Monday, Todd Akin was present at the ceremonies that kicked off the rebuilding of the Old Gravois Road Bridge that crosses the Meramec River, linking two St. Louis surburbs, Fenton and Sunset Hills. The 85 year old bridge was closed in 2007 after the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis raised fears that the Missouri Bridge too might fail. The bridge led directly into the Olde Towne Fenton business district. After the bridge closed, the decreased traffic led to less business for area merchants who lobbied hard to have it rebuilt.
Eighty percent of the cost of replacing the Old Gravois Bridge will be paid for by a federal grant funneled through the East-West Council of Governments (EWGCOG). Let me be very clear; without federal funding this bridge would probably not have been built, and the Olde Towne business district would have continued to decline with, one surmises, negative effects on tax revenue. So what did Todd Akin have to say at the ceremonies called to mark the beginning of this valuable federal project?:
Well there’s a lot of good news today. I guess the best good news is that there’s so much snow in Washington D.C. that it’s paralyzed. I just wish it would stay paralyzed for a couple of years – maybe we’d get caught up in spending, you know, or with what spending they want to do. … . Pray for more snow to fall in D.C. and maybe things will go better.
And the fools in the crowd, including the Fenton mayor, Dennis Hancock, clapped and laughed. As Republican chutzpah goes, this is a fairly mild – if you want to supersize the dose of hypocrisy, think about Kit Bond damning the stimulus while lobbying to get a bigger share. Nevertheless, it leaves me wondering if the “no shame, no gain” philosophy of these politicians will always also have no consequences.
Last night on Rachel Maddow, she showed photos of Repug Congressmen and women taking credit for projects in their districts (including Kit Bond.) Before each person in her list, Rachel said that person “trashed the stimulus bill, didn’t vote for it, and….” I timed it. Rachel went on for 6 minutes with her list and said she could go another 20 minutes. These hyprocrites are all over the country showing up at grand openings, job fairs (where the only reason employers are able to hire is because of stim money) etc.
My husband said the voters in those districts would surely see the hypocrisy and kick their asses out of office. Would that it were so. But dummies like Dennis Hancock and Akin apostles don’t watch RAchel Maddow. How are they to know their reps voted against the money for that bridge or that new plant or whatever?
Who is going to tell them? I keep saying we have to do more than criticize and ridicule these clowns. That bridge ceremony would have been a good place to pass out “If you love this bridge, thank a Democrat” fliers. At the very least someone should write to the Journal about Akin voting against the stim bill.
Maybe Claire’s letter to Mo legislative leaders asking what part of the stim money they don’t want will get media attention. Maybe.
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