>LINKER CONDEMNS MENENDEZ’S FEAR-MONGERING OVER TRANSPORTATION FUNDING BILL
(Ridgewood, NJ): On Monday, conservative Republican U.S. Senate candidate from New Jersey Ian Linker blasted Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) for his recent statements about H.R. 1737, the Surface Transportation and Taxation Equity (STATE) Act. The Act, introduced by U.S. Congressman Scott Garrett (R-NJ 5), “returns primary responsibility for transportation and infrastructure projects back to the states without increasing taxes,” said Congressman Garrett.
Senator Menendez has criticized the bill as “political” and “not about creating jobs, or investing in our future, it’s about ideology.”
Linker condemned Menendez’s statements, “This may come as a surprise to Bob Menendez but the federal government does not collect and distribute funds collected through the gasoline tax to be spent on highway construction and improvement in the most efficient way. A lot of the money we allocate gets spent on red tape and does nothing to improve our roads or create jobs. The STATE Act cuts out much of the bureaucracy and gives flexibility to the states to collect and spend money on transportation projects where needed.” Linker said.
Linker continued, “Rather than discuss the issue, Bob Menendez once again stands in the way of progress and innovation by fear mongering. In classic Menendez style, with cameras and microphones present, the Senator stood in front of a picture of a car going off a cliff and told folks the STATE Act will cut spending and kill jobs. What the good Senator failed to mention, however, is that the Act will save money, but only because the government will spend it more efficiently and cut out bureaucracy, something we already have too much of in Washington.”
“So does Bob Menendez have a proposal to improve the way we spend money on highway construction and improvement? You’ll have to ask him. Because while he was busy engaging in class warfare, conjuring up imagery of destruction and famine, he forgot to mention it,” Linker added.
