Road am-Bush Falls Through

President Bush’s plan to pull $93 million from the Interstate 49 project south of Texarkana created such a stir among all six Arkansas congressmen that it actually caused them to come together on an issue. That hasn’t happened since the Archie Schaffer pardon.

But that stirring was enough to get the president to back off of his proposed cut.

It appears that Bush wants to keep U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson as a Republican. Pulling the road out from underneath his feet could have cost him dearly in what will be a close race next year against Attorney General Mark Pryor.

The delagation united in opposing Bush’s supplemental budget — at least that section that calls for using the road money set aside by Congress last year for I-49 to cover the additional $6.5 billion the president hopes to spend on defense, energy, water and agriculture.

Bush’s finagling with the budget left only $1 million of the $94 million that former state Rep. Jay Dickey managed to get while in the thick of battle against Mike Ross, now the 4th District representative. We all know that $1 million won’t take you far.

Dickey’s $94 million was a special earmark to a transportation bill, and according to a White House spokeswoman, the president believed earmarks “subvert the process,” and suggested “if I-49 is worthy, it can be funded through the highway trust fund, which is divided among all states.”

But when Texans and Louisianians joined the fray, “Dub-yah” decided to back off.

While we believe the president probably made his decision to cut the funding based on what he perceived as best for the budget, we hope he has learned a couple of lessons from the switcheroo.

First, he failed to grasp the very real need for a north-south interstate through these states. Like all interstates, I-49, which would run 208 miles between Fort Smith and Louisiana, could be a great boon to towns along its route. But we also know from looking at Interstate 30 and 40 that some of the towns will fail to take advantage, and folks won’t even slow down as they zip by.

The Arkansas segment would connect with Interstate 540 that runs between Fort Smith and Fayetteville, and eventually it would link up with Kansas City, Mo.

Secondly, Bush needs to be more careful in looking at the consequences of his decisions. This one could well have cost the state its Republican senator. And no doubt Hutchinson made that clear in his meeting with the president.