Last week, we wrote of a visit to Atlanta by former U.S. transportation secretary Ray LaHood and his chastisement of Georgia for its failure to have a single congressman on either the House or Senate transportation committee:
"You've got to step up here. You've got to send people to Washington who are willing to help you provide the resources. You cannot do what you want to do in this state with your own resources," LaHood said.
Tea partyers will not do, he suggested. Lately, the one member of the Georgia delegation who has focused specifically on transportation has been U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger. Graves has suggested that federal gas tax revenue simply be shipped back to the states to spend as they wish.
A non-starter, LaHood declared. "If that happened, we wouldn't have an interstate system. Some states wouldn't have the money to build them – like in North Dakota, South Dakota. States like that," he said.
We mentioned that Barry Loudermilk, the Republican who will replace U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey in January, might be a candidate for the House transportation committee, except that he is likely to be an ally in Graves’ effort to disassemble federal transportation funding.
Loudermilk has responded with the following piece, which we invite you to absorb:
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