A small Montana town's border station is set to receive $15 million for a border station that sees 3 travelers a day. Whitetail, MT, (population 71) saw $63,000 of cargo cross its border last year to/from Canada. Its county's unemployment is 4% and the state's unemployment is 6.7%. Not quite as dire as other states in need of stimulus. Meanwhile in Laredo, Texas,
which serves more than 55,000 travelers and 4,200 trucks a day, is rated among the government's highest priorities but was passed over for stimulus money.The Westhope, N.D., checkpoint, which serves about 73 people a day and is among the lowest-priority projects, is set to get nearly $15 million for renovations.
North Dakata? Oh, that's Kent "Co-op" Conrad's state. Lovely. 3.9% unemployment. Thank god they're getting stimulated.
$30 million dollars for two border stations into Canada's heartland that see a whopping 79 people a day in total.
Is $30 million going to make or break our budget? No. Is it a disappointing allocation of our resources? It appears so.
More than $116 billion in freight passed through Laredo last year, according to the Transportation Department. It is one of the busiest border stations in the country. Unemployment in the metropolitan area is 9.4 percent.
Is that Canadian bacon I smell?