ON SEPT. 15, ONE OF THE ALL-TIME BASEBALL GREATS,
Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, died at the age of 90. Although he was
an 18-time All-Star and one of only five players to win the American
League MVP award three times, he was best known for what The
New York Times called his “unwittingly witty epigrams.” One of my
favorites is, “It’s like déjà vu all over again,” which I have chosen as
the title of this column. Apparently, it is a favorite of Congress as
well, although in their case, it’s more like “déjà vu all over again,
and again, and again.”
In a recent column, Mitch Mac Donald discussed the curious
lack of outrage over Congress’s failure to reauthorize highway and
mass-transit funding at a time of rampant public fury (“Misdirected
anger,” Outbound, September 2015). The ques-
tion of how to fund maintenance and repairs for
the nation’s infrastructure is a serious problem,
and it’s one that Congress has seemed unwilling
or unable to resolve. While this is not intended
to be a political column and I’m not looking
to place blame on either side of the political
aisle, I do claim to be—maybe not angry—but
interested, frustrated, confused, and appalled.
It is incredible to me that there have been over
30 short-term highway funding extensions since
2009. If it keeps kicking that can down the road,
Congress will have to buy a new can.
I’m not alone. House Speaker John Boehner
became so exasperated in his role that he decided not just to step
down from his post but to exit Congress altogether. A large segment
of the American public has become so frustrated with our political
leaders that they’ve thrown their support behind an egomaniac
with bad hair, who was the front-running Republican presidential
candidate at press time. (Their concerns, of course, are not necessarily about highway funding, which is just one item on a long list
of as-yet-unresolved issues.)
Even the commander in chief is fed up. Just before Congress
adjourned for its August recess, the Senate passed a six-year high-
way bill, but the House dropped the ball, serving up a three-month
$8 billion stopgap extension that expired on Oct. 29. When signing
the extension, President Obama got a little testy, saying, “We can’t
keep on funding transportation by the seat of our pants.”
Just before the expiration of the latest stopgap measure, Congress
passed the 35th extension to existing highway legislation. This came
BY CLIFFORD F. LYNCH fastlane
It’s like déjà vu all over again
as no surprise. As recently as Sept. 10, House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said the House
would likely move ahead with a short-term
funding extension, noting that it would take several months to negotiate a final bill. Since then,
in all fairness, Congress has been sidetracked by
a number of pressing issues—such as electing a
new speaker, sorting out Planned Parenthood
funding, and keeping the government from
shutting down—which virtually ruled out passage of a long-term bill before Oct. 29. Most
of the public won’t think
much about it, even though
they should. But highways
do not get the masses riled
up the way, say, immigration, Obamacare, Planned
Parenthood, tax reform, and
Hillary’s e-mail do, especially
with a presidential election
on the horizon.
There is some good news
in all this. The latest extension expires on Nov. 20,
indicating that passage of a
long-term bill may be close. Also ironically,
due to Congress’s inaction of the past several
years, a number of states have moved ahead
with fuel tax increases and other methods of
funding new roads. As a result, the Department
of Transportation has said it has enough money
in the Highway Trust Fund to last until July 16.
In the words of Yogi (maybe), “The future ain’t
what it used to be.
Clifford F. Lynch is principal of C.F. Lynch & Associates, a provider
of logistics management advisory services, and author of Logistics
Outsourcing – A Management Guide and co-author of The Role of
Transportation in the Supply Chain. He can be reached at cliff@
cflynch.com.
