Northampton County has supported Democrats for President since 1988. But in a break from that tradition, it elected Authoritarian Donald Trump as President in 2016. He owes Northampton County. Right after he was elected, he
promised to “rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals.” Despite bipartisan support, he failed to deliver. Republicans balked at taxing corporations for parking their offshore money. So the Lehigh Valley, despite having the highest gas tax in the nation, has lost a badly needed $380 million in transportation funding in the latest 12-year money. Forget funding from Highway Trust Fund. That's broke, like Trump's casinos. Ironically, the County that voted for Trump is getting hosed. It's getting just 29% of the money available, and practically none during the middle years of this plan.
"People will be working nights and weekends to figure out what we can deliver," Lehigh Valley Transportation Study Exec Director Becky Bradley
told The Morning Call when these cuts were first announced. But when push came to shove and there finally
was a meeting showing that NorCo was getting the short end of the stick, she was a no-show. Instead of working nights and weekends, she was having trouble getting a flight from wherever she was spending her summer holiday.
NorCo Executive Lamont McClure has previously threatened to cut funding to the area planning agency. I ordinarily would disagree, favoring regionalism as the best approach. But without doubt, NorCo is getting hosed.
Next time you're stuck on 22 for an hour on a Friday afternoon, be sure to thank Trump.
