Bush 's transportation Budget Decisions....and a couple zingers....

[Flabbergasted]

"It is a budget that focuses on results," Bush said. "Taxpayers in America don't want us spending their money on something that's not achieving results."

The plan slashes the budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by 11.5 percent, the Transportation Department by 6.6 percent, the USDA by 9.6 percent and the EPA by 5.6 percent.

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/102922/1/7263

Tell us all about the results Bush....

"Our priority is to protect the American people," Bush said after a Cabinet meeting where he introduced his fiscal 2008 budget. "I strongly believe Congress needs to listen to a budget which has no tax increase, and a budget, because of fiscal discipline, that can be balanced in five years."

George Protecting America again. Good ol Georgie.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush sent his proposed budget for 2002 to Congress Monday with big increases in spending for education and defense and cuts in transportation, agriculture and environmental protection.

"This budget funds our needs without the fat," Bush told reporters as he convened a Cabinet meeting Monday morning. "It represents a new way of doing business in Washington and a new way of thinking. It puts the taxpayers first, and that is exactly where they belong."

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/04/09/bush.budget.03/index.html

When George refers to our needs he meant his cronies needs...and when he refers to fat he means silly stuff like bridges, and levies.

CONGRESS MUST RESTORE TRANSPORTATION CUTS AND
REJECT SHORTSIGHTED POLICY DIRECTION IN BUSH 2003 BUDGET

Thousands of transportation workers have been laid off in this ailing economy including some 140,000 airline, airport and aircraft manufacturing employees following the September 11 disaster. Transportation labor believes the best means to deal with this crisis is to provide relief to laid-off workers and revitalize our economy through investments in transportation. Unfortunately, President Bush’s FY 2003 budget fails to respond to both of these basic needs and slashes the nation’s highway infrastructure program at the expense of several hundred thousand jobs the economy can ill afford to lose.

http://www.ttd.org/Resolutions/feb2002/no.4.htm

Statement by Senator Conrad Reacting to President Bush's Budget
2/2/04

- Tansportation: The President's budget will shortchange North Dakota's highways and bridges, putting our state's transportation infrastructure at great risk. Under the Bush budget, North Dakota will get $300 million less than what is in the highway bill now pending in the Senate. The budget also again cuts Amtrak funding by more than $300 million and slashes Essential Air Service by more than 50 percent. This funding is vital to ensure affordable access to many of North Dakota's rural communities.

http://conrad.senate.gov/~conrad/releases/04/02/2004210321.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Tuesday rejected moves by conservatives to cut taxpayer subsidies for Amtrak as backers of the money-losing passenger railroad cemented their position in the Democratic Congress.

The move came as the House easily passed a $104 billion measure funding transportation and housing programs for the budget year beginning Oct. 1. That vote was 268-153, enough to sustain a promised veto by President Bush.

The White House has threatened to veto the transportation and housing bill for exceeding Bush's request by $3.4 billion, and lawmakers are increasingly concerned that many if not most of the 12 annual spending measures won't get enacted into law until late in the year as part of a foot-tall omnibus bill.

The measure also contains almost 1,500 pet projects requested by lawmakers such as roads and bridges, as well as community development projects such as building a YMCA in Killeen, Texas, and demolishing abandoned buildings for a redevelopment project in Waterbury, Conn.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-24-amtrak_N.htm

Those damn pet projects like roads and bridges....

[NMDemDist2]

1. K&N n/t

[emilyg]

2. k

[MagickMuffin]

3. Time for a little K&R

I'm glad you posted this. I have been wondering all day if perhaps the Democrats passed a bill concerning our transportation needs and whether or not the Mad king Boy George used one of his famous signing statements to just ignore that part of a bill. Although he usually used signing statements for his republicons and prefers vetoes for Democrats.

Looks as though I "knew" there was something that would give me some sort of a sign. Thanks for that Flabbergasted.

However, the USA Today site has caused my browser to crash two times now. Damn I needed that article to use for my blog. Oh well, I don't guess it's in the cards at the present time. Unless you can post some more of the article in a response to my request. Nothing in the rules that says we can't post more of articles in other post in a thread:evilgrin:

[Flabbergasted]

4. House refuses to cut rail subsidy

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Tuesday rejected moves by conservatives to cut taxpayer subsidies for Amtrak as backers of the money-losing passenger railroad cemented their position in the Democratic Congress.

The move came as the House easily passed a $104 billion measure funding transportation and housing programs for the budget year beginning Oct. 1. That vote was 268-153, enough to sustain a promised veto by President Bush.

The bill blends increases in housing programs aimed at the poor and disadvantaged, community development block grants popular with lawmakers and their constituents and a 4% increase for transportation programs.

The key Amtrak vote came as the House emphatically dismissed a move by Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., to eliminate Amtrak's nearly $500 million operating subsidy. The vote was 328-94. Flake argued that subsidies of more than $400 per passenger on the most inefficient money-losing routes demonstrate that cross-country train travel no longer makes economic sense.

"There is not any passenger rail system anywhere in this world that operates without some operating subsidy," countered Rep. John Olver, D-Mass., who credited Amtrak with squeezing fat from its operations. Overall, the bill contains almost $1.5 billion for Amtrak, with $925 million for capital and debt service.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: House | Congress | George W Bush | Bush administration | Amtrak
The White House has sought big cuts in Amtrak subsidies in recent years, only to be rebuffed by the GOP-controlled Congress. So it was no surprise that with Democrats now in control, Amtrak's subsidies survived.

Amtrak runs trains through almost every state, which gives it great support among lawmakers despite criticism from the Bush administration and some lawmakers over high labor costs and excessive subsidies on its cross-country trains.

The worst example, the iconic Sunset Limited train between New Orleans and Los Angeles, loses 62 cents per passenger mile, according to Amtrak's latest available monthly report. But Amtrak critic Pete Sessions, R-Texas, lost a 283-139 vote Tuesday afternoon to kill the route.

The House also voted by voice to put further roadblocks in front of a Bush administration plan to allow Mexican trucks full access to U.S. highways. The move would block the government's cross-border pilot initiative for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and comes on top of restrictions imposed in May.

Opponents of allowing trucks from Mexico unfettered access to U.S. highways argue such vehicles often don't meet U.S. safety standards and would cost U.S. jobs; supporters of the idea say the initiative would save American consumers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The White House has threatened to veto the transportation and housing bill for exceeding Bush's request by $3.4 billion, and lawmakers are increasingly concerned that many if not most of the 12 annual spending measures won't get enacted into law until late in the year as part of a foot-tall omnibus bill.

But Democrats say their differences with Bush over the portion of the budget Congress passes each year is just over $20 billion, only about 2% of that so-called discretionary budget. And they say many of the increases in the pending bill are being used to reject politically unrealistic spending cuts to programs such as Amtrak, housing and community development grants.

The measure also contains almost 1,500 pet projects requested by lawmakers such as roads and bridges, as well as community development projects such as building a YMCA in Killeen, Texas, and demolishing abandoned buildings for a redevelopment project in Waterbury, Conn.

Meanwhile, the Senate began debate on a $37.6 billion measure funding the Homeland Security Department. The bill is the first appropriations measure to reach the Senate floor.

The Senate measure also faces a Bush veto threat for exceeding the White House request by $2.3 billion, most of which goes to homeland security grants to state and local governments.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Joanne98]

5. The thugs want to privatize Amtrack!

[paparush]

6. Taxpayers in America don't want you spending money on an ILLEGAL WAR

you wombat-eared asshat! (with apologies to wombats everywhere...)