Oberstar sends journalists scrambling for dictionaries
DFL Congressman Jim Oberstar made an appearance at the State Capitol today to praise the DFL-controlled Legislature for overriding Gov. Pawlenty's veto of the trnasportation bill. Oberstar, the Chair of the House Transportation Committee in Congress, said the action will give Minnesota greater access to highway funding.
"Had the Legislature not acted, the governor's veto would have marked the beginning of a long, dark decline into the grim abyss of lost productivity, reduced mobility, increased cost of logistics and diminished competitiveness for Minnesota's economy. I can say that with equal passion...
...The governor needs to emerge from his Malthusian cave and grasp the reality that the federal government is not going to provide this state with a quarter billion dollars in free money of bridge repairs in the future."
This reporter and others who will remain nameless were forced to open their trusty (and dusty) dictionaries to learn the definition of Malthusian. Funk and Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary describes Malthusian as:
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Of or pertaining to the theory of T.R. Malthus that population tends to outrun its means of support, and will be checked by disaster unless restricted by sexual restraint.
Here's the Merriam Webster definition. Oberstar also said Gov. Pawlenty was conducting a "latter day Salem Witch hunt" on the eight Republicans who voted for the override. Oberstar's spokesman said he knew the focus of the news conference shifted from the funding to Oberstar's tone.
It's safe to say that Gov. Pawlenty and Oberstar have engaged in a war of words in recent weeks on transportation policy.
UPDATE:
Gov. Pawlenty's spokesman, Brian McClung, issued these remarks to Oberstar's comments:
We’re not going to respond to Congressman Oberstar’s latest outburst in kind. We would hope that after more than four decades in Washington, he would be more inclined to statesmanlike behavior than these kinds of partisan attacks.
We’d respectfully ask Congressman Oberstar about his failure to bring his own gas tax increase plan to a vote in the committee he chairs. Accordingly, his lectures on leadership ring hollow.