Earlier this week, Jim Oberstar was giving a speech to some transportation planning types and told a story. Earlier this year the chairman of the House transportation committee had scribbled down some ideas for the new transportation bill, and he wanted to consult with his colleagues in the Senate. He showed a small number of senators what he’d written and asked if they wanted to offer any inputs or changes. No, they said, you can go ahead and write it all yourself — as long we get to name the bill. (Ha!) Oberstar took the deal.
The senators also suggested that he should consider giving his two-page outline of the bill to the Smithsonian Museum, because it would surely be regarded as a historical document one day. At that point in the speech Oberstar displayed the handwritten sheets on an overhead projector and discussed the contents for a while.
To save you the trip to the Smithsonian in twenty years or so, here is a PDF version of Oberstar’s two-page outline — the document that spawned the 775-page draft of the bill that was unveiled at the beginning of this week.
A couple of other fun moments from the speech:
* To illustrate how American politics have changed, he recalled (not from personal experience–he was elected in 1974) a time when Eisenhower told Congress the they needed to boost the gas tax. It was passed on a voice vote. Whereas today, it’s risking ones political life to merely suggest raising the fuel tax–even though the country desperately needs it.
* He took a potshot at Obama economic advisor Larry Summers, telling the Boston audience that they were welcome to have the former Harvard president back anytime they wanted.
July 16th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
[...] will you please, please take Larry Summers back, for heaven’s [...]