It was a little over a year ago that President Obama came here to Cincinnati and pushed for his jobs plan. In that speech he talked about infrastructure improvements and highlighter the Brent Spence bridge that connects Ohio and Kentucky as a perfect example. Quickly Republicans pounced on this as “earmarks” and “pork barrel”, including John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, each representing one of the affected states.
Well the money has never come for the bridge and now the states have come up with a plan to replace it:
The governors of Kentucky and Ohio say there will be tolls on the replacement for the Brent Spence Bridge. The governors met today, joining forces to put the project on the fast track. And it looks like drivers will have to pay a chunk of the $2.4 billion price tag.
Local 12’s Joe Webb says the elephant in the room to this point on all discussions of a new bridge has been tolls. Governor Kasich cleared up that issue today. There will be tolls on the Brent Spence replacement.
(emphasis added)
We aren’t talking about some lightly traveled bridge. This is bridge is used for two interstates, I-71 and I-75. I-75 is a major trucking route, connecting Florida to Michigan and Canada. Right now the bridge sees close to 200,000 vehicles travel over it per day.
So now we are going to have an added congestion factor on an already heavily congested artery in his country. Great plan guys!
And we can’t have a story like this without the Tea Party involved:
Northern Kentucky’ s Tea Party had several people in attendance. They didn’t like what they heard. Erk Hermes told Local 12, “I’m extremely disappointed with both governors. This is a federal issue. Government should provide a military, monetary system and highway system. They’re failing to provide a highway system by not funding the bridge.”
They are more or less making this sound as though it’s Obama’s fault. Of course nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality we are looking at the product of the GOP and their putting politics ahead of our nation’s interests. They knew something like this would help lower unemployment, and with an election a little over a year away, they couldn’t risk that. So now the motorists that travel the bridge, which happen to be from rather red areas, will be paying extra.
This is how GOP governance works. This is what obstructionism and wanting to see a President fail leads to. This is today’s Republican Party.