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Nothing done on highway funds

Within weeks, some highway and bridge projects in West Virginia could come to a screeching halt. Virtually every major work the state Division of Highways does depends at least partly on federal funding, and the flow of it from Washington is about to be cut off.

Funds in the federal Highway Trust Fund are nearly exhausted, and Congress has not approved action to provide more.

President Barack Obama wants to be certain no one blames him. A few days ago, he said he hasn’t “heard a good reason why (Congress hasn’t) acted. It’s not like they’ve been busy with other stuff. No, seriously. I mean, they’re not doing anything. Why don’t they do this?”

But wait. Though agreement on a long-term highway funding bill is elusive, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee agreed to a six-month, $9 billion plan. But committee leaders have delayed introducing the measure.

The committee – the whole Senate, in fact – is controlled by Obama’s Democrat Party. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has done the president’s bidding countless times.

So yes, why hasn’t the Senate taken action to ensure state highway agencies, including ours, do not run out of money in a few weeks?

Obama and Reid, should they choose to do so, could get the ball rolling tomorrow. Obama, however, prefers to blame others – perhaps hoping to divert attention from the rough road of his own many failures.

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