House OKs $286.4 Billion Highway Bill

[Freddie Stubbs]

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
26 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The House passed a $286.4 billion highway and mass transit bill Friday that could provide long-awaited relief for the nation's travelers while creating tens of thousands of construction jobs.

The 412-8 vote on the six-year surface transportation bill, to be followed later in the day by the Senate, would send the president a measure that will generate new federal money for every state working to expand and repair its roadways, bridges and rail systems.

It will lead to "safer roads that are built faster and last longer," said House Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska. He noted that the ranking Democrat on the panel, Rep. James Oberstar (news, bio, voting record) of Minnesota, arrived late for the debate because he was stuck in traffic.

Passage would end an almost two-year impasse during which Congress and the White House battled over the proper spending levels and states were at odds over how best to divide up the billions in federal highway money.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050729/ap_on_go_co/congress_highways

[Deja Q]

1. Sounds good. But with this "peak oil" thingie some of them speak of,

I hope a lot of the money goes directly to SAFE mass transport (in terms of engineering AND social aspects...)

[jsamuel]

2. This could give me a job and double my pay.

Bush better not veto...

This reminds me of the New Deal kind of bill.

On Edit: (i make very very little right now)

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Just put it on the charge card! And don't forget to add another

$1 trillion over 10 years for repeal of the estate tax.

[ovidsen]

4. What a waste.

This bill is an obscenely expensive boondoggle that funds mostly worthless highway projects in every state. It includes four THOUSAND add-ons for bridges and highways to nowhere, bike paths in places where no one rides bikes, and construction projects that guarantee profits for contractors, destruction of the environment, the Wal-malling of suburbs and exurbs, and more traffic jams.

In addition, it provides environmental law loopholes for industry, tax breaks for the oil oligopoly (yeah, big oil is SO broke, it NEEDS the break!), barely mentions mass transit, and doesn't say a thing about vehicle fuel consumption or global warming. I am not impressed.

[Rainscents]

5. I hear, this bill, strict drunk driving law that was in place for 10 years

had been removed... Of course, they don't want you to know this.

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. Mothers Against Drunk Driving seems to like the bill

http://www.madd.org/news/0,1056,10005,00.html