Rep. Kanjorski: Minnesota legislators ’screwed us.’
By on Aug 8th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Rep. Kanjorski: Minnesota legislators ’screwed us.’
Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) thinks the $250 million bill Congress passed to rebuild the collapsed bridge in Minneapolis was a ripoff because it exceeded the normal $100 million limit for emergency relief projects. Said Kanjorski: Minnesotans “discovered they were going to get all the money from the federal government and they were taking all they could get,” he said. They took the opportunity “to screw us,” he said. Congress stipulated that the funds be used for bridge repair.
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Yeah, Paul, may want to phrase that a little differently.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:08 pmHis comments are grossly inappropriate. He needs to apologize to the victims’ families for his rude comments. They are clearly not part of the political discourse.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:09 pmNice. Real nice.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:09 pmApparently Kanjorski thinks he’s part of the federal government, not a representative of his Minnesota constituents. Wonder what they’ll say about this bozo.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:10 pmRep. Paul Kanjorski
=
Another heartless member of the Democrat Party.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:15 pmThat’s not even half of what Steven’s got for his bridge. Don’t remember this poindexter screaming foul about that.
Hopefully the money can be used wisely and a better, safer bridge is built. This disaster shouldn’t be repeated anywhere in the US.
What’s 250 m anyways but a week in Iraq?
August 8th, 2007 at 6:15 pmComment by NoOneYouKnow — August 8, 2007 @ 6:10 pm
Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA)?
August 8th, 2007 at 6:15 pmPennsylvania, District 11 ?
Another heartless member of the Democrat Party.
Comment by Gregory of Nazianzus — August 8, 2007 @ 6:15 pm
Hey, I’m from Minnesota and I think what he was trying to say though he could have chosen better words that the normal limit is 100 million seems odd to nearly double that to 250. When it just happens to be the 2008 site of the republican convention. Guess it would make for a bad photo op if it wasn’t complete.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:23 pmThe headlines makes his quote sound much worse by throwing in the word ‘victims.’ The victims are dead and injured; he didn’t say those people screwed them.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:25 pmDoes he hate 9/11 widows, too?
Does he think things are really working well for Katrina victims?
Sheesh….
August 8th, 2007 at 6:26 pmI don’t see how they will be able to repair the bridge before the convention.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:26 pmWho decided on the $ amount? It didn’t just appear.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:28 pmA trillion dollars spent in Iraq and Afghanistan losing weapons. Meanwhile, here at home, the rats fight over what few crumbs are left for their “security.” Get used to it; this is just the beginning. A few hurricanes and infrastructural failures later, and it’s every state for itself, budgetarily speaking.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:31 pmRepresentative Kanjorski have nothing to worry about. Minnesotans will NEVER see any of that money. It will disappear just like the Katrina funds did.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:31 pmi don’t know either but yesterday the announced the new bridge will be 10 lanes with a pedestrian walk way and be built in a year. Simply replacing the old bridge will cost 500 million this project they mentioned yesterday may cost a billion. Our rep. Obestar is on it he proposed a 0.05 federal gas tax increase to set up a fund to repair all bridges and roads so thay will probably be the additional funding. but up in a year I severely doubt it maybe up in 2 maybe.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:32 pmDamn, if only he could save us from the trolls.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:34 pmWhen the Skyway collapsed, I’m pretty sure it took more than a year to rebuild it. I forget exactly how long it took. My husband worked on the reconstruction of the bridge. I’ll have to ask him how long it took when he gets home.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:40 pmMSNBC’s Olbermann-moderated debate Tues. night averages less than one million viewers! Only 914,000 tune-in… Lowest rated debate of the 2007 political season
So much for the ratings geting Olbermann
August 8th, 2007 at 6:45 pmchris just can’t get over the ratings thing when it leans to his side.
Bush 31% approval 63% dissapproval. Using Chris logic Bush should be canceled.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:49 pmHe had just under 1 million viewers? That is actually quite good considering 1) most people are on vacation this time of year and don’t pay attention to the news, and 2) People like me are already tired of the debates and will go online to read commentary and watch important snippets of the debate rather than watching the debate live.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:56 pmThis was a debate, not count down. Nobody gives a rats ass about the debates, including people that are supposed to care about debates.
Did I watch the debate or the YouTube Debate or the republican debate? No. Why should I watch a debate between a bunch of people who’s opinions I already know.
Will regular Americans watch a debate. Fu*k no. Most American don’t even care that we are moving to a fascist state.
Most people don’t care that you are a fu*king retard either. So, go figure.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:14 pmif the intend was ratings I think they should have olberman/stewart do the republican debate and Limbaugh do the Democratic debate now that would be entertaining.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:27 pmSaid Kanjorski: Minnesotans “discovered they were going to get all the money from the federal government and they were taking all they could get,†he said. They took the opportunity “to screw us,†he said.
the “victims” of that bridge accident are probably all minnesotans,
and most people inconvenienced by the collapsed bridge could consider themselves “victims”, but i really don’t think kanjorski was referring to the actual “victims” as the headlines insinuates…
bad form, TP…
August 8th, 2007 at 7:27 pm.
He sounds correct… why isnt Minnesota paying for this? Or do the feds normally pay for this?
August 8th, 2007 at 7:28 pmSo much for the ratings geting Olbermann
Comment by chris — August 8, 2007 @ 6:45 pm
Gee chris is that ALL you got? Ratings? You must be proud watcher of Faux news, you know the one channel that caters to idiots. You all collect there like flies on a turd, and you know the one channel on TV that was challenged in court, their right to lie on their news program and won. So you enjoy watching a news program that fought for it’s right to lie to viewers?
http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2005/11.html
August 8th, 2007 at 7:38 pmIt is interesting that the republicans are fine paying $250 to repair a bridge that collapsed in the state where their convention will be next year. But, don’t want to spend a penny on repairing levees that broke in a state that is clearly democratic.
Both of the bolded items are infrastructure. They are the same exact thing, but the republicans see a difference. One takes you over a river, the other holds a river back.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:41 pmWe’re heartbroken here in the Twin Cities. Imagine every bridge you go over to work, grocery shop or to play, and it falls beneath you.
If you escaped the morass, you still have to wonder about all the other bridges you go over, all the twists and turns needed to get where you are going when the most logical route is gone.
MN’ans aren’t gimmees. We need the money for an Interstate Highway repair that originated with Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Defense of Highways program for the Interstates. They were deemed necessary for troop and material transportation in the 50’s, 60’s and beyond. It is also a major transportation roadway as is the river.
Please, honor the dead, respect the living and injured.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:50 pmYeah, being trapped in a sinking car, dying in forty feet of icy water, that really screws over PA.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:53 pmasshat.
POLITICAL PARASITES/LEECHES WITH THEIR
YOU SCRATCH ME AND I SCRATCH YOU
I’LL SMOOZE WITH YOU AND YOU’LL SCRATCH AND SMOOZE WITH ME
PET AND PORK AND PIGGY BUDDIES
SCREW US AMERICAN PEOPLE………..
THEIR LEECHES LITERALLY SWINDLERS
SO BAD……. WE CAN FRIGGIN GET SERVICES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEY GET THE FINEST FIRST CLASS SWINDLES/SCANDLES
AND WE THE PEOPLE GET A FRIGGIN GREASE DUMP OOZING OFF THE
TOP WITH CORRUPTION
AND WE THE PEOPLE GET FAR FAR SUPERIOR SERVICE FROM FRIGGIN
A DUMP CALLED MCDONALD’S
SO LETS DON’T TALK ABOUT BASIC ESSENTIAL INFRASTURE AS SCREWING THEM
BUT I’LL BET YA 75% OF THAT 250 MILLION WILL BE WASTED AND PORKED
August 8th, 2007 at 8:56 pmAWAY, SO WHO’S GETTING SCREWED HERE
Kudos to TP for exposing a democrat, but I’m actually on his side because he also said this:
The legislators can prevent downfall by devising a fair revenue system that covers the legitimate expenses of the government. “If we don’t do it, we’ll never get control of our expenses,†he said.
Obviously not the right choice of words, but the idea that with every calamity we will out charity the last because we fear looking unsympathetic; is going to cripple us. He sees it. It’s not funny money. It’s real money. Yours and mine.
Bad choice of words, but the sentiment is right on.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:58 pmHIGHEST CLASS HOUSE OF THE LAND
SWINDLERS
HIGHEST CLASS DEPARTMENT OF UTMOST TRUTH AND INTEGRITY
CORRUPT
EPA
CORRUPT
FDA
CORRUPT
DEPT OF DEFENSE
TOTALLY CORRUPT
CONGRESS
CORRUPT
SENATE
CORRUPT
AS STATED, WE GET THE FRIGGIN GREASE PITS WITH FRIGGIN OOZING OFF
THE TOP
FROM THESE SWINDLERS AND
THEY GET TO SMOOZE, PILE ON PORK, AND SCRATCH THEIR BRIBING BUDDIES
August 8th, 2007 at 8:59 pmRe # 22: The bridge was part of an Interstate highway. So, yeah, the feds kick in about half.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:10 pmmy gawd, TP … WTF has happened to you??? who wrote this piece???
you got your attitude from this, and took it another step with “victims”:
Congressman: Minnesotans ‘Screwed Us’
By Tom Shoop | Wednesday, August 08, 2007 | 11:36 AM
Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., isn’t one of those people waxing rhapsodic about the need to help our fellow citizens in need after last week’s 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. On the contrary, according to this report in the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader, he thinks the $250 million bill Congress passed to rebuild the bridge was a taxpayer ripoff because it exceeded the normal $100 million limit for emergency relief projects.
http://blogs.govexec.com/ fedblog/ 2007/ 08/ congressman_minnesotans_screwe.php (the first link - “ripoff”)
this was twisted around from it’s link to this local PA story:
[Kanjorski] experienced firsthand the growing anger of the public during two town meetings in Dunmore and Throop, Lackawanna County, during the past few weeks. He described the municipalities as working class, Democratic communities and pressing issues are pensions, the war in Iraq, health care and distrust of the legislators and president.
“I’m in fear for the survival of the republic,†he said. “People want to get their deer rifles out and go to the barricades.â€
The legislators can prevent downfall by devising a fair revenue system that covers the legitimate expenses of the government. “If we don’t do it, we’ll never get control of our expenses,†he said.
The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis is the most recent example of the need to invest in the country’s infrastructure. Legislators passed a bill last week providing $250 million for the reconstruction of the bridge over the Mississippi River, but the funding initially started at $100 million and ballooned higher with the state’s request for emergency aid.
“They discovered they were going to get all the money from the federal government and they were taking all they could get,†he said. In essence they took the opportunity “to screw us,†he said of the funding grab.
http://www.timesleader.com/ news/ 20070808_08_FHL_SUMMIT_JL_BIZ_ART.html
(2nd link - “to screw”)
how about - THINK FOR YOURSELF!
FIX THAT HEADLINE.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:28 pmThe issue Rep. Kanjorski is trying to address is the exceeding of the $100 million limit, which actually means Congress broke the law by allocating $250 million, instead of amending the previous law in some way.
Now, having pointed this out, does anyone believe that this breaking of the law would have happened if Minnesota didn’t have a Republican governor and lieutenant governor, and wasn’t slated to be where the 2008 national Republican convention will be held?
If this tragedy had not happened in a state short-changed budget-wise by Grover Norquist-kissing Republicans over road and bridge building and maintenance funding over the years, as well as a state with Republicans controlling the executive branch, but not the legislature, then the spending limit (established by law) probably wouldn’t have been exceeded.
In other words, the Republicans pulled another fast one, with the intention of making it appear that they really care.
$250 million, by the way, is just a bandaid Republicans and mad dog Blue Dog Democrats are allocating to try to cover the gaping wound in Minnesota’s infrastructure caused by years of Grover Norquist-kissing Republican neglect.
Minnesota Democrats, controlling the Minnesota legislature, passed legislation raising the gas tax to cover road and bridge maintenance and repairs…but the Grover Norquist-kissing Gov. Pawlenty vetoed this emergency infrastructure measure earlier this year.
The word is now that the Grover Norquist-kissing Gov. Pawlenty is reconsidering his veto, and is poised to call a special session, to enact what he previously vetoed, per orders of Grover Norquist and his criminally negligent gang of cutthroat “cut all taxes” Republicans…whose hands are drenched with the blood of all the victims of the I34W bridge collapse.
We’ll just have to wait and see if Gov. Pawlenty goes against Grover Norquist’s Republican thugs, and does call a special session so Minnesota can come up with additional money to augment the $250 million Congress allocated for desperately needed road and bridge infrastructure maintenance in Minnesota.
Or is Gov. Pawlenty all hat and no cattle like George W. Bush?
August 8th, 2007 at 9:38 pmHow much of that money will be ripped off and how shoddy will the new bridge be?
August 8th, 2007 at 9:54 pmhow shoddy will the new bridge be?
Comment by Alejandro — August 8, 2007 @ 9:54 pm
I heard Haliburton already won the cotnract. So don’t drive on it, and watch out for those cost over runs. Just Kidding, I don’t know if they have won it yet.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:01 pmTHANKS, TP!!! …much better…
.
and, i agree - the upcoming republicRAT convention is no doubt a major empetus in getting this bridge going…
they better HOPE it isn’t built in time, though, or it’s liable to fall down again in a few years… but they should have a really nice looking example of “bi-partisan” b.s. to crow about when the time comes…
August 8th, 2007 at 10:45 pm…
Hell, where’s the beef, eh?
People are getting upset over a measly $250 million. Why are’nt people upset over the $60 billion Congress just gave to bush to waste on his pet projects before they left on vacation?
Like #13 said, get used to it. And if any opportunities come along to scrape up some cash from the federal government, do it! It won’t be long before you’ll really be needing assistance for some reason, and there ain’t going to be anyone at home to help.
August 8th, 2007 at 11:07 pm#34
CLEARLY EXPLAINED… RIGHT MAX. LAWFUL 100 MILLIONS
POLITICAL HOODLUMS 250 MILLION
AS I HAVE STATED BEFORE… WE ARE DEALING WITH
POLITICAL
THUGS………
YOU SCRATCH ME
AND
I SCRATCH YOU
COME SMOOZE WITH ME
AND
I’LL SMOOZE WITH YOU
PILE ON THE PORK, STUFF IT FULL OF ALL THE PORK
WHILE WE THE PEOPLE GET THE GREASE PITS FOR SERVICES THAT WE
CAN’T EVEN GET
BECAUSE OF ALL THE CORRUPTION OOZING OF THE SIDES OF THE GREASE DUMP
AND IN REALITY WE THE PEOPLE GET FAR SUPERIOR SERVICE AT A FRIGGIN DUMP CALLED MCDONALD’S
THEN FROM THESE POLITICAL HOODLUMS, SWINDLERS, THUGS, LEECHES, PARASITES AND FRIGGIN POLITICAL CRIMINALS
August 8th, 2007 at 11:47 pmYEH RIGHT THEY’RE SOME FAITHFULLY CARESSED GOD APPOINTED ELDER
SEVANTS BECAUSE OF THEIR HARD WORK, ROCK SOLID HONESTY, ROCK SOLID INTEGRITY, SO MUCH INTEGRITY THEY HAVE THE WISDOM TO SERVE THE PEOPLE AND FOR THAT REASON WRITE ULTIMATE LAW
THEIR FRIGGIN POLITICAL HOODLUMS, SWINDLERS PARASITES, LEECHES AND FRIGGIN PARASITES
August 8th, 2007 at 11:50 pmPart I –
I resided in Minnesota for my entire life until 1986, and recall that its citizens were rightly proud of their great state. They were more than willing to pay higher taxes to create a high quality of life for nearly all of its residents, putting almost every other state to shame by comparison.
Unfortunately, since that time, it seems that the state has taken a rather hard turn to the right, adopting the Right Wing mantra of lower taxes, regardless of the consequences. By electing politicians who represented these values, such as Pawlenty, Minnesotans ensured that such a disaster would not be a question of if, but when.
Had Minnesotans demonstrated the foresight that distinguished their forefathers, they could have paid slightly higher taxes to better maintain their infrastructure and have been eligible for matching federal funds. Taking the line from a well-known television ad a few years ago, “You can pay me now or pay me later.” By voting as they have, they chose to pay later.
Unlike the situation in Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina hit in late August, 2005, Minnesota has a Republican white male as their governor, the Republican convention coming to the area next year, and a Republican Senator coming up for re-election in November, 2008 (i.e., Norm Coleman, who was losing ground in the polls to incumbent Paul Wellstone, and was the beneficiary of Wellstone’s untimely demise in a plane crash a couple of weeks prior to the election in 2002).
Had the voters and taxpayers in Minnesota displayed some foresight, paying for preventive maintenance on the bridge before it fell would most certainly cost a fraction of the cost as it stands now. There is no doubt that taxpayers from all states (who pay into the federal coffers) are being unfairly penalized by the irresponsible actions of Minnesotans.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:53 amNorm Coleman, who was losing ground in the polls to incumbent Paul Wellstone, and was the beneficiary of Wellstone’s untimely demise in a plane crash a couple of weeks prior to the election in 2002…
The voters of New Orleans chose Democrats for 50 years, did that prevent their infastructure collapse?
And, ironically, weren’t there construction crews on the bridge at the time of the collapse - repairing the structure.
August 9th, 2007 at 10:18 amNote — I have been trying to post a continuation of my comment, which is now the second to last comment, and no matter what I’ve written, it won’t post. I have also been trying to respond to the most recent comment, with no success in that regard either.
Please know that my silence is not of my choosing. I think I will spend more time on other sites where this doesn’t occur.
August 9th, 2007 at 11:07 amAnd, ironically, weren’t there construction crews on the bridge at the time of the collapse - repairing the structure.
You are a moron. They were patching in a few inches of concrete ON THE DECK. Just a patch job that didn’t involve anything structural. Patching the holes, barely, like all the roads that as being neglected with republican vetoes.
August 9th, 2007 at 11:10 amthe latest: “design flaw” …
that should play well to let the tax-vetoing, infrastucture maintenance ignoring big wheels off the hook…
and with media and fed agency information being manipulated,
August 9th, 2007 at 11:57 amwe won’t know the facts for quite some time…
…
Minnesota is one of the highest taxed states in the nation…maybe they should build their own bridges.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:22 pmFirst, a few stats that may further inform the discussion. (Full disclosure: I am a life-long Minnesotan, born and raised.)
Minnesota is consistently one of the more generous states in terms of
“return on federal tax dollars”, typically receiving only 70-80% of the funds it contributes toward federal revenues back in allocatable funds and services. Compare this to, say, Pennsylvania, which by those same calculations received $1.07 in funds on every $1.00 federal tax paid in 2004. (Source: http://www.nemw.org/taxburd.htm.)
You can certainly argue the methodology used to compile those figures, how certain disbursements should be treated, etc., but I would suggest that by any stretch, Minnesota’s citizens in the aggregate do not normally qualify as “looking for a handout”.
Minnesota’s annual federal tax burden is approximately 35 billion dollars. The amount being granted here is less than 1/100th of 1% of that number.
All that said, I can guarantee people that a significant number of Minnesotans (those within my circle of contacts, at the least) would rather refuse the money… most of us take a fair amount of pride in being self-sufficient, actually. We are in general quite fortunate, and have enough resources to deal with the problem here. We really shouldn’t need the help, nor do many of us want it, if it is not freely given. No doubt the mindset of “take whatever you can get” exists amongst some, perhaps even many Minnesotans… but it’s far from universal, I assure you.
The state budget runs about $4+ billion biannually… temporary supplemental state taxation to cover an additional $250 million wouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle. Whether Gov. Pawlenty (R) and his pawns would be willing to forego such a “windfall” is a different issue, of course. Playing by the apparent rules of the game as set by the rest of the country, it’s sometimes difficult to argue why we shouldn’t simply “grab as much as we can” (I-35 is hardly a road/bridge to nowhere, for example) … but I can say there are some of us that would rather not play by those rules.
My two cents.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:31 pmHad Minnesotans demonstrated the foresight that distinguished their forefathers, they could have paid slightly higher taxes to better maintain their infrastructure and have been eligible for matching federal funds. Taking the line from a well-known television ad a few years ago, “You can pay me now or pay me later.†By voting as they have, they chose to pay later.
They already pay some of the highest taxes in the nation….how about stop sending trillions of dollars to the Dept of HHS?
August 9th, 2007 at 1:33 pmMinnesota is consistently one of the more generous states in terms of
“return on federal tax dollarsâ€, typically receiving only 70-80% of the funds it contributes toward federal revenues back in allocatable funds and services. Compare this to, say, Pennsylvania, which by those same calculations received $1.07 in funds on every $1.00 federal tax paid in 2004. (Source: http://www.nemw.org/taxburd.htm.)
Welcome to progressive taxation! Population: rich states.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:34 pmSorry, my math was faulty. The 250 million being granted is less than 1% of the 35 billion that is Minnesota’s annual federal tax burden, but it is significantly more than 1/100th of a percent. My apologies for the error.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:37 pmAs the saying goes, can’t get blood from a turnip, m12.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:50 pmAs the saying goes, can’t get blood from a turnip, m12.
Comment by MNAdvocate — August 9, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
Seems like liberals in state and federal governments are trying with these gas taxes.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:55 pm250 million for a bridge? will it be gold plated? very few of anyone in congress cares about the longterm debt of this country when they spend money like this- and i mean both parties.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:48 amCongressman Kanjorski made a statement without thinking about it’s political backlash. That’s different among elected officials and when one does that he/she risks being punished by political correctness nay sayers in the internet world. I wish Congressman Kanjorski would’ve had a fake prepared statement for our world of make believe. I guess he should’ve stated that Mr. Bush rushed to send a large amount money without really looking at the best practices to reslove our nation’s infrastucture problems, but he spoke off the cuff, so we should punish him.
August 10th, 2007 at 8:56 am