Highways paved with pork.(Between The Lines)

ITEM: The "funding impasse" over federal transportation legislation "may imperil byways," said the Salt Lake Tribune for March 2. "Although President Bush signed a short-term extension of federal transportation funding ..., the House and Senate are still miles apart on passing an overdue six-year highway bill."

The Tribune continued: "The crux of the holdup is a threat by the White House to veto any highway reauthorization over $270 billion that increases taxes or uses bonds to finance road and transit projects." As part of the administration's lobbying effort, "Transportation Secretary. Norman Mineta told reporters at the unveiling of a new Mobil Travel Guide series featuring maps of the nation's scenic by ways that the routes vital to rural economies will suffer without a long-term highway funding bill."

ITEM: "President Bush signed legislation ... that extends authorization of the federal highway program for two months, a move that prevents nearly 5,000 Transportation Department workers from being laid off," said a report in the Washington Post for March 1. Secretary Mineta "said that without the temporary extension, the department would have had to furlough 5,000 workers who conduct safety inspections of trucks crossing U.S. borders, and would have had to halt the flow of federal money to hundreds of highway construction projects...."

BETWEEN THE LINES: The White House is feigning frugality with the boondoggle-ridden highway bill, even mentioning the possibility of a veto--something that the free-spending administration hasn't done in three years. Nevertheless, the Bush team could not resist employing the timeworn "Washington Monument" syndrome--threatening dire ramifications for some highly visible program unless it got temporary funding. Yet, the notion that Congress, in an election year, will suddenly turn thrifty seems remote, especially since the administration ...