Rick Perlstein catches PowerLine's John Hinderaker in an amazing moment of candor:
This is the kind of disaster that just doesn't happen in the United States--a bridge spontaneously collapsing, apparently, into a river. It is hard to convey to those who don't live here the astonishment of this sort of catastrophe happening on our most traveled highway.
Perlstein responds:
Conservatives like Hinderaker are demanding we not "politicize" the disaster. That's dead wrong, because this is an entirely political disaster, and demands an entirely political solution.Some more facts suggesting right-wing taxphobia is to blame:
A MN DOT document from March 2006 indicated that the bridge was scheduled for repairs in 2006, but it was removed from the schedule because it would be more efficient to do the work in 2007. One of the questions that needs to be answered is if budget constraints were the cause of delaying the repairs.
As long as Grover "Drown Government In A Bathtub" Norquist retains an iota of influence within the American political class, this will happen again, again, and again, and again.
This is your government on conservatism.
As Ezra Klein said a few months back, "taxes pay for things." When we cut taxes, we limit our ability as a society to fund public projects. Tax cuts have consequences. Eventually we will all be forced to acknowledge this.
More from Perlstein here.
UPDATE: I cannot believe I'm about to write this, but... apparently Newt Gingrich agrees with me:
"Republican political doctrine has been a failure," Gingrich said. "Look at New Orleans. How can you say that was a success? Look at Baghdad ... We've been in charge for six years and I don't think you can look around and say that was a great success.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
