More Fluffy Talk from Mayor Lou Barletta
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
Today, Mayor Lou Barletta put out a press release talking about how he’s joined an alliance to stop Interstate 80 from being turned into a toll road. Several state leaders want to toll the road as a way of funding urgent bridge and road repairs. Barletta and his group of buddies think this is a bad idea that will hurt small businesses. Unfortunately, in his press statement, Barletta offers no explanation as to how he would raise money to fix Pennsylvania roads. Typical.
To quote from Barletta’s press release…
“Putting tolls on I-80 will cripple local businesses. It will hurt commuters and tourism. It will hurt local farmers. And it will hurt communities all along the I-80 corridor, because they will not only see the loss of businesses, jobs, and local tax revenue, but they will also see an increase in traffic on municipal roads, jeopardizing public safety and increasing the cost of repairing those roads,” Mayor Barletta added.
So, according to Mayor Barletta, Pennsylvania will collapse into a steaming pile of dog mess if Interstate 80 is turned into a toll road. Okay, assuming we buy into that logic, what is the brilliant Mayor Lou proposing we do to raise the money for the roads? Another quote from the press statement….
“So where do we come up with the money we need to fix our roads? First, we need Congress to make fixing our infrastructure a priority. This is a national emergency. Congress needs to adjust its spending priorities. Forget bridges to nowhere. We need bridges right here – like those along Interstate 80 in Monroe County, those on all of our highways here, and around the country. Our elected leaders need to show financial discipline and fix our roads.
Oh, well that clears things up. Or not. The truth of the matter is that Pennsylvania, along with every other state, needs millions of dollars right now. Bridges all around the country are crumbling. Anyone who’s driven on I-80, or I-81 for that matter, knows that the roads are in horrible shape. Bottom line: they need to be fixed and soon. Or things will get much, much worse.
Saying that “Congress needs to make fixing our infrastructure a priority” is meaningless blabber. It’s fluff. The problem is hugely complex and too difficult, apparently, for Mayor Barletta to get a handle on. Where will the BILLIONS of dollars needed to fix these roads and bridges come from? How much money will come from the state? Which roads will receive the bulk of the money? Once the repairs are made, where will the money come from to maintain them? Barletta has no answers to these questions.
Am I thrilled at the idea of turning I-80 into a toll road? No. I’m a full time college student who has to commute to school every day. Paying to use a road isn’t all that of an exciting idea to me. However, it is a plan. It will raise money, quickly, to help repair roads. Bridges will at least begin to be worked on. It would help.
If Mayor Barletta is so staunchly opposed to this idea, he needs to present a detailed plan of his own. Why should we scrap an idea that will help fix the problem and just go back to square one without any hope or promise of an alternative? ”Just elect me to office and I’ll figure it out later,” is not a sollution. And it will not fix our roads.
Mayor Barletta has perfected the art of spouting off lots of words and sound bytes while not really saying all that much. This is more of the same. Lou Barletta has no plans on how to get the money needed to fix Pennsylvania’s roads. Lou Barletta will not fix our roads and bridges and neither will his meaningless talk. Mayor Lou Barletta should remain a mayor and not be elected to the United States Congress. We can’t afford it.
-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com
