To the myriad indignities suffered by Congress, including stagnant legislation, partisan warfare and popularity on a par with petty criminals, add this: the Capitol’s roof is leaking, and there is no money to fix it…
The dome has 1,300 known cracks and breaks. Water that has seeped in over the years has caused rusting on the ornamentation and staining on the interior of the Rotunda, just feet below the fresco “The Apotheosis of Washington,” which is painted on the Rotunda’s canopy.
Like most of what the federal government is on the hook to fix — highways, bridges and airports — the dome is imperiled both by tough economic times and by a politically polarized Congress. While Senate appropriators have voted to repair the dome, which has not undergone major renovations for 50 years, their House counterparts say there is not money right now. In that way, the dome is a metaphor for the nation’s decaying infrastructure.
“The dome needs comprehensive rehabilitation,” said Stephen T. Ayers, the architect of the Capitol, whose office oversees the building’s physical state. “It’s a public safety issue.”
The skirt of the dome — the section around the base of the original sandstone foundation — was fixed up recently at a cost of about $20 million, but an additional $61 million is needed to repair and restore the rest of the structure’s exterior…
“This is not a ‘bridge to nowhere’ we’re talking about here,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the leader of the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees the architect’s office. “This is basic upkeep to the United States Capitol building. There is a time and place to debate spending levels and the proper role of the federal government, but when your house has a leaky roof, you pay to fix the roof.”
It’s easiest for everyone to malign Congress as a whole. But, everyone knows who is responsible for getting absolutely nothing accomplished since the 2010 elections. The pantywaist populists and Republican Party honchos who think they’re being the best beancounters in the world by putting a halt to any task Congress may attempt – rely on blaming everyone but the people who say “NO” to everything.
Including fixing the roof.
The headline is wrong. The dome of our nation’s capitol is the top of the Washington Monument.
Actually, I don’t see a problem. As long as Congress is in session, the pressurized hot air coming from the Senate and House of Representatives should be sufficient to hold up the dome and reverse any leaks.
A lot of Americans would think it was a good thing if the dome fell in while Congress was in session.
The House keeps sending Reid budgets and he keeps blocking votes. He also tried to block a vote on Obama’s last budget most likely because he knew nobody would vote for it again. Nobody has voted for an Obama budget in the last two years.
I’m not sure why because Obama is a tax and spend ultra liberal like nearly all the Democrats in Congress but it appears that all the Democrats in Congress think Obama is dumber than a box full of dead hamsters when it comes to creating a budget.
It’s enough to make me wonder why they want him back or even if they all do want him back.
Eliminate the Department of Homeland Security and divert those funds to fixing the infrastructure of the nation.
Close several dozen military bases around the world and divert those funds to repairs.
Two ideas in ten seconds.