Political Quotes

“It is the desire of this House and Members of this side of the aisle that we put an end to earmarks, and yet some might say that in this bill there contains $150 million solely for the benefit of one particular project, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, or WMATA. This is just one-tenth of the $1.5 billion that Congress intends to spend on the D.C. metro system over a 10-year period. This may not be considered your average earmark. The Heritage Foundation has dubbed this--according to Heritage--``the largest earmark in American history.'' Why? Well, the amendment before us is simple. It would eliminate the subsidy to WMATA that has been received since 2008. At a time of record budget deficits and debt, the American people cannot afford to provide a special subsidy, especially when it takes into consideration the fact that the D.C. metro area already receives funds from several different Federal transit programs. And given the performance of this agency, I really find it amazing. I find it astounding that this year the American people should be expected to give them another $150 million of their hard-earned money. In addition to the daily service interruptions, the lax management, and the generally poor performance that we're all familiar with, Metro has a significant record of wasteful spending. In 2005, The Washington Post reported that Metro spent $382 million to rebuild cars only to have them break down more often than those that weren't overhauled.…”