When the infrastructure bill was in debate, The Detroit Free Press exposed Jack Bergman for another lie.
WASHINGTON, DC. – As a former diplomat, I am a huge proponent of healthy debate from different political perspectives. I welcome it, but I do not tolerate dishonesty.
Earlier, as a version of the recently passed infrastructure bill was being debated on the House floor, the Detroit Free Press exposed my opponent for another lie. He said only a 'fraction' of the infrastructure bill goes to traditional uses. He's wrong.
"If by a fraction, he means the vast majority — including possibly some key spending for people in his district — then he would be right," said the article.
Conservative economists agree this package is "admirably ambitious", will create millions of jobs, and repair crumbling infrastructure. It will be a huge asset to our area.
My opponent conflated the bill with a much-larger wish list of priorities, calling it a "$5.5 trillion package."
It is intentionally misleading, and wrong. If Jack cannot do his job, I'm more than prepared to take it. Our elected representatives were called on to work together and lead.
Jack Bergman is operating from the far-right radical wing of his party, at the expense of families in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. The bill was passed in the Senate 69-30 with wide bipartisan support. Michigan Republican Fred Upton called it "common sense."
"...A quick tally of how much of that $550 billion appears to be committed to what ordinarily would be considered traditional infrastructure — roads, bridges, rail lines, water and sewer lines, power and telecommunications lines — shows about 80% of the new spending goes to just that.
That's a big part of the reason 19 Republicans in the Senate voted with Democrats in favor of the bill.
MarketWatch, a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co., did a breakdown of the spending levels in the bill. Here's what it found:
Roads, bridges and major projects: $110 billion
Passenger and freight rail: $66 billion
Broadband: $65 billion
Power and electricity grid: $65 billion
Water and sewers: $55 billion
Public transit: $39 billion
Airports: $25 billion
Ports and waterways: $16.5 billion
As previously reported, Michigan stands to see more than $7 billion for new roadwork and repairs, more than $500 million for bridge repairs and a minimum of $100 million to extend Internet broadband, including in vast rural stretches of the state such as those in Bergman's own district, the 1st, which covers the entire Upper Peninsula and much of the northern Lower Peninsula." –DFP
Jack needs to start debating the issues, present the value and need of the spending without hyperbole, and get honest.
The people of the First District are tired of being hoodwinked and bamboozled. They deserve honesty, integrity, and real leadership.