Big Dig's red ink engulfs Massachusetts

[DesertFox]

Massachusetts residents got a shock when state officials, at the peak of construction on the Big Dig project, disclosed that the price tag had ballooned to nearly $15 billion. But that, it turns out, was just the beginning.

Now, three years after the official dedication of the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel, the state is reeling under a legacy of debt left by the massive project. In all, the project will cost an additional $7 billion in interest, bringing the total to a staggering $22 billion, according to a Globe review of hundreds of pages of state documents. It will not be paid off until 2038.

Contrary to the popular belief that this was a project heavily subsidized by the federal government, 73 percent of construction costs were paid by Massachusetts drivers and taxpayers. To meet that obligation, the state's annual payments will be nearly as much over the next several years, $600 million or more, as they were in the heaviest construction period.

Big Dig payments have already sucked maintenance and repair money away from deteriorating roads and bridges across the state, forcing the state to float more highway bonds and to go even deeper into the hole.

Among other signs of financial trouble: The state is paying almost 80 percent of its highway workers with borrowed money; the crushing costs of debt have pushed the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which manages the Big Dig, to the brink of insolvency

More (http://www.boston.com/news/traffic/bigdig/articles/2008/07/17/big_digs_red_ink_engulfs_state/?page=1)

[DoctorDoom]

Welcome to life under liberalism.

[DeclinetoState]

This is why, whenever I hear of a big project, and a cost estimate is given, I tend to assume that, at best, the real cost will be 2 or 3 times the initial estimate.

[Beowulf]

Now here's something to consider. The "Big Dig" covers about 3.5 miles and is costing everyone 22 Billion....and it's still not done.

The Chunnel between England and France is 32 miles long and cost a total of 15 billion and has been completed for some time. What's wrong with this picture?

Sources: http://library.thinkquest.org/J0113006/chunnel.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig_%28Boston%2C_Massachusetts%29

[PaulRevere]

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of libiots.

They'll stay mad for a day, then keep voting for the same lying tax-and-spend socialists. They always do, which is why no one in government ever cares about price tags.

[DeclinetoState]

The Chunnel between England and France is 32 miles long and cost a total of 15 billion and has been completed for some time. What's wrong with this picture?
Ted Kennedy wasn't involved with the Chunnel project.

[The_Sonarman]

Yup. Teddy Boy pushed through billions of Federal dollars for The Big Dig. The stories of corruption and theft are legion. When the entire fiasco is known (may take years of "Great Expose" stories, but the truth will out), his "reputation" will be sullied quite a bit.

I don't give a damn if Federal money wasn't the major part of the costs. It was still a major part of the money stolen and misused. There's no reason anyone in Texas, or Missouri, or Florida, or Iowa, or any of the other 49 States need to pay a penny for idiocy in "Bas'Ton" and the State of Taxachuessetts.

I recall the Feds capped the Federal contribution at some 8.55 billion.... which still shouldn't have been shouldered by ANY of the other states.

The Big Dig – America’s Greatest Highway Robbery
http://bigdighighwayrobbery.com/

[Longhorn_Platinum]

The_Sonarman:
Yup. Teddy Boy pushed through billions of Federal dollars for The Big Dig. The stories of corruption and theft are legion.

:unsmile: I'll bet none of that was mentioned in Orrin Hatch's ballad.

[DesertFox]

They'll stay mad for a day, then keep voting for the same lying tax-and-spend socialists. They always do, which is why no one in government ever cares about price tags. I've long suspected that corruption is what keeps the KK boys, Kennedy and Kerry, in office out of Massachusetts. Stalin shrewdly observed that what matters isn't who votes, but who counts the votes.

[DeclinetoState]

Yup. Teddy Boy pushed through billions of Federal dollars for The Big Dig. The stories of corruption and theft are legion. When the entire fiasco is known (may take years of "Great Expose" stories, but the truth will out), his "reputation" will be sullied quite a bit.
Ted's rep got "sullied" about 39 years ago today (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy#Chappaquiddick_incident).

[DoctorDoom]

Kennedy and Kerry are automatically reelected in Massholechusetts. When they're dead, they'll be stuffed and elected for another ten terms. The large majority of voters in this state shouldn't be allowed near pointy things, let alone in voting booths. They're knuckle-dragging, gibbering, spittle-drooling idiots.

[The_Sonarman]

I've long suspected that corruption is what keeps the KK boys, Kennedy and Kerry, in office out of Massachusetts. Stalin shrewdly observed that what matters isn't who votes, but who counts the votes.

Those politicians make certain they hijack as much federal money back to their state as possible.

[DeclinetoState]

Is the money hijacked primarily to Bahs-ton (or however the locals say it), since that's where most of the voters are, or does some of it go to other parts of the state to keep DoctorDoom's neighbors happy as well?

[The_Sonarman]

Is the money hijacked primarily to Bahs-ton (or however the locals say it), since that's where most of the voters are, or does some of it go to other parts of the state to keep DoctorDoom's neighbors happy as well?

It will take years to unravel where all the money went. I know one thing for certain. They didn't get value for the work. I believe we've all heard the story where parts of the new construction are already falling apart.

Over the next ten years, we can expect Kerry and Crew to work towards getting the Federal Government to pay for parts, or all, the tab for The Big Dig. Boston's Bail Out. It will be one of the numerous riders attached (quietly and at the last minute) to some other appropriations bill.

[Maggie_T]

NO sympathy for MA a**holes, whatsoever. They keep electing liberals to office. The Big Dig is just one example of what you get when you consistently put Kennedys and Kerrys in power. Bostonians deserve every bit of what they got.

[DeclinetoState]

How much of the money that goes to Massachusetts stocks Ted's liquor cabinet? I'm sure he drinks only the best.

[Maggie_T]

Actually, I think he'll drink anything short of battery acid.

And yet nothing is strong enough to erase the memory of a woman desperately trying to escape from a sinking car, as the unheeding drunken coward who left her to drown stumbles back to his hotel room to concoct an alibi.

It must suck to be Teddy.