| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Ray LaHood | ||||
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by Mark Silva
How about those New York City bankers who couldn't make it to the White House this week, the transportation secretary was asked. How was it that he managed to make it to New York for a TV show?
"Amtrak,'' he explained. "Amtrak runs in the fog.''
Ray LaHood, retired Republican congressman from Peoria and member of President Barack Obama's Cabinet, made an appearance on Comedy Central's Daily Show last night. And host Jon Stewart was asking him how that bipartisan thing is going in Washington.
"This idea of having a Republican and bipartisanship is really part of the president's DNA - he believes in it, he really does,'' LaHood said of Obama.
What about fellow Republicans, how do they like his working in the Cabinet? "I have lots of money, and they're all my friends.''
"It's not the most glamorous Cabinet position - it's the least glamorous Cabinet position,'' Stewart suggested.
But there are billions of dollars involved.
"We were given $48 billion in economic recovery (funding) -- 70 percent of it is out the door,'' LaHood said. "They're building roads, bridges, runways.... We're getting the money out. People are working, and we're making a difference. And we're rebuilding the infrastructure of America.''
That includes $8 billion for high-speed rail: "This is the start of high-speed passenger rail in America.''
In the meantime, LaHood also is concerned about "distracted driving,'' and is working on that, too: "People are trying to text and eat hamburgers on their cell phones,'' LaHood explained. "You cant really do those things.''
"A great idea,'' Stewart suggested: "a BlackBerry hamburger, you can do all of that while you're driving with your feet.''
Comments
LaHood is batchit crazy! the very first thing he proposed to do was to establish additional taxes and fees for driving your automobile!
Forget jacking up the price of gasoline and oil folks, this nutjob wanted to put monitors in Americans cars and charge them monthly by the mile!
Illinois Republicans were very happy to see that dope leave this state - RINO is the word? Him and good old Joe Lieberman should be sharing a shanty somewhere in Brazil.
Posted by: springfield | December 16, 2009 2:23 PM
Here is something from the artcile that should bother everyone about this - no matter your party affiliation:
What about fellow Republicans, how do they like his working in the Cabinet? "I have lots of money, and they're all my friends.''
Everyday translation - "you want money for your district, you better be kissing my fanny"
Can someone explain to me why a federal gas tax is collected, shipped to DC, and then thru the wisdom of the Beltway is distributed back to the states? Why not keave the tax money with the states and get rid of a bunch of bureaucrats in DC?
Posted by: Terry | December 16, 2009 8:05 PM