Herrera misses the boat... again.

Regular readers know the high level of esteem within which I hold our non-town hall holding Congresswoman.  In short... none.

Herrera has failed all of Southwest Washington with her fumbling efforts to get people to believe she actually wants us to get a vote on the CRC scam when, in fact, she wants the horrific bridge replacement, light rail and tolls... generational tolls... to pay for a transportation project that the Oregon Supreme Court has, effectively, called a scam to stuff light rail down our throats.

For example, she made sure that $500 million federal dollars are available to waste on this project with no strings attached.  No vote requirement or transparency requirements, for example... conditions well within her obviously limited grasp as a member of the Transportation Committee but that, in keeping with her desire to bend us over, she failed to implement.

Bread and circuses and all that rot.  Point to Tom Leavitt, who kicked her face in a few months back over this issue when she started her act of "concern."

Which leads us to this nonsense:

Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler this week took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose walls along I-5 as the solution to flooding in the Chehalis River basin.

On Wednesday, the Republican introduced an amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (T-HUD) appropriations bill that would prohibit federal funding from being used to wall off the I-5 freeway through the Twin Cities. Herrera Beutler’s amendment was in response to concerns that the floodwall design put forth by the state Department of Transportation would worsen the impact of flooding on Chehalis, Centralia and the surrounding communities, her office said in a press release.

“When flooding hits the Chehalis River basin, it’s like having an invader that comes to destroy the homes and businesses here,” she said. “This proposal would be like building a castle wall around I-5 that only protects a road while leaving citizens totally vulnerable to the invading floods. I can’t allow a plan that only protects valuable government property while leaving residents’ lives, properties and livelihoods vulnerable. If the entire federal investment is spent on the I-5 wall, it greatly diminishes the resources left to help protect families and communities.

“Protecting I-5 must be part of a basin wide solution, but simply erecting flood walls, raised lanes, or bypass lanes around the freeway does not give Southwest Washington the comprehensive solution our communities need to protect them from flooding. The goal of my effort here is to move forward with a basin wide solution and eliminate plans that ignore families, seniors, and businesses.”

On the surface, a fine speech.  Dig a little deeper and the obvious shortcoming is pointed out by this person who posted in response.

Randolph 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand

How about not building homes, businesses, ground level freeways or roads, and senior facilities in a flood plain?  What a unigue[sic] idea!  Man has known that rivers flood when rains fall on the mountains and hills for hundreds of years.  Maybe some common sense in that area would apply here.  The building of a dam will only cause more issues that will have to be mitigated later.  Then you will hear that farmers need water pumped into their area because the water tables have dropped because river water no longer flows down the natural path to the sea.  Then you will hear about the fish and wildlife issues.  All because man has not learned their lesson regarding rain, rivers, and flooding.  Either build your roads, businesses, or homes higher or don't build.  Land was cheap in these places because it did flood.  Now that you have built on it, you want all of us to pay to fix your problem.  Proper prior planning leads to perfect performance. 

Yeah.  How about NOT BUILDING IN A FLOOD PLAIN, OR HOLDING *US* FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE IF *YOU* CHOOSE TO GET THAT STUPID.

Just a thought.  And one wonders: why didn't Jaime Herrera Beutler think it?