Metro Jacksonville

John Mica to reporters: Bring your hemorrhoid cream

By ADAM SNIDER | 1/31/12 4:58 PM EST

Transportation reporters: Stock up on hemorrhoid cream.

That’s what House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) recommended Tuesday as he stumped for a new surface transportation bill.

“So if you have trouble seating up there in those august galleries in the press, get some hemorrhoid ointment and hang on,” Mica told reporters and stakeholders while standing in front of about a dozen committee members and several cameras.

The committee marks up the bill Thursday â€" and since Mica has promised an open process for amendments, it could mean reporters are glued to their seats for hours on end.

Mica has gone off script before â€" he recently threatened to “beat the crap out of” anybody who mentions a short-term transportation bill and suggested lawmakers get together over a pot of “spiked grog” to debate an aviation bill.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/72242.html#ixzz1lvoauROo

I dunno Faye, based on what we've been seeing in the transportation press, breaking out the “spiked grog” might not be a bad idea, it might result in improvements to the tripe they're tossing at us now. This isn't about transportation, it's more about politics, Tea Parties, and what I hope is a misjudgment by the extreme right that will correct itself in November.

CHEERS!

I may  be whistling in the dark here, but this could be like the extension of the payroll tax reduction, where nearly the whole country is on one side and the US House of Representatives is on the other side.

The Senate version of the transportation bill seems to be okay.

Quote from: Ocklawaha on February 09, 2012, 10:59:32 PM
I dunno Faye, based on what we've been seeing in the transportation press, breaking out the “spiked grog” might not be a bad idea, it might result in improvements to the tripe they're tossing at us now. This isn't about transportation, it's more about politics, Tea Parties, and what I hope is a misjudgment by the extreme right that will correct itself in November.

CHEERS!

I sure hope we can get rid of the extremists among us. John Mica is a goner............no longer running in St Johns, Flagler, Volusia and Putnam.

He is staying in Seminole, and Orange county where his home is, running against Sandy Adams.

Why we have such extremist Republicans in Florida is a mystery to me!!

Republicans from other states seem much more reasonable:

QuoteFriday, February 10, 2012 Comment here
Three Chicagoland Republicans Defect on House Transpo Bill
by Angie Schmitt

Did John Boehner and and John Mica overreach with their proposal to strip dedicated funding for transit, cycling, and walking in the House transportation bill? That’s the question observers have been asking since House GOP leaders sprung this politicized legislation in committee last week.

It’s too soon to tell whether the bill will clear the House, but the list of Boehner’s members speaking out against it is growing longer.

Today, Crain’s Chicago reports that a trio of Chicagoland’s suburban Republicans have come out against the bill. Robert Dold, Judy Biggert, and Adam Kinzinger each had slightly different objections, but their dissatisfaction seems to stem from the provision that would transfer federal gas tax revenues from transit to roads. Crain’s is reporting that that provision of the bill could cost Chicago-area transit providers $450 million annually. The region also stands to lose $900 million annually in road funding if the bill passes.

A spokesman for Biggert told Crain’s: “She does not support the House bill in its current form due to concerns with its overall funding for Illinois, as well as its potential impact on long-term planning for Chicago and suburban rail systems.”

Meanwhile, Dold released a statement late yesterday, saying “he has concerns with the impact it will have on the environment, as well as the way it damages vital funding for the state of Illinois.”

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce has also come out against the bill, saying it “would put hundreds of millions of dollars for transit in real peril, while drastically reducing funding for Illinois highways.”

More House Republicans will have to reject the bill in order to kill its chances, but Crain’s reporter Greg Hinz believes that “Mr. Boehner will have to go to Plan B.”

Other Republicans opposing the bill in its current form include Ohio’s Steven LaTourette, Wisconsin’s Tom Petri and Illinois’ Tim Johnson. New York’s Peter King and Bob Turner have also expressed reservations about the proposal.

http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/02/10/three-chicagoland-republicans-defect-on-house-transpo-bill/