closed.” 

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Now Biden is touting his ‘infrastructure’ spending, while Democrats have previously tried to sell us on the idea of daycare as infrastructure, education as infrastructure, and bike lanes as infrastructure. The only thing we can be sure of around such a bill as Biden’s trillion dollar now-passed infrastructure bill, as well as his presumably dead “Build Back Better” bill that he still wants to get through, is that the cash won’t go toward infrastructure that matters. It will go to Democrat pet projects and wasteful boondoggles.

 

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Pelosi’s Top Pick for Transportation Committee Chair Crashed Car and Walked Away

January 18, 2022 — bunkerville

 

One has to wonder no more why Pelosi would want an 84 year old fellow octogenarian Norton to be head of the powerful chair of the Transportation Committee. It’s all about the Benjamins. Apparently Pelosi, her husband and no doubt other family members didn’t make enough money with insider trading stocks. All that loot to be passed around with the recent passage of the infrastructure bill. Norton has an appropriate background for the position and a rich history.

Here is her attitude.

Congresswoman Demonstrates ‘Worst Parking Job Ever’ – Eleanor Holmes Norton.

 

 

 

Norton was elected in 1990 as a Democratic delegate to the House of Representatives. She defeated city council member Betty Ann Kane in the primary despite the last-minute revelation that Norton and her husband, both lawyers, had failed to file D.C. income tax returns between 1982 and 1989.[19] The Nortons paid over $80,000 in back taxes and fines.[20][21] Her campaign manager was Donna Brazile.[21] 

In September 2010, the national press criticized Norton after the release of a voice message in which she solicited campaign funds from a lobbyist representing a project that she oversaw. Norton countered that the message was typical of appeals made by all members of Congress and that the call was made from campaign offices not paid for by taxpayers.[29] In March 2012, the public radio series This American Life featured the voicemail message at the start of a program on lobbying titled “Take the Money and Run for Office”.[30]

 

If one video could show their mindset towards rules and laws…this might be it. If this is who they think is their brightest and best for transportation….think about their brightest & best on health & science…

Gateway Pundit:

Congressman Thomas Massie posted a viral video of Speaker Pelosi’s top choice to serve as the Chairwoman of the Transportation Committee repeatedly crashing her car into a parked vehicle.

 
 

There are two candidates who have declared their interest in the position.

Norton and Larsen, along with Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas who is also retiring after this Congress, are the next most senior Democrats on the 66-member committee, which has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation as well as infrastructure including clean water and wastewater, pipelines, flood damage and federal real estate.

Both are chairs of arguably the most powerful subcommittees on the panel: Norton chairs the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, while Larsen chairs the Aviation Subcommittee.

Both seek to take the top Democratic position on the committee in the aftermath of the passage of a bipartisan infrastructure law that represents the most aggressive investment in infrastructure in decades.

Read more

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7 Infrastructure Act Provisions Just Passed Portend The Coming Nightmare

December 16, 2021 — bunkerville

There has been little coverage of the baby bill just passed inaccurately called “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” that passed and it deserves our attention. The bill that is paving the way for the nail bitting bill, the $trillions spend-a-rama shocker, on the horizon. It looks like Manchin has held off the bazillion “biggie” “infrastructure bill” for at least this year. Here is what just passed.

Baker Electric Cars

“Baker Electric Cars” by twm1340 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Below are seven examples, ranging from the silly to the sinister.

1. Green New Dealings

Section 40541 provides “grants for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy improvements at public school facilities,” while Title XI — “Clean School Buses and Ferries” — establishes a “clean school bus program and an Electric or low-emitting ferry pilot program.” The Federal Aid and Highways section of the bill also includes an entire subsection dedicated to “Climate Change,” and mandates things like the reduction of truck emissions at ports and the implementation of a “carbon reduction program.”

2. Grants to Study ‘Tree Canopy’ Equity

Yup, you read that correctly. Section 11406, the “Healthy Streets Program,” includes a provision providing grants to entities conducting “an equity assessment by mapping tree canopy gaps” in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

3. Ideologically Motivated, Race-Based Identity Politics

Of course, no Democratic president these days is going to sign any law that doesn’t include an unhealthy dose of identity politics, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is no exception. The monstrosity of new rules, regulations, and spending contains an entire section dedicated to minority business development. This includes the establishment of a “Minority Business Development Agency Business Center Program”; a separate, similar program for rural minority businesses; grants to nonprofits that support minority businesses; and the creation of a Minority Business Enterprises Advisory Council. While there is nothing wrong in and of itself with supporting minority businesses, having the federal government give extra support only to one class of business owners based solely on their race is at best rooted in the sort of radical, anti-American ideology that promotes critical race theory and at worse is discriminatory and arguably a civil rights violation.

4. Destroying Roads and Bridges, Not Building Them

The new law also establishes the “Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program,” which provides funding to remove highways or “any other transportation facility that creates a barrier to community connectivity.” The program is based on the idea that much of the urban development done in the mid-20th century in cities like New York and Los Angeles was performed with racist motives in mind, or at the very least had racially discriminatory effects on communities of color. The problem with this ideological interpretation of history is just that — it’s an interpretation. Even the poster boy for supposedly racist urban planning, New York’s Robert Moses, has experienced a reputational rehabilitation in recent years. Tearing down highways and bridges based on subjective, ideologically influenced historical opinions at a time when the economy is already facing supply chain issues is extreme — and extremely foolish.

5. New Travel Tax Pilot Program

Section 13002 of the new law provides for the establishment of a pilot program to charge per-mile user fees for passenger cars and commercial trucks. This is a regressive, economy-crushing measure that will unfairly penalize working-class and poorer Americans.

6. Anti-Drunk Driving Technology

Included in the bill is a provision mandating the development of new anti-drunk driving technology in cars that could be standardized and mandated for all new vehicles in the next few years. While we can all agree that drunk driving is bad, we can also probably all agree that mandating investment in new technology to turn every new car into a mechanical snitch is not worth the added cost to manufacturers, consumers, or taxpayers.

7. A Federal Weed Stash House

Section 25026 of the bill, titled “Report on Marijuana Research,” mandates a report detailing methods and recommendations for “establishing a national clearinghouse to collect and distribute samples and strains of marijuana for scientific research.” This is ostensibly to aid in research into the effects of driving while under the influence of marijuana, but given that a Google search of “effects of driving, marijuana” retrieves over 33 million results in roughly half a second, one wonders if and why such research is truly necessary.

H/T: Zero Hedge

One has to wonder has anyone read what is in these bills? Special note:

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

The Bill includes $7.5 billion to invest in a national network of electric vehicle chargers.19

Electric Buses

The Bill includes $2.5 billion for zero emission buses, $2.5 billion in low emission buses and $2.5 billion for ferries.20

One has to ask why is Harris out looking foolish hawking charging stations?

Plan Funding

The Bill will be financed through a combination of funds, including repurposing unspent COVID-19 relief funds, unused federal unemployment insurance aid, imposing new superfund fees, and strengthening tax enforcement for cryptocurrencies.29

More here.

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Biden: ‘“We Will Take, Literally, Millions of Automobiles off the Road. Off the Road”

October 21, 2021 — bunkerville

 

Joe managed to find his way to Scranton yesterday with this announcement that surly will help his poll numbers. Americans love our cars Joe. Better yet the man says “it will save millions of barrels of oil.” Sure, walking does too. The truth of the matter is he wants expensive gas. Restricting movement is part of the agenda.

It was a bizarre meandering speech. Here are a few of the low points. He was back to his well debunked Amtrack days. Actually it was pretty scary thinking this is the man in the WH.

 

 

How soon before we go through another cash for clunkers program when good used cars were destroyed by pouring concrete into the engine block in the name of this Marxist rot and this Green nonsense?

 

I think this about sums it up.

Jen Psaki is the face of this administration, since conversations with Biden are few and far between. Her snark grows by the week. Here is one for the books. I dare say the media cannot disregard her nonsense forever.

Classic Psaki. The bill hasn’t even been written yet it won’t cost a dime.

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Florida and its 350,000 yearly newbies- here is what happens

April 9, 2021 — bunkerville

What happens when out of state transplants move to the wonderful state of Florida? Florida gained an average of nearly 1,000 per people per day in 2019, but that number could be even higher in 2020 thanks to the pandemic.

One of the great feats that Florida has managed for the most part has been preparing the necessary infrastructure to insure a continued quality of life. Roads? A few areas are behind the curve, but for the most part one can sail along one heck of a long state in good time. Exception of course are seasonal migrations of the snow birds- Routes 95 and 10 come to mind, and the annual rides one may have to take during Hurricane season. In those cases parts of Florida can easily become a death trap. But much of Florida is undeveloped and farm land.

Florida already has more toll road miles than any other state. So others are not paying for the dream rides.

So now with this mass migration occurring one would think planning ahead might be a good idea for how all of these new Floridians will get about. But alas. The new folks that have arrived have the “last in” syndrome. “Glad I made it”, but I think I will now worry about the wildlife, urban sprawl and the concern that new roads that could bring new communities to spring up.

So let’s get to the heart of the matter: The Proposal

Three proposed new toll roads would add about 330 miles more. (Aric Chokey / Orlando Sentinel)

One road would connect Florida’s Turnpike to the Suncoast Parkway at Crystal River in Citrus County; another would extend the Suncoast north to the Georgia line in Jefferson County, just east of Tallahassee. The third would cut through Florida’s heartland from Collier County in Naples north to Polk County, between Orlando and Tampa.

Florida already has more toll road miles than any other state. Three new toll roads would add about 330 miles more.

Orlando Sentinel:

The old tropes:

RELATED: Toll road plans fall short on wildlife protection, urban sprawl | Opinion »

RELATED: An unwelcome toll road shatters the peace of a charming Florida town | Steve Bousquet »

Paving pristine rural areas for three politically-motivated toll roads made no sense even before the coronavirus raged across Florida.

But with COVID-19 hitting the state budget hard, forging ahead with these boondoggles represents a classic case of misguided priorities — right up there with the Cross-Florida Barge Canal.

Given the state’s precarious finances, even the new chairman of the budget-writing Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, is skeptical about the need for these rural roads. Florida’s soaring Medicaid caseloads and the pandemic’s effects on public school budgets are urgent needs, she said, while the state’s long-range infrastructure can wait.

The toll roads were the pet project of former Florida Senate President Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican, who made them his one demand in any deal sought by the Florida House and Gov. Ron DeSantis two years ago.

He also said the roads would create more hurricane escape routes, though Georgia officials have since said their roads aren’t prepared for new inroads from Florida. Besides, emergency planners now say it’s better for evacuees to shelter closer to home. ???

(From personal experience don’t count on this one.) My experience with Hurricane Irma.

But I digress:

Galvano also glossed over the dangers to water and wildlife, including the protected Florida panther.

The Bradenton Republican claimed the through-fares would nurture economic growth in isolated communities, even though a significant number of affected communities have since said they don’t want them.

Of course not. Yet the huddled masses will keep yearning to be free in Florida.

Having lived in the Fort Myers Cape Coral Naples area for a number of years, the highways are wonderful. Well marked, four lanes with beautifully landscaped median areas.

Don’t come to Florida bringing your nasty progressive voting habits and unwillingness to share a fine quality of life. Just think about being one of the millions of new voters in 2024. Remember from whence you came and the life you escaped. Share the road.

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