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“You can’t be politically free if you are economically in bondage"
- Scott Rohter

Funding the Goodpasture Bridge Repairs with Federal Money in Lane County
- by Scott Rohter, December 2010

Dateline: Eugene, Oregon,  December 2, 2010

Did the original builders of the Goodpasture Bridge located just west of the small town of Vida, Oregon receive any federal funding in 1939 to build the historic covered bridge across the McKenzie River? Of course, the answer to that rhetorical question is, no they did not!

So then why do we need Federal money now to paint it, or put a new roof on it ,or repair it 71 years later? The simple answer to that question is that we don’t! So what’s changed? It’s not the bridge over the river that’s different but the whole world has changed all around it, and not for the better, but for the worse!

When I first heard that the Lane County Commissioners were seeking Federal Stimulus money to put a new roof on our old bridge and to perform certain other repairs, I was furious! What makes the Board of Commissioners think that we should not pay for our own bridge repairs on our own roads with our own money? Why should residents of Louisiana pay for repairs to our county bridges in Oregon? Don't they have enough problems of their own to take care of in Louisiana? Why do the Lane County Commissioners want to put the tab on the Federal charge card instead, a charge card that is already way over extended? Isn't that exactly what's wrong with our country, that no one accepts responsibility for their own problems anymore?

Haven’t they heard that the Federal Government is broke, and deeply in debt, trillions of dollars in debt as a matter of fact? Do they want to add more to that crippling burden of debt, or to the crippling inflation that will inevitably come from the printing of more fiat money, in order to pay down the debt? Whatever happened to “the buck stops here!” Doesn’t our Board of Commissioners feel even the slightest tinge of guilt for contributing to the Federal Government’s woes? Aren’t they worried about asking the Federal Government to make room for another 300,000 more passengers (i.e. the residents of Lane County) aboard the already sinking "Federal ship of state"? I know that was a lot of questions to ask, but I just have a few more. Don’t they feel ashamed to ask for help from the Federal Government, which already needs all the help it can get, and which is getting all the help that it can, from China (in addition to raising our taxes)? Why don’t we simply just ask China to rebuild our bridge for us? I mean really!

Where is the can do attitude that built Oregon, the attitude that built America, and the attitude that built the bridge and not just the Goodpasture Bridge, but all the rest of our bridges in Oregon? Well, if they’re not ashamed, then at least I certainly am, and I feel enough shame for all of them. What a bunch of clueless politicians! If they can’t fund the repairs to the bridge with our own local tax dollars, then what the hell are they doing with those tax dollars? Is that a question that we are not supposed to ask? Why not? Do you think we might find out that they are going to fund a lot of expensive P.E.R.S. retirement plans, “Cadillac Plans”, pardon me, I mean “Rolls Royce Bentley Plans”?

Please excuse me for pointing this out! No wonder they need Federal grant money to fund the repairs to the bridge! Is that also why Lane County doesn’t even bother to remove dead deer form along the side of the roadway anymore? The crew from “Public Works” just drives by and sprinkles lime over the rotting carcasses and leaves them there to decompose before our very eyes. Do you think that they are sending us a message? Yes indeed, times are getting very tough! We are all having to cut back on our expenses. That is, all except for the retired members of the public employees unions who retired on their well endowed P.E.R.S. pension plans. They negotiated such sweet deals for themselves didn’t they? And of course they are all untouchable now! Where is the shared sacrifice? Don’t ask the deer lying on the side of the road!

Have you ever wondered how the Federal Government in Washington exerts such strong control over the states? It is through the power of the purse! Let’s tell Washington to keep their Federal transportation dollars. We can fix our own bridge! That way Oregon will remain free and independent.

"The truth, the political truth, and nothing but the political truth. A journalist has no better friend than the truth." - Scott Rohter
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