Moonbat Alert - Bridge Collapse is Republicans Fault

I know that the Daily Kos is proud to lay claim to topping the charts of left wing grassroots activism in cyberspace but I recognize the Daily Kos for managing to attract the world’s largest collection of idiots in any single location.

As expected, whenever tragedy arises you can usually count on the Einsteins over at Kos to tie it into the war in Iraq, the war on terror, a deficit of taxes and Republicans in general.

Here’s a small sample of the Democrat Party base as they responded to yesterday’s bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

• We spend billions in Iraq (161+ / 0-) While we fall apart at home.
• We have been warned (144+ / 0-) by engineers that our nation’s infrastructure is in dire need of repair and upgrade.
  Who needs terrorism when the inept GOP runs our nation into the ground. The “terrorists” can just sit back and watch as our nation falls apart.
  Mission Accomplished.
• the ironic thing is Martin Sabo (D, MN-08) (80+ / 0-) is transportation chair in the house, and tried to get the state to put up 20 cents for each additional dollar the feds would have given us to improve/fix transportation. didn’t get done in part because w.a.t.b gov one-term-woulda-been Pawlenty didn’t want to raise taxes.
• Every week there’s a new national tragedy…tainted food, nutcases with automatic weapons, structural damage to cities, hospital patients dropped on the streets, dysfuctional transportation system, poorly cared for vets, trashed education system, national disasters from global warming. I am waiting for a national figure with the balls to call these warning signs what they are: Republican disdain for and neglect of government oversight,venality, insensitivity to human suffering, tax breaks for rich folks, blatant government incompetence, dirty politics, and bleeding our resources in an immoral fucking war.
• It is a terrorist attack by Republican budget (15+ / 0-) cutters
• Fox had the story and great pictures before the others had anything on it. If this was not a horrible incident, I would have been suspicious just because it was Fox.
• Natalee Holloway must have been on the bridge
• FOX is reporting it because it bleeds, baby n/t
• I hate this (9+ / 0-) that the thought that crosses my mind is “will they blame this on terrorists and use it to attack Iran?” “Is it a setup?”
• Infrastructure is failing (7+ / 0-) and republicans control the purse strings, even in Minnesota. If this turns out to be related to faulty maintenance, impeachment of the responsible parties is indeed relevant.
• Other things going on: (4+ / 0-)
  Bush invokes executive privilege on Rove testimony.
  Fisher-Price recalls 1 million lead-tainted toys
  US Marine found guilty of murdering Iraqi
• Do you think… (4+ / 0-) …people will finally start putting 2+2 together?
  We’ve been on a tax cut binge since Reagan. We stopped investing in the United States since the 1950’s. There is a Trillion $$$ war being waged. to top it off, bu$h wants to send someone to freakin’ MARS.

The comments drag on of course but you get the gist of it. These people are simply deranged. The Clinton tax hikes apparently didn’t exist and the infrastructure of this country started falling apart at exactly the day that Bush took office. Oh yeah, states have nothing to do with their own infrastructure either. Calling these people idiots may actually give them too much credit.

Apparently the Daily Kos collection of morons aren’t aware of how things work in government (no surprise there). The federal government helps states out with infrastructure improvements but it is the states that determine the need. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures the feds foot 42% of highway funds. I’m not sure where the bridge falls in this scheme but it likely wasn’t left by the wayside because of the war in Iraq or lack of federal taxes.

The federal government contributes 42 percent of highway funds and 47 percent of public transportation funds. State and local governments cover the rest. Gas taxes are the primary source in more than half the states. Federal money is the primary source in 17 states. A few states mainly depend on motor vehicle taxes, tolls and bond revenue.

The states also handle the allocation of funds and award the contracts. In many cases the states waste the taxpayers money on back room deals and no-bid contracts.

In 2005 the Bush administration along with a Republican run Congress approved $286 billion for transportation infrastructure improvements as part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act. So please, don’t blame lack of taxes for this problem. You can have all the taxes in the world but they will never go anywhere if they are mismanaged or allocated to entitlement programs.

Big government states seem to be poor managers of money, especially tax heavy states like Illinois which still hasn’t passed a budget even though it has a Democrat governor and a Democrat majority. Democrat infighting has put the brakes on Illinois. you Kossack dummies may want to take note that N’awlins is also run by Democrats. Always a group to point the finger but never really one to look yourselves in the mirror.

Unions are also blaming the way states allocate federal funds while criticizing the federal government for not holding states accountable for the way they spend them. Katrina is a perfect example of this sort of misuse but it is just one major example.

According to the National Association of State Highway and Transportation Unions (NASHTU) funding is not the issue. In fact they blame the way states handle the funds as opposed to the lack of federal funding. The union blames the feds for not providing and in some ways hampering the oversight. They do not blame funding as you can see below.

Authorizing $217 billion in federal funds through Fiscal Year 2003, the TEA-21 program pays for as much as 90% of the cost for state governments to build or repair surface transportation projects of all kinds. TEA-21’s funding – which exceeded $57 billion a year – represents an increase of more than 60% over the resources provided by its predecessor program, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA).16 In 2005, Congress approved an additional $286 billion for the next five years under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA-LU).

Encouraged and assisted first by TEA-21 and now SAFETEA-LU, state departments of transportation have initiated or expanded projects to build, complete, repair or maintain roads, highways, bridges, mass transit systems, and similar facilities. These projects are helping the nation meet the needs resulting from an increasing population, an expanding economy, and a deteriorating infrastructure.

This federal funding portion doesn’t include transportation income from state imposed taxes, tolls, bond revenues and privatization plans such as leasing of highways. So perhaps, just maybe these ideologues can get a clue and realize that the nations infrastructure problem has less to do with available funding and more to do with the improper management of money. They might also want to look at the tremendous burden that entitlement programs put on the government, tax money that increasingly saps the till. This is expected to increase as vote buying politicians spend taxpayer money without a care in the world.

Finally, while the loony kossacks were busy giving the Republican governor crap they might have wanted to pay more attention to the rescue efforts under his leadership. It was going pretty good considering the scope of the tragedy. I’m sure it’s just an aberration. Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak is a Democrat, so it looks like a bi-partisan relationship here.

Wow, stupidity and lack of shame all rolled up into one neat little package. These guys over at the Daily Kos outdo themselves every chance they get. Forget waiting for the investigation before pointing the finger; it’s all the republicans fault.

It may turn out in the end that someone was negligent, in that case all the politicians will point their fingers and everyone can take sides in the quest of drumming up more votes on the back of a terrible tragedy. It may even turn out to be an accident rooted in nature. Whatever the case may be perhaps it’s best to wait until someone actually knows something about the cause before blaming it on the war in Iraq or any other talking point for Democrats in 2008. Duh.

Previous: Tragic Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis

See Also: Michelle Malkin, Captains Quarters

Trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, Big Dog’s Weblog, and Shadowscope, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.