A longer version of my story on TxDOT's recent funding dispute with Texas' congressional delegation has aired on KSTX in San Antonio, Texas.
To listen to the story, click here.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Latest story for KUT
My piece on the Texas Transportation Department's deteriorating relationship with Texas' congressional delegation aired today on KUT in Austin, Texas.
Here's a summary:
Just weeks after the Texas Transportation Department’s contracts with Washington lobbyists angered lawmakers, TxDOT is doing it again. This time, the agency has told Texas’ congressional delegation to not bother obtaining federal funds for state road projects unless they first seek approval for the project from them first. TxDOT argues this is necessary because federal money often comes with the demand that the state provide matching funds, and federal money alone doesn’t always justify a project moving forward. Texas lawmakers argue that means some projects in inner-cites and in their districts might fall by the wayside, and have responded by calling the move “arrogant." They have composed a bipartisan letter trumpeting their performance in obtaining federal dollars for TxDOT, providing 40% of its budget. They argue that TxDOT is just another bureaucracy that's gone mad with power. The controversy is just the latest battle in a continuing war over obtaining transportation dollars for the state, and evidence of a growing divide between the state and its Washington lawmakers.
To listen to the story, click here. It begins at the three minute mark.
Here's a summary:
Just weeks after the Texas Transportation Department’s contracts with Washington lobbyists angered lawmakers, TxDOT is doing it again. This time, the agency has told Texas’ congressional delegation to not bother obtaining federal funds for state road projects unless they first seek approval for the project from them first. TxDOT argues this is necessary because federal money often comes with the demand that the state provide matching funds, and federal money alone doesn’t always justify a project moving forward. Texas lawmakers argue that means some projects in inner-cites and in their districts might fall by the wayside, and have responded by calling the move “arrogant." They have composed a bipartisan letter trumpeting their performance in obtaining federal dollars for TxDOT, providing 40% of its budget. They argue that TxDOT is just another bureaucracy that's gone mad with power. The controversy is just the latest battle in a continuing war over obtaining transportation dollars for the state, and evidence of a growing divide between the state and its Washington lawmakers.
To listen to the story, click here. It begins at the three minute mark.
Friday, April 20, 2007
"Is the US Already at War with Iran?"
I have a new article up at LewRockwell.com discussing the major media's general failure to report on allegations that the Bush administration is backing Pakistani extremist groups to launch terrorist attacks inside of Iran. The article juxtaposes the amount of non-coverage this story has received to the amount of press that Don Imus' bigoted comment received, and asks why credible claims of American-supported terrorism are deemed less newsworthy. The article also includes the response from Senate Intelligence Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) when I asked him to comment on the allegations.
To read the story, click here.
To read the story, click here.