Ray LaHood is Officially Shovel-Ready

Past performance is no guarantee of future results:

George Will recently accused Obama’s token Republican, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, of being the “Secretary for Behavior Modification” because of his support for programs designed to coerce people into driving less. Speaking before the National Press Club on May 21, LaHood pleaded guilty as charged.

In the video of LaHood’s presentation, he was asked if the administration’s “livability initiative” is really “an effort to make driving more tortuous and to coerce people out of their cars.” His answer: “It is a way to coerce people out of their cars, yeah.”

— “Secretary of Behavior Modification,” by Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute, May 28, 2009.

Outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood lamented the amount of infrastructure spending that was approved by Congress during his tenure at the Department of Transportation (DOT) on Wednesday.

“America is one big pothole right now,” LaHood said in an interview on “The Diane Rehm Show” on National Public Radio.

— “LaHood: ‘America is one big pothole,’” The Hill, today.

Funny how he regards that as bad news, given his hatred of the automobile, one that’s shared with another department Obama lackey, “Energy” Secretary Steven Chu.

As CATO’s Walter Olson writes in his recent auto-da-fé (sorry) of LaHood at the Daily Caller, “Early speculation on a replacement includes the name of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who’d probably leave me nostalgic for LaHood. I’d wish the departing Secretary bon voyage, but somehow it’s hard for me to associate him with happy travels.”