« CD-1: Clinch Mountain Cliffhanger | Main | Ninth District Democratic Debate »
May 18, 2006
Locking in funding
When it comes to efforts like replacing the lock at Chickamauga Dam, I have to balance the voice that cries "fiscal restraint" against the other voice that reminds me to consider the colossal impacts if the lock is allowed to sink into disrepair. Surely we can clearly demarcate a so-called "pork project" that adds something new and pretty in a U.S. Representative's district from a spending measure that simply shores up and protects a deeply embedded member of the infrastructure such as this lock. It sure is expensive, though.
Edward Lee Pitts reports in today's Chattanooga Times Free Press that a portion of the necessary funding has cleared the House Appropriations Committee, of which our Congressman — rather conveniently for us I suppose — is a member. The full House will take up the matter next week; the Senate will devise its own Energy and Water spending package in the coming weeks.
The $27 million approved on Tuesday is a lot of money, yes — but did you notice how much of this Energy and Water spending is slated for projects in Oak Ridge? Three billion dollars. That's almost ten times as much as the entire projected cost of the Chickamauga lock.
There's not much guesswork in determining from which part of the district Rep. Wamp's perennial electoral support is really derived, eh?
Government | By joe lance | 04:36 PM