Poll says voters disapprove of Rendell's budget, turnpike, I-80 plans

August 5th, 2008, posted by RobHop

A slim majority of Pennsylvanians like the job Ed Rendell is doing as governor, but most disapprove of his handling of the budget, and of his plan to give a Spanish company control of the turnpike and put tolls on Interstate 80, a poll shows.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll of voters across the state, released this morning, said 54 percent approve of the job Gov. Rendell is doing. Only 40 percent, though, say he is doing a good job handling the budget. Just 29 percent favor his plans for the turnpike and to make I-80 a toll road.

The legislature, amid the Bonusgate investigation, got approval from only a third of the voters, the poll shows.

“A majority think House majority Bill DeWeese should step down for his role in Bonusgate,” said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
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infrastructure

On August 5th, 2008 Anonymous said:

At least Rendell is trying to find solutions to the massive infrastructure issues facing the state. I get the feeling sometimes that many Pennsylvanians would rather see our infrastructure crumble to dust. There is no easy answer for this problem.

Over a twelve year stretch

On August 6th, 2008 Anonymous said:

Over a twelve year stretch from 1994-2006, House Republicans failed in every way, shape, and form to address our crumbling transportation infrastructure. Their failure to incrementally confront the issue has created today’s monster price tag, and has exponentially increased the likelyhood of castrophic bridge failures across the Commonwealth.

At the end of the day a choice will have to be made: toll I-80, lease the PA Turnpike, or some other option that will provide roughly a billion dollars a year for maintenance and increase capacity. Thankfully, we are at least discussing this pressing issue at present. The next step is action!

If Mr. Rendell had begun

On August 5th, 2008 Anonymous said:

If Mr. Rendell had begun his first term with a sound maintenance program, much of the damage that’s occurred would have been stopped.
But, people who replace bridges make big contributions, and they’d like to replace all the bridges.
Mr. Rendell has helped them meet that goal by not enforcing a good maintenance program.

Your statement that bridge

On August 6th, 2008 Anonymous said:

Your statement that bridge builders make big contributions to Rendell and in turn the Rendell Administration has allowed the state’s bridges to crumble in an effort to give huge contracts to replace these crumbling bridges is rather stern and requires some backup in the form of company names and contribution history. The state’s roads and bridges have been igmored by administration after administration, not just Rendell’s. And the real reason for being ignored? Cost!! If you want a maintenance program or new bridges get ready for real tax hikes.