BCT Editorial – 7/31/06

This page was last updated on July 31, 2006.

Dig deep; Editorial; Beaver County Times; July 31, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Boston’s Big Dig was one of the most expensive public works projects ever undertaken in the United States.”

“So when problems related to its construction cropped up, it wasn’t surprising to hear some critics contend it was just another example of how government can mess things up. Actually, the blame doesn’t rest as much with big government as it does big business.”

[RWC] By “some critics,” we can rest assured the editorial means conservatives.

“The Washington Post reported warnings about the Big Dig project were ignored because of the zeal among politicians, business leaders, lobbyists and private contractors who had a stake in it.”

[RWC] Here the editorial contradicts itself. In the previous paragraph, the editorial asserted, “the blame doesn’t rest as much with big government as it does big business.” Yet in this paragraph the editorial tells us “warnings about the Big Dig project were ignored.” If “big government” ignored warnings, how does that make “big business” more to blame?

“A major factor was ‘a political culture in which a series of Republican governors and the state’s independent turnpike commission have trusted a private consultant to shepherd virtually every facet of the project, with relatively little government supervision.’”

[RWC] The editorial makes sure we know the Massachusetts governors were Republicans, but fails to tell us the political composition of the commonwealth legislature and the commonwealth’s congressional delegation.

I’ll give you one guess why.

Since the mid-1960s, Democrats have overwhelmingly controlled both houses of the Massachusetts legislature without interruption. By overwhelming I mean from 60% to 85% majorities. It’s currently 85% and hasn’t been below 75% since before 1993.

Both U.S. senators are Democrats and have been since 1979. Since 1953, at least one senator has been a Democrat.

Regarding U.S. representatives, the delegation has been 100% Democrat since 1997, and was 80% to 90% from 1990 to 1997.

The editorial also failed to note the longest span of the “Big Dig” is named the “Thomas P. ‘Tip’ O'Neill, Jr., Tunnel.” Referring to former Rep. O’Neill (D-MA), Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) said, “That project could never be complete until it bears the name of the person who made it all possible.”

Since Times editorials always whine that Congress doesn’t provide sufficient oversight for the Bush administration, why no condemnation of the Massachusetts legislature and the Massachusetts congressional delegation? Given the political composition of those bodies, I think we know the answer.

“As a result, warnings from the state’s inspector general and state auditor were ignored, as was a memo from the project’s on-site safety adviser about the trustworthiness of a tunnel ceiling that collapsed and killed a motorist.”

“Don’t let any one element become the scapegoat. There’s plenty of blame to go around.”

[RWC] Translation: Though warned, big government – which is nearly 100% Democrat in Massachusetts – is not to blame. Big business and the Republican governors are to blame.