PoliGraph: Clark right on Bachmann bridge claim

Posted at 12:02 PM on September 3, 2010 by Catharine Richert (2 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: U.S. House, PoliGraph

DFLer Tarryl Clark frequently criticizes Michele Bachmann for neglecting the needs of the 6th District.

Case in point: In an Aug. 20, 2010, letter to her supporters, Clark pointed out that her Republican opponent failed to bring home money to help repair a local bridge.

"Despite this threat and the lessons that should have been learned from the I-35W Bridge collapse, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann refused to secure the funding needed to replace the Highway 23 bridge, a critical transportation artery in our community," Clark wrote.

Clark's claim is essentially correct. But there's a bit more to the story.

The Evidence

In 2007, after the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, a flurry of bridge inspections occurred across the state.

To cover emergency repairs and other transportation projects, the Legislature overrode Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a massive transportation funding bill in late February of 2008. The measure included $600 million in bridge repairs.

On March 20, the DeSoto Bridge in St. Cloud - the bridge Clark is referring to - was shut down because of structural deficiencies.

The next day, Bachmann pledged to forgo earmarks, money that's set aside during the congressional appropriations process for local projects. And shortly thereafter, she told government and transportation officials that she would not renege on her promise. Instead, she said she would find other sources of funding to help rebuild the bridge.

While some area leaders expressed concern about Bachmann's "no earmarks" pledge, it appears that the Minnesota Department of Transportation wasn't so keen on federal help in the first place.

In an April 16, 2008, letter from Bachmann to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Bachmann reiterated her resistance to earmarks for the project. But she wrote that during a conference call with the transportation department, one official "noted that [the department] does not want any congressional earmarks through the Fiscal Year 2009 federal appropriations process to finance replacement of the DeSoto Bridge. In fact, the official noted that the use of federal earmarked dollars would actually slow down the accelerated replacement plan for which our community is so desperate."

The next day, in an interview with the St. Cloud Times, transportation department spokeswoman Lucy Kender confirmed that waiting for federal funding would likely slow the rebuilding process.

Ultimately, the state relied on the transportation funding bill passed earlier in the year.

The Verdict

Though Clark glosses over the fact that the Legislature had already set aside funding for bridge repair projects, her claim is basically accurate.

Sources

Tarryl Clark for Congress, email to supporters, Aug. 20, 2010

The Minnesota Department of Transportation, Highway 23, St. Cloud, accessed Sept. 2, 2010

Minnesota Public Radio, St. Cloud dedicates new Granite City Crossing Bridge, by Ambar Espinoza, October 26, 2009

Minnesota Independent, Bachmann will forgo earmarks for Desoto bridge, by Andy Birkey, March 31, 2008

Website for Rep. Michele Bachmann, Bachmann Takes Pledge Against Pork, accessed Sept. 2, 2010

The Associated Press, Bachmann Defends 'No Earmarks' For Bridge, April 25, 2008

The St. Cloud Times, A vow for bridge funds, by Lawrence Schumacher, March 29, 2010 (subscription only)

The St. Cloud Times, MnDOT rules out earmarks, by Lawrence Schumacher, April 17, 2008 (subscription only)

The Minnesota Transportation Alliance, Minnesota's Transportation System: A Guide to the Essentials, 2008

Rep. Michele Bachmann, letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, April 18, 2010

Rep. Michele Bachmann, page one: letter to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, page two: letter to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, April 16, 2008

Interview, Carrie Lucking, spokeswoman, Tarryl Clark, Sept. 1, 2010

Interview, Margaret Donahoe, Executive Director, Minnesota Transportation Alliance, Sept. 2, 2010

More

The Humphrey Institute

Comments (2)

Good point. A person reading your story would conclude that the people crossing the bridge that day had to die, the bridge had to collapse--because Republicans didn't want to raise state taxes and because Bachmann didn't want to seek federal earmarks to create jobs and keep the state's infrastructure in repair--*before* the bridge collapse.

You didn't report it, but the American Society of Civil Engineers had been warning about crumbling infrastructure for quite some time before that particular bridge collapsed. It's not that politicians like Bachmann Pawlenty *didn't know* about crumbling infrastructure, it's that they chose to ignore. (They didn't want to acquire reputations as politicians who spend tax dollars on earmarks. They gambled, people died--who cares if the professional media won't hold them accountable?)

So, according to the press here: Bachmann shouldn't get blamed for opposing federal earmarks to repair the bridge (because that would *delay* the process)--and Bachmann shouldn't get blamed for opposing federal earmarks that could have kept the bridges in repair and *prevented* the catastrophe?

Boy, Bachmann's got it pretty sweet over here at the Humphrey Institute and MPR--doesn't she? She can't lose, while you guys are "on the case."

Hey, look, here's a fact check they did on one of her statements over at the City Pages. They don't have the Humphrey Institute behind them (they don't even have a scanner at the City Pages), but they're willing to point out that she's willing to lie past the point of mental illness. They didn't have to spend a lot of time or salary on this one, either. Bachmann claimed that the crowd at the Beck rally in DC was between 1 and 1.6 million... Accurate? Or Wildy Inaccurate? How would you guys spin that for her; inflating a figure by more than ten times?

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/09/professor_who_l.php

Posted by Bill Prendergast | September 3, 2010 1:55 PM

I think you beg the question. Bachmann did NOT find any other funds, and her bridge concern, if any, was replacing the Stillwater Lift bridge and she DID seek pork for that more than once in her political career.

The source of the funding you describe, correctly, was legislated into law over the Governor's veto objections, by DFL leadership able and willing to work together with a handful of GOP votes, for which those few GOP legislators were chastised and pilloried by their political GOP allies.

Clark was in leadership. Clark was able to work with GOP people mindful of the needs, and together they got the bridge fixed.

My understanding is Bachmann, not doing a single helpful thing, nonetheless showed up for the ribbon cutting on the new bridge.

Chasing the headlines, opposing federal participation.

For someone who's been a career politician whose only real adult job record is consistently relying on a government paycheck, from her IRS tax collector days onward, she most certainly seems to want to bite the hand that feeds her.

I await her true dedication to cost cutting by refusing the automatic raises and putting in a bill to trim House benefits and retirement terms and conditions.

Then I will have no cause to doubt her as a bona fide fiscal conservative.

Posted by Eric Zaetsch | September 4, 2010 12:02 PM

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