He's throwing away jobs!
So what are the results of Jim Bunning's little stunt last week?
Bunning's objections mean the Transportation Department must furlough roughly 2,000 starting today at the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration.
“I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement late Sunday night. “This means that construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed.”
Construction will stop on the $50 million 9th Street Bridge replacement project in the District and the $36 million Humpback Bridge replacement on Northern Virginia's George Washington Parkway because federal inspectors cannot report for work. NHTSA employees working with advocacy groups on safe driving programs including the "Click it or Ticket" and anti-texting campaigns will have to stay home.
Thanks to Bunning, people aren't going to be working today who would have been otherwise. The Senate is expected to pass the bill in question, which would extend unemployment benefits, extend the highway trust fund, and handle a few other infrastructure items. If you think one senator's pique shouldn't stop thousands of folks from going to work, it's time to support Senate procedural reform.
-- Tim Fernholz
