E-Newsletter

Op-Ed

E-Newsletter

Dear Friends:

After five years of out of control Republican spending, borrowing and trillion dollar tax giveaways, Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Coast disaster have exposed the fiscal crisis in Washington. Now the congressional Republican Study Committee, President Bush's core supporters in the U.S. House, seeks to pay for reconstruction spending for Hurricane Katrina and over $100 billion in new tax giveaways by eliminating $25 billion in approved transportation projects. Included in this extreme Republican proposal is the elimination of vital East Metro transportation investments. What they call "pork," most common sense Minnesotans call critical investment in the future of our community and state.

The RSC proposal calls for eliminating $50 million for St. Paul's Union Depot transit hub, $10.8 million for Phalen Corridor and $1.6 million for Central Corridor light rail. In total $495 million in Minnesota transportation projects would be eliminated, along with the estimated 23,000 jobs that these projects would create.

Not only am I going to fight this proposal, but the entire Minnesota delegation - Republicans and Democrats - should stand together to put the needs of our vital transit needs of our communities and Minnesotans ahead of an irresponsible and extreme agenda coming from Washington.

For more information, please link to the following articles:
- Union Depot Funding May Be in Jeopardy, Pioneer Press
- Will Phalen Corridor Funds - Already Given - Be Taken Away? East Side Review

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Betty McCollum
Serving Minnesota's Fourth Congressional District

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