The “war on cars” lobby did their best to derail a bi-partisan transportation bill, but failed as it passed the Republican-controlled State Senate today. One particular point of contention was that the bill “only” granted Sound Transit the authority to ask voters for $11 billion next year — instead of the $15 billion the agency originally sought. Sound Transit would be able to place ST3 on the ballot, and voters would decide whether or not to trust the untrustworthy agency with even more of their hard earned taxpayer dollars.
To the rational everywhere, the compromise seems generous. Comfort is only found in the fact that voters must first approve any new Sound Transit tax measure. To the irrational—those who, say, spend $65 billion (financing costs alone) breaking promises, under-delivering and overspending on a light rail projects—it’s just not good enough. Only the full amount is acceptable.
Fuse WA, the far-left organization behind many false attacks on Republicans, has evidently partnered with Sound Transit to express displeasure over the compromise amount. Fuse is attacking lawmakers for not supporting the full $15 billion, which would potentially mean more funding for light rail projects.
Of course, no mention is made of the truth. The generous assumption (considering the agency’s track record) that Sound Transit can meet ST3 promises on time and on budget is presented as fact. The reality is much different: Sound Transit is only projected to complete ST1 in 2016, 10 years late at double the cost. Taking that monumental failure into consideration, trusting Sound Transit with another $11 billion in taxing authority should be taken as a generous compromise… not as a means for attack.
Check out Fuse’s post below:
