Stimulus funds at work

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   The Port of Whitetail is a U.S. border station located in Daniels County Montana on the Northern border of the nation.  The corresponding Canadian border crossing is called the Port of Big Beaver.  The U.S. facility was scheduled for $8.5 million in upgrades under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.  Approximately $1.2 million of that has already been "invoiced."

A review of port usage found that the port is used by "an average of five travelers and no commercial vehicles" on a daily basis.  Furthermore, Canada announced the closing of their side of the border at this location in April of this year which means once their side is closed no traffic can go through the port in either direction.

This is a small piece of the waste from this pie which makes me wonder what else is being wasted elsewhere.  I also have to wonder why, given this, anyone believes that the government can run anything in an efficient manner.  (I.e. expect health care to cost more, not less, under the new legislation.)

While this closing may be a surprise to those in the U.S. I still can't see the sense of spending money on upgrading, or even spending money on keeping open, such an underutilized crossing that has a busier alternative within 12 miles.

Links:

Canada Plans to Close Crossing North of Whitetail

Canada Closing Remote Border Crossing

My apologies, there was one other article I wanted to link to from today's paper which goes into greater detail but it does not seem to be on line yet.  Essentially it explains how closing the Canadian side equates to a complete border closure and covers the fact that U.S. Customs and Border protection has temporarily halted work at this location until 1 September.

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Mack Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Has no impulse! control Joined: 13 January 2004 Location: 2nd Circle Status: Offline Points: 9906	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mack Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Stimulus funds at work Posted: 07 August 2010 at 11:49am
	The Port of Whitetail is a U.S. border station located in Daniels County Montana on the Northern border of the nation. The corresponding Canadian border crossing is called the Port of Big Beaver. The U.S. facility was scheduled for $8.5 million in upgrades under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Approximately $1.2 million of that has already been "invoiced." A review of port usage found that the port is used by "an average of five travelers and no commercial vehicles" on a daily basis. Furthermore, Canada announced the closing of their side of the border at this location in April of this year which means once their side is closed no traffic can go through the port in either direction. This is a small piece of the waste from this pie which makes me wonder what else is being wasted elsewhere. I also have to wonder why, given this, anyone believes that the government can run anything in an efficient manner. (I.e. expect health care to cost more, not less, under the new legislation.) While this closing may be a surprise to those in the U.S. I still can't see the sense of spending money on upgrading, or even spending money on keeping open, such an underutilized crossing that has a busier alternative within 12 miles. Links: Canada Plans to Close Crossing North of Whitetail Canada Closing Remote Border Crossing My apologies, there was one other article I wanted to link to from today's paper which goes into greater detail but it does not seem to be on line yet. Essentially it explains how closing the Canadian side equates to a complete border closure and covers the fact that U.S. Customs and Border protection has temporarily halted work at this location until 1 September.