WASHINGTON--Today, U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Texas) announced that no one in his district will receive a red penny from the economic stimulus TIGER program, which
stands for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery.Tiger is a discretionary grant funding program devised by the Barack Obama administration to stimulate economic recovery.
The DOT received more than 1,400 applications from all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. When combined, the applications sought a total of almost $60 billion – more than 40 times the available amount.
"Even though I am the Dean of the Texas Democratic Hispanic congressmen, the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate is also controlled by Democrats, and the president we helped elect is a Democrat, we got the weenie," Ortiz chortled. "Oh, well, if it's any consolation, 92 percent of the other ports in the United States didn't get a centavo either. We're in good company."
As a measure of Ortiz's prowess in Congress, in the last funding round, he saw as the Downtown Dallas Streetcar project received $23 million and now his district gets nothing.
Administrators at the Port of Brownsville officials thought they had a muy bueno case to take the TIGER by the tail, but in the end, les dieron gato por liebre.
The Brownsville Navigation District (BND por sus sigilas en ingles) had hoped to use part of the $73.5 million to build a new oil dock in order to take existing, elderly docks out of service and repair them. Now the port will have to dig into the taxpayers' pockets again to try to get the deal going.
Port Director and CEO Eddie Campirano told the local daily he was "disappointed," especially since U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood had talked up ports in public comments.
“We thought we checked every box,” Campirano says. “But all we found was smaller boxes within the larger ones. In the end, zilch.”
“I am optimistic the Port of Brownsville will continue to grow as we work to offer more industrial development in our region,” Ortiz said. “The dangling of this economic carrot before our eyes will insure our continuing efforts to tap into the federal tit."
Ortiz encouraged local community leaders to keep asking for federal government handouts and said he was a prime example of what determination and resolve can achieve.
"Hey, I was just a little bitty county sheriff in Nueces County before I went to Congress," he said. "Now look at me. Last week I was in China, though not at taxpayer expense, mind you. A business friend of mine paid for that. Give me a few more years after my 26 years there and I will be able to finish the job we started. Meanwhile, you longshoremen working on the deteriorating docks at the Port of Brownsville be careful. We already gutted OSHA safety protections so you're on your own. I humbly ask for your support and God Bless."
4 comments:
The BND asking for federal funds? They Board members should be ashamed of themselves, they could not even keep track of the $21 million that Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. magically disappeared.
To top it off they chose not to pursue any legal avenues open to them to try to recoup the $21 million. Any further litigation would have toppled former board members and of course we could have none of that.
Attentamente:
Mojo Jojo
Who is ortiz trying to confuse, and what is he trying to accomplish??? he hasn't done anything in 20 years and wants more time. Time to go into retirement.
I agree with Mojo.
Vote for the local candidate against Ortiz - Ed Mishou
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