It is disappointing to see that none of Virginia's Republican congresspeople crossed party lines to vote in favor of the federal infrastructure bill that passed in the House Friday night. Unfortunately, Congressman Ben Cline was among them. Had Donald Trump the initiative to put such a plan forward during his presidency, Congressman Cline would have voted for it.
Do the voters of the 6th District not see the advantage of improving infrastructure? Such improvements will not only benefit the economy, creating jobs, enhancing trade and commerce, and leisure travel, but will play a critical role in our defense. Every empire worth its salt had a robust infrastructure, and everyone that let theirs fall behind collapsed.
It is bad enough the Republicans make an issue out of face masks in a pandemic and chase after nonexistent racial curricula, but to deny the need to upgrade our roads, bridges, railroads, and airports is taking party loyalty to the extreme. Speaking of extreme, Congressman Cline was bipartisan in his no-vote, siding with the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. Slavish devotion to a party can be as detrimental to the common good as ideological extremism.
Steve Bailey, Richmond