I could hardly believe my eyes. This was on the Senator Blunt's Facebook page yesterday:
Senators Blunt, Bennet Introduce Bill To Help Create Jobs, Improve Infrastructure
A Republican, our very own Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, at that, teamed up with Colorado's Senator Michael Bennett to----hold your breath----propose a JOBS/INFRASTRUCTURE BILL in this Congress.
I nearly fainted when I saw it.
I've been harping on this for months, both here and on Facebook, on his page and elsewhere, trying to get him--or someone, anyone--to write, propose and pass such a bill.
The Americans need the jobs and have for years now, at least since 2008 when the financial collapse nearly took place. The nation needs the infrastructure work, as evidenced by two, count them, two bridges collapsing in the last couple years and finally, the economy needs the boost.
It couldn't be more obvious what was needed. Yet all this time, no one proposed such a bill.
I say again, our own I-70, from Illinois and St. Louis on the East, all the way through Columbia and over to Kansas City and Kansas on the West, the whole thing needs updating, widening and improving. The highway is downright dangerous to the point of, in too many places, dangerous and even lethal. Far too many people have been killed on that thoroughfare, all because it's outdated and highly traveled.
There's more good news, too:
The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Mark Begich (Alaska), Dan Coats (Ind.), Lindsay Graham (S.C.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Angus King (Maine), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Mary Landrieu (La.), and Mark Warner (Va.). U.S. Representative John Delaney (Md.) introduced the companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has been cosponsored by 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans.
It has, of course, bipartisan support, everything. This, very likely, has every reason to pass, it seems. Of course, it should, badly as it's needed and for all these reasons.
Another great thing about all this is that, with this, we'll finally get something productive out of this Congress. Last year, out of their very short scheduled work year, it was one of the least productive sessions of that government body ever. I think this may have arisen from the fact that, first, it was needed so badly, in so many ways, and the representatives in Congress knew they had to be productive this year after all. They know Americans want to, at long last, get something out of this body, what with all we pay them.
