Here’s a shocker and also highly symbolic, House Republican s do not wish to shell out $61 million to repair the Capitol Dome. The dome is in very bad shape, deteriorating and has not been renovated or repaired for 50 year. it is a public safety issue as much as an aesthetic one. But according to the Republicans, we don’t have the money, a government budget of $3 trillion cannot afford an outlay of 0.002% for absolutely needed capital (Capitol) improvements. Its an embarrassment.
You know, most individual expenditures are less than 0.002% of the budget, that doesn’t mean that that spending shouldn’t be subject to scrutiny. I’m not a big fan of Republicans, but this is a huge meh to me.
Sure spending should be subject to scrutiny, but there reasoning for this is idiotic and maddening. The dome repair is not vital, but this is just symbolic of the shitty attitudes House Republicans have about trying to get even the most mundane things done.
Yep, our country is far better off if we neglect the routine maintenance of historic buildings. If I have learned anything from Third World countries, is that once you build something, never spend anything to keep it in shape. When you get right down to it, what really is the difference between the Capitol dome and a Mexican highway?
Besides, once you count in the cost of financing this project with a 10-year treasury note, the cost of this project explodes: from $61 million in today’s dollars to a whopping $72.3 million once all the interest is calculated.
This doesn’t surprise me at all. Most Republican congressmen will do anything to shy away from something that even remotely resembles a breast. Now if it were the Washington Monument… they’d be all over it.
You eloquently summed up your position on efforts to stop the renovation of one of the most famous public buildings in the world, thereby risking permanent damage to historic artwork, as “a huge meh to me.”
So, in a technical sense, you are not actively advocating the destruction of an important national treasure… you just don’t really care if it happens. You aren’t trying to be an asshole, you’re just being a passive dick. I’m glad we could clear that up.
As someone who worked as both a construction manager and a facilities manager during my lifetime, I agree with you completely. So-called “deferred maintenance” is the bane of capital budgets everywhere. Nobody uses the correct word, which is “neglect”. Building elements can be neglected for varying amounts of time, but eventually they fail. And when it’s a catastrophic failure, people can get hurt or killed. In this case, the roof collapsing might be a boon for all of us, but it’s stupid to keep putting off the repairs, as complete replacement is going to escalate the cost into the hundreds of millions.
No, I didn’t do that either, sorry. Budgets are limited, priorities need to be made. Demonstrate that this needs to be fixed immediately and then I’ll agree the money needs to be spent and it’s a dick move to block it as purely partisan politics.
It’s the only thing in Washington said to be in possession of 40 lb. cast iron nuts and, as such a rarity, funding for its preservation should be immediate.
The only problem is that the House doesn’t hold sessions beneath the dome; it has its own wing. Granted, with good timing you might get some representatives as they’re leaving or entering.
Republicans campaign on their plan to eliminate Waste and Democrat Graft which, as every one knows, runs to $100 billion of Federal spending. Problem is that what everyone knows isn’t correct. Instead there are lots of little programs of varying utility that have to be cut to reduce spending.
Construction workers in D.C. vote consistently Democratic. Faced with the choice of the Capitol Dome and a Bridge to Nowhere in a state like Alaska, it’s just not a tough decision which to support.
