In the Republican reply to President Obama’s address to Congress this evening, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana repeated the totally debunked lie that the stimulus bill included funding for a high speed train from Disneyland to Las Vegas.
No where in the 1,100 pages of the stimulus bill is there an appropriation for any such rail project. There is $8 billion for light rail projects, but any specific project would have to compete for funding against those from all over the country; none have any specific funding yet. Republicans have fabricated funding for the Disneyland/Las Vegas train out of whole cloth in an attempt to whip up some outrage against the stimulus bill, then they trot it out ad nauseum in the vain hope that it gains some traction in the repetition.
While Bobby Jindal is supposed to be the bright young hope for the “new” Republican party, it is obvious he is sticking to the same old playbook; lie early, and repeat it often, and obfuscate, obfuscate, obfuscate.
To be honest, I don’t see what’s so laughable about a high-speed rail link joining LA and Vegas anyway. It’s too long to drive and seems a waste of a jet flight: you barely get to cruising altitude before it’s time to begin the landing approach. There are likely other things to spend the money on, but the idea isn’t ridiculous on its face.
I think the insinuation is supposed to be that Harry Reid set it up as an earmark since such a rail system would presumably help his home state. As you say, though, such an accusation is bunk since the money isn’t earmarked for any particular site.
I’m sort of impressed on how little the GOP has been able to find in the stimulus bill to carp about. Even as someone who supports the bill, I assumed it would have a lot more in the way of silly projects, but the few things the bills opponenets have been harping on have either been more or less fabricated (light rail, field mice studies) or things that make seem like pretty good expenditures (increased unemployment benefits.).
The Republicans want tax cats because Republicans always want tax cuts. And they don’t like unemployment benefits because they’ve never liked unemployment benefits.
I love and have family in Lousiana, and want to give a different sort of politician there a break with all graces, but, yikes, Jindal really looked like the waterboy for the LSU football team who was just going gung ho no matter what.
Ya know, the most ironic not funny part of this is that Jindal’s big national moment fell on Mardi Gras night, so, either no, at least So. LA folks were watching, or they were purty skewed watching… in NOLA, prolly some very vocal thoughts.
Yeah, Kay Bailey Hutchison fell quite a few notches in my esteem today, when she flat out lied by saying that although President Obama came to Capitol Hill to talk with the Republicans, they were given absolutely no input whatsoever on what went into the stimulus bill. She, too, is a lying sack of [disgusting bodily waste].
It seems lying is all these lowlife scum have anymore.
It is the first time I saw him in more than a sound bite. He was terrible. He did all the repub sound bites and tossed in some Reagan, the government is the problem ,not the solution crap. He brought nothing.
The repubs savaged the dems for 8 years. Now they suddenly see how much better compromise is. We should have our input in every bill now. It wasn’t necessary before ,but now ,since we are not in power, it is the right thing to do.