My newly acquired Washington insider could not tell me where my rental car was parked. Clearly this relationship was getting off on the wrong foot.
For the first time in my life the vehicle I was driving was caught by one of those roaming—and instantaneous—auto prison sentences. It was towed.
Three phone numbers and 20 minutes into my probing of a street informant I could tell we were becoming fast friends.
“What do you mean you do not have any record of a black Hyundai Sonata being towed?” I pressed the D.C. dispatch.
I continued to torment my assigned dispatcher until he finally gave up the location of my black rental nightmare.
Washington, D.C., left me with a blank space of pavement, but I did not leave the land of our leaders with an equally nondescriptive look on my face.
With the Congressional parking meter ticking hard on an expiring SAFETEA-LU, below is a synopsis of what my genuine collection of industry insiders had to say.
- The rumor now is Obama wants to make high-speed rail his legacy. When the figures of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were released weeks ago, some said high-speed rail got its fill and that the industry would not be bothering lawmakers during reauthorization. I think this is just the first dose of a whole bottle of future financing. I have no problem opening the land to this movement, as long as it is done in addition to road and bridge funding.
- The idea of raising the federal gas tax actually still has some legs, and the possibility of such a move passing is actually getting smoother instead of more hairy. Some say the House of Representatives would pass the measure today, and that there are more Senators warming up to the concept.
- Democrats and Republicans are keeping themselves at arm’s length from each other, which I guess is better than having them involved in an arm wrestling cage match. However, word is Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) will not be seen picnicking on the Capitol lawn any time soon. For reauthorization to succeed, bipartisan support is a must.
- Oberstar’s $450 billion highway bill creation could move by May, setting up a presidential signing by November. However, Congress must first confront health-care reform and cap-and-trade.
During my talk with inner circles my mind was left spinning when it came down to funding levels and timetables. If no reauthorization is passed, the road and bridge industry could receive as little as $20 billion or as much as $42 billion during FY 2010. One confidant even went as far as to say it could be as late as 2011 before we meet and greet another multiyear highway bill, and between now and then funding would turn fragmented at best.
If I have to choose between camps, I am going with the one serving s’mores and singing songs by the fire with this one, and it is all due to an administration that has been diligently marking its trail since January. I find it hard to believe that Obama’s fellowship will lose any jobs it claimed to save during the stimulus. However, I have been left holding the keys to what I thought was dependable movement before.
