Thank You, Representative Maher, For Doing the Right Thing

Although the final result was a disgrace, residents of Upper Saint Clair and surrounding communities can be proud of their State Representative John Maher today.
He voted for the latest version of transportation legislation which would enable road and bridge repair and maintenance to accelerate and for a boost to be provided to public transit.  Would that all of his colleagues had seen the light on this issue as he did.
I watched hours of the debate on the measure with alternating pride and disgust. Many of those that spoke in favor of the bill were tours de force, persuasively arguing why the legislation must be approved.  Those that spoke against concluded that the perfect was the enemy of the good, picking out various facets of it that they could not accept, including a small change in Prevailing Wage legislation, the potential for a twenty-eioht-cent per gallon gasoline tax to be in effect (a possibility only five years into the legislation), and objections to money being provided for mass transit, which many believe holds no benefit for their constituents.
Those on the side of the angels noted that this is a public safety measure, that without it, bridges will collapse, close, and/or be subjected to weight restrictions whose effects include precluding volunteer fire company ladder trucks from crossing bridges in some instances, lengthening the amount of time necessary to arrive at the scene of a fire.
The bill failed on a vote of 103-98, the "nays" serving to extend an obscene gesture to the public which widely supported the bill, including myriad influential individuals from both major political parties, including the current and three former governors, those from business and industry, and from labor.
Thank you, Representative Maher, for doing the right thing.  Others will have blood on their hands if money is not provided for public safety. Prime examples of penny-wise and pound-foolish behavior and dereliction of duty were provided to the public today. We will pay for it in more ways than one.