I guess we knew it was inevitable but it’s infuriating nonetheless:
In southern Connecticut, the federal government is replacing a 118-year-old bridge along America’s busiest rail corridor. The $1.3 billion project was largely funded by the 2021 infrastructure law that was championed by then-President Joseph R. Biden Jr. — and strenuously opposed by Donald J. Trump.
These days, however, motorists cruising by the construction site might be forgiven for thinking that a certain famous New York developer was responsible for it all.
“PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP” a sign by the road declares. “REBUILDING AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE.”
In recent months, a number of similar signs have popped up in front of major infrastructure projects financed by the bipartisan 2021 legislation, a $1.2 trillion package that Mr. Trump, who left office in January of that year, had passionately railed against. He called the bill “a loser for the U.S.A.,” and warned that Republican lawmakers who signed on could be thrown out of office by angry primary voters. “Patriots will never forget!” he wrote.
The signs bearing Mr. Trump’s name now adorn bridge projects in Connecticut and Maryland; rail-yard improvement projects in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia; and the replacement of a tunnel on Amtrak’s route between Baltimore and Washington, according to W. Kyle Anderson, a spokesman for the company.
In an email, Mr. Anderson said the new signs “are a voluntary Amtrak initiative, updating outdated signage posted at the project locations listed previously, following the change in presidential administrations earlier this year.”
The signs note, in a smaller font, that the projects in question are “funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” the official name of the legislation that Mr. Trump tried to derail.
Meanwhile, all these assholes are taking credit for it:
Last year, in the midst of election season, Politico compiled a list of a number of House Republicans who voted against the bill but went on to take credit for bringing projects funded by the legislation to their districts. Representative Nancy Mace, who is currently running for governor in her home state of South Carolina, called the bill a “socialist wish list,” but did not protest the millions of dollars it allocated to public transit upgrades in the Charleston area.
“What do you want me to do, turn my back on the Lowcountry when we get funding for public transit?” she said, when asked about the apparent contradiction, according to a local newspaper.
This just points out once again that there is much less political upside for delivering material gain to the voters than we think. Most don’t know who did it and those who do, don’t really care. Along comes a conman like Trump who takes credit and his minions benefit by lying that they it was their Dear Leader who led the way and at best it’s a wash.
Apparently the Biden administration put some similar signs up and the Republicans were furious. Ted Cruz reported it to the DOJ saying it violated the Hatch Act. He’s untroubled about this. And the Biden signs had the virtue of being true.