Saturday, August 18, 2007

Minnesota just like Oregon

As soon as the bridge fell in Minneapolis, the liberals all yammered for a gas tax increase to fund bridge repair, and chortled about how the Republicans governor of Minnesota was to blame because he vetoed the Democrats' last attempt at raising it, which was a 37.5% hike in the tax, from 20 cents a gallon to 27.5 cents..

In Oregon, we heard the echo, as the BluOregon crowd made the same point.

The Wall Street Journal has the rest of the story. And that story in Minnesota looks a lot like Oregon's.

Yes, Minnesota has been diverting road dollars for all sorts of rail projects. Of the $1.6 billion Minnesota Department of Transportation budget last year, fully $1 billion went to rail. And their transit ridership looks a lot like Oregon's: only 2.8% of commuters use rail or transit.

So, as the roads fall apart, they funnel more and more money to rail.

Just like Oregon. the infection spreads.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I smell Charlie Hales.

OregonGuy said...

I'm afraid it is only the tip of the iceberg.

I think legislatures have become so focused on "doing good" that they've quit looking at the bad they cause.

Nice article.