Mitt Romney: “It is without question the largest one-time careless expenditure of government money in American history” Really?
Posted: May 18, 2012 Filed under: 2012 presidential campaign, Psychopaths in charge, U.S. Politics | Tags: Afghanistan War, bridge to nowhere, Hillsborough NH, historic monuments, Iraq War, jobs, Mitt Romney, Sawyer Bridge, stimulus funds, tourism, Vietnam War 44 Comments
Mitt Romney mocks the people of New Hampshire for preserving historic landmarks
The title of this post is a quote from Mitt Romney’s speech this afternoon in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. Politico reports:
Mitt Romney used a 19th-century stone bridge here today to anchor his attacks against President Barack Obama, calling the 2009 economic stimulus the “largest one-time careless expenditure of government money in America’s history.”
“This is the absolute bridge to nowhere if there ever was one,” Romney told supporters as he motioned to the stone bridge behind him. “That’s your stimulus dollars at work — a bridge that goes nowhere. And so I hope that the president comes here, and takes a look at some of the stimulus program, there’s a long list by the way.”
Wow, the government must have really spent a lot of money for Romney to be this bent out of shape. Let’s see, how much stimulus money went into the bridge?
More than $150,000 from the federal stimulus bill was awarded to restore this one — which doesn’t cross a body of water and hasn’t had vehicle traffic in more than a century. Local officials say they want to turn the stone arch and its surrounding areas into a public park.
“It is without question the largest one-time careless expenditure of government money in American history, and the bad news is it was not just wasteful spending,” Romney continued. “It is wasteful borrowing as well because we still are going to be paying on that debt for years and years and years.”
Wait a minute! That has to be a misprint, right? Why just today Mitt and Ann Romney donated $150,000 to his presidential campaign. He must have meant $150 million went to the bridge. But no, the entire cost of the restoration was about $288,000, with the state providing the start-up funds.
What is Romney getting at here? Does he want to stop preserving historical sites and monuments? Is it really wrong for small towns like Hillsboro that are dependent mostly on tourism to want to preserve their historic sites and at the same time build lovely parks to attract visitors who might also spend their money in town? At the same time, the project provided much-needed jobs for New Hampshirites struggling to survive in a difficult economy.
The bridge that Romney complained about is named Sawyer Bridge, and it is one of the few remaining stone arch bridges in New England. The town of Hillsborough is home to four of them. From Huffington Post:
Romney’s attack on the $288,000 bridge restoration will run into several immediate challenges: Funding for the project was overwhelmingly supported by state Republicans, including a significant number who have now endorsed Romney for president. The infrastructure project created much-needed jobs during tough economic times. And it left behind a public park enjoyed by Granite State residents who take great pride in their early-American and colonial history — and who will be casting critical, swing-state votes in November. It’s a curious breed of conservatism that would find offense in the job-creating conservation of a stone arch bridge that is one of the earliest examples of dry-laid masonry vaults in New England.
I have to wonder, is Romney opposed to any federal support to preserve historic sites? What about the National Parks? Would Romney sell off that land if he were president? Would he open them to oil drilling and other kinds of industrial development?
Think about it. For Romney expenditure of $150,000 in federal stimulus funds represents “the largest one-time careless expenditure of government money in American history.” Really? I can think of some worse, more careless expenditures of government money. What about the Vietnam War? What about the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which Bush financed with borrowed money that was kept off-budget?
Just to get a sense of the financial cost of those wars, I located this paper by Stephen Daggett of the Congressional Research Service (PDF) that lists the costs of America’s wars in $2011 dollars. According to Daggett in 2011,
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress has appropriated more than a trillion dollars for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere around the world. The House
and Senate are now considering an additional request for $33 billion in supplemental funding for
the remainder of FY2010, and the Administration has also requested $159 billion to cover costs of
overseas operations in FY2011.
That’s more than the cost war in Vietnam, which in 2011 dollars was $738 billion. At that time the war in Iraq had cost $784 billion and the war in Afghanistan had cost $321 billion. And Romney is whining about New Hampshire getting $150 THOUSAND to restore a historic bridge while creating jobs and increasing income from tourism?
There is something seriously wrong with the way this man’s mind works.
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
mablue2
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
There were a few protesters at the speech, whom Romney characterized as a “Greek chorus.” The WSJ talked to one of them.
Spending MILLIONS on political campaigns — to be that is a gross expenditure.
Mittens and his fellow GOP would have been against the WPA and CCC — and much of their work has stood the test of time.
Mittens is an open mouth insert foot kind of guy.
Keep it up Mittens — do a 50 state swing and speechifying in front of places where money was spent toward the public good.
He’s a laugh a minute I tell you!
Oh BB, this is one hell of a post. What a fucking asshole Romney is…you know, the man is disturbing on so many levels, and then he says something like this that really makes me pissed off.
I bet that 255,000 is just a quarter of what he is spending on his elevator system in CA.
Where to begin with the idiocy of this fool? I googled unaccounted for money lost in Iraq & Afghanistan and found this list: http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm
I didn’t read all the way through, because it’s so disgusting. What about the roads, infrastructure, oil wells (that Bush/Cheney said would PAY FOR THE WARS), or even the electricity & water supply? How many soldiers died because they were electrocuted in the improperly wired showers “built” by US government hired contractors? Maybe I should also look into how much in tax dollars were spent by the military acting as animal control officers and killing thousands & thousands of dogs.
yep! Wars are a vast waste of money. The poor die and the rich get richer.
Honestly, I’m so mad about this, I could just cry. The only good thing is that it will really turn off voters in New Hampshire. The state doesn’t have much going for it economically except tourism.
The Mormon leadership told Mittens he could lie — that the means justify the ends.
So he is lying and isn’t some organization going to fact check him?
I guess we will have a season of who is the biggest liar?
Meanwhile the Prez is threatening the media — and a few reporters are suing because their constitutional rights are being threatened by the White House.
No matter who wins the next 4 years are going to be hell.
0bowma is the known hell — and Mittens also has a history of secrecy and outright lies — he’s the other kind of hell.
I’m not looking forward to 2016 — what sort of new monster will raise his head?
Sorry to the 0bots — but I’m an Independent and truth teller, and your guy is as crooked and as evil as the rest of the DC politicians.
Thank you for bring this story to our attention, BB. It is another example of how out-of-touch Romney is with real America.
In Southern Indiana, we have a good number of beautiful historic covered bridges. There are counties here whose economy is extremely dependent on tourists who visit these bridges. Some places have annual covered bridge festivals lasting several days. They are very popular and bring a lot of money into otherwise economically depressed areas. A few bridges have received stimulus money to aid in their restoration. Seems like money well spent to me if it helps keep these small rural areas going financially. Plus it is preserving a valuable part of our history.
That’s what I think too.
Beata,
Thanks. That’s exactly what I thought of when I heard about this–about all the wonderful covered bridges in Indiana and how beautiful they are. It would be a tragedy to let them deteriorate and fall down.
Romney has no clue that there are lots of people in the world who depend on tourism to survive. He really makes me sick. It’s gotten so my stomach turns when I see him.
@ Beata, totally agree with everything you said.
The primary thing the state is known for and probably the state’s primary tourist attraction, especially for foreign visitors, fell down and it took 9 years to raise enough money through private donations for some cheesy viewers to create a “facsimile experience” of it. I’m sure there are some wealthy people in NH, but if they won’t give money to that they’re certainly not doing to donate to “lesser” preservation and tourism causes. MA certainly does a subpar job of historical and architectural preservation as well, but god, if NH can’t get federal aid for preservation then everything will be allowed to just crumble. That’s awful.
It’s not just the Prez being sued, it’s the government in general, and an Obama appointed judge gave the plaintiff’s an initial sweeping victory, per Glenn Greenwald.
Federal court enjoins NDAA
BTW, Romney told AP that the bridge doesn’t cross a river–the North Branch River. But of course it does actually cross a river and you can walk on it. What an asshole!
I found out the bridge actually had vehicle traffic until 1988. There’s another lie.
Seems like the NH politicians need to counter Mittens lies. Where is ex-Gov. MD — DEAN — when he is needed?
Dean is from Vermont.
From Democracy Now in 2009: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/11/exclusive_triple_canopy_employee_killed_in
And there is this: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/iraq-kbr-one-million-dogs-death
That’s horrible. I never knew about that.
“What about the National Parks? Would Romney sell off that land if he were president? Would he open them to oil drilling and other kinds of industrial development? ”
I remembered Romney saying something about public lands, I think during a debate. After a search, I found this board: http://andy321.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=polit&action=display&thread=51458 I’m not “endorsing” it, by any means (hunters LOVE nature & are the real environmentalists??? Don’t think so) but there’s some good info about public lands and this quote from Romney: “Unless there’s a valid, legitimate and compelling public purpose, I don’t know why the government owns so much of this land,” said Romney.”
I remember when he said that. And yet he waxed poetic about how his family saw all the National Parks when he was a kid. I guess once he saw them, he didn’t care if they were destroyed.
Sorry for the link to Fox News, but I was beyond amazed to see a Fact Check on Fox about Romney’s speech about the “prairie fire.” http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/16/fact-check-romney-oversimplifies-debt-inferno/
That’s the AP fact check on Willard’s speech. Still kind of amazing that Fox published it.
Gee, wonder what Paul Ryan, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul & Mitt Romney would have done? http://easterniowanewsnow.com/2012/05/18/katie-beckett-cr-woman-who-changed-medicaid-dies/
Any reporter who dared to ask today about such health care questions would probably be tazered by the politician’s staff.
She was only 34 that’s a real shame. Millions of people have led and will lead fuller lives due to her and we should be grateful.
Yes, thank you Connie for sharing that link…
Now for your dining, dancing, indefinitely detained pleasure, the Republican try to make this unconstitutional outrage bullet proof …
House GOP Kills Proposal to Block Indefinite Detention of US Citizens
Ralph….I spent a lot of yesterday arguing, to no avail and received much scorn, over the indefinite detention provision in the NDAA.
A couple of things happened this week
1. A NY Federal Judge blocked the provision, citing it as unconstitutional
2. The vote to strike it down that was overwhelming supported by Dems, was voted down by the GOP.
It’s amazing to me that people want to throw the entire blame for this provision on the back of POTUS, when there’s plenty of blame to go around, especially among the GOP/TP crowd.
This is just another one of the many things that I’m not happy with, but I don’t lose any sleep over it. Obama issued a signing statement stating that he would not use the provision, which a lot of folks hate and think is unconstitutional, but it satisfies me. I can’t imagine it being used, but it’s a bridge to far and needs to be repealed.
I’m less worried about the hypothetical circumstances where this provision may be used and more worried about the actual laws attacking and subverting women’s rights and L/G civil rights coming from the right.
There is no way for us to know for sure if it has been used. But it’s a fact that American citizens have already been accused of terrorism, detained, tortured, and killed. Jose Padilla, for example.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/23/mother-of-tortured-u-s-citizen-appeals-case-to-supreme-court/
There’s this man, who seeking asylum in Sweden.
There are many Arab-Americans (citizens) who have been stranded overseas and denied re-entry into the U.S. by way of the no-fly list.
And of course the assassinations of two American citizens last year.
I’m sure you know about this, but I just wanted to note that it is already happening.
BB…..I agree. I’m inclined to believe that the violation of civil rights and civil liberties against U.S. citizens has been going on for most of our lives, but happening covertly. There’s little way to know what happens or has happened. I’m glad the Federal Judge struck down the provision because it gives those who might use it for cover nowhere to hide. it also gives those who use it as a platform against the Dems & POTUS one less thing to dwell on,
“There are many Arab-Americans (citizens) who have been stranded overseas and denied re-entry into the U.S. by way of the no-fly list.”
I have an acquaintance who got caught up in that no-fly list maze. It was quite an ordeal getting himself cleared so he was able to fly.
For clarification, I am totally opposed to the 1021 provision, but I’m also opposed to those in the blogosphere who try to frame this issue as an Obama/Dem way of making the USA a Russian Gulag. That sort of thinking is the same thing that is fueling the birther, secret muslim hyperbole.
I don’t know what the truth is concerning the genesis of this provision, but I know it’s not how the far-right and those with ODS are spinning it.
Andrew McCarthy is a former federal prosecutor? Now that is scary!
The worst thing about this is that no one in the mainstream media with access to WIllard will challenge him on this.
We are so f*&%^d.
Hillary 2012
This is a great post BB. Willard Mitt is so desperate for anything to bitch about he willing to point to a restoration project that began during the presidency of GWB and one that was supported by GOP legislators.
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Parke County, Indiana has more covered bridges ( 31 ) than any other county in the USA and is known as the “Covered Bridge Capital of the World”. Every October, this small county ( pop. 17,339 ) holds a 10-day covered bridge festival that attracts over 2 million tourists each year. Can you just imagine the income the festival generates for the area? Willard can’t, I’m sure. A bunch of silly old bridges in the middle of nowhere!
I thought Sky Dancers might enjoy this lovely video of Parke County’s covered bridges:
Thank you Beata! I expect to be in Indiana in October. I might try to go to that festival. Is Parke County anywhere near Brown County?
No, it is not near Brown County. Parke County is in the western part of the state, near the Wabash River. It’s about 60 miles west of Indianapolis. The festival is great but I will warn you that it can get crowded!
That would be closer for me then. I’ll be in Muncie, Delaware County. I’m sure it would be crowded. Even back when I was a kid, Nashville would be packed for fall festivals.
BB, did you ever eat at The Nashville House in Brown County? If you did, this will bring back memories:
http://www.browncountyinn.com/content/nashville-house-restaurant
Gee, that video made me miss Indiana so much!
I thought it might, BB. 🙂
Those are beautiful Beata.