What does George Bush and the Iraq War have to do with Road Construction in Fairfax?
Nothing. Since road construction is funded by state funds, this has absolutely nothing to do with the Federal government, George W. Bush, and the Iraq War. Fairfax County Democratic Committee Chairman, Scott Surovell, made these claims in a recent letter to the editor that was published in the Mount Vernon Gazette on June 18, 2009, where he tied the lack of transportation funding to the Bush/Cheney Administration and the War in Iraq, in response to a previous letter to the editor by Jay McConville, who is running against Del. Kris Amundson.
McConville, in his letter to the editor that was published in the Mount Vernon Gazette on June 11, 2009, talked about the need for transportation improvements on Route 1 between the Beltway and Fort Belvoir. For anyone who has driven in this area, they can tell you that there is great need for improvement on this highway. McConville mentioned in his letter that the state seems to be pushing money to other areas of the State, including other areas of Fairfax County. The current Delegate has not been vocal on this issue, and just recently, she sent a letter to the Virginia Department of Transportation to get funding for transportation improvements.
So, what does transportation improvements on Route 1 (namely road construction) have to do with the Bush Administration and the War in Iraq? Nothing. In response to Surovell’s claims, McConville said:
“I’m not sure why Mr. Surovell felt this was a partisan matter that needed more finger-pointing while people continue to sit in traffic,” said McConville. “He went on about issues that have nothing to do with what I was discussing, and certainly nothing to do with our district. Getting people home at a reasonable time is not a partisan issue, nor is pedestrian safety. Results don’t have an “R” or a “D” next to them; unfortunately, Mt. Vernon hasn’t seen any results on transportation for far too long.”
Posted on June 23, 2009, in Virginia Politics and tagged 2009 Election, George W. Bush, Iraq, Jay McConville, Kris Amundson, Scott Surovell, Transportation, Virginia. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Your initial assumption is false: road construction is not funded exclusively by state funds. In fact, according the Commonwealth Transportation Board budget (available here: http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/resources/CTBBudget.pdf ), 31.8% of the CTF comes from federal funds. Therefore, when federal transportation funding decreases, the state has less money to work with and it must cut projects. McConville acknowledges this when he complains that the state is pushing money to other projects–there’s less of it to go around, and he doesn’t like where it’s going. That’s a perfectly valid issue; where in the Commonwealth the CTB decides to spend its money is an important topic for public debate. But it is not correct to say that road construction has absolutely nothing to do with the federal government.
The federal government is funding a large part of the Mixing Bowl, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (funded with a large earmark secured by Senator John Warner & Congs. Jim Moran & Tom Davis), Mulligan Road is being funded by BRAC money, and the Metro Extension is partly funded by Federal Transit funds.
The federal government provides significant matching funds for large transportation projects that have interstate impacts. We’re actually about to lose a lot of it because of our dwindling revenue.
Thanks for giving this issue some publicity.
Yes, and those all HAVE been funded, Scott, so why are you blathering about George Bush and Iraq?
Moron…
And the revenue is dwindling because of a decline in funds to the Highway Trust Fund. That has ZERO to do with Bush and Iraq. It has everything to do with declining Vehicle Miles Traveled and better gas mileage.
…which begs the question (again) of what the federal government is doing paying for things like this? Rather outside its Constitutionally mandated purview. We ought to paying for our own transportation needs, and so should everyone else.
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