D.C. Metro Wants a Multi-Billion Dollar Bailout, and Guess Who is Going to Pay For It?

So D.C. Metro is falling apart due to negligence. I can only imagine the initial conversations to have been something along these lines…

“You must go to the Caledonian forest and fell the giantest of trees, to build the greatest of catapults, to fire the greatest of projectiles… at the sloth.”
“What kind of projectile?”
“THIS!”  (throws money sack on the table)
“What’s in the sack?”
“Money?  It’s a costly program…”
“Are you suggesting we throw money at the problem?!”

From the Washington Post:

The Metro board chairman, Jack Evans, who also is a D.C. Council member (D-Ward 2), told the forum of the “three numbers” that he says describe Metro’s needs—which he has gotten in the habit of repeating at every public event: $18 billion in the next 10 years for investment; $300 million a year from the federal government for operations; and $2.5 billion to cover an unfunded pension fund liability.

Evans would like a dedicated funding source from the region to provide $1 billion a year to cover the investment need. But Republican legislators in Virginia have said they would oppose increasing spending by even a penny, on grounds that taxpayers are already overburdened and Metro needs to reduce costs.

So short version: they had the money, they wasted the money, the system is in a state of decrepitude… and Metro wants the Virginia taxpayer to fix the problem with a massive taxpayer funded bailout?

How’s about a big fat helping of no.

Metro has all the resources at its disposal to fix Metro, as does D.C. City Council.  Or let the jobs come to northern Virginia where our roads and infrastructure can support a 21st century workforce — I really don’t care, and frankly would prefer to see the latter.

Either way, the Virginia taxpayer isn’t paying to fix the District’s long-festering problem.