Carl warns against ‘false hope’ of I-10 Mobile Bay Bridge in infrastructure package — ‘It is not’

Hope springs eternal for some on financing for the potential construction of a new I-10 Mobile Bay Bridge coming out of Washington, D.C., especially as Congress is debating a potential multi-trillion dollar infrastructure bill.

However, U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) warns against such notions, calling them “false hope.”

During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Carl said he did not expect that line item to be included in the bill currently being discussed on Capitol Hill, and said he expect House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to have other ideas in mind as far as so-called infrastructure goes.

“You’re going to see the Republican House bow up and say, ‘No, we’re not going to do it. We’re not going to support it.’ So, I think that’s where it is going. Everyone up here wants an infrastructure bill, especially me. Now, I don’t want anyone to get false hope and think that our bridge is in that infrastructure package. It is not. So don’t think if we vote it down, we gave away the bridge. That’s not true. We don’t know what that money is going to be spent — particular projects, per se — what it would be spent on. That part we haven’t even gotten to yet. Right now, we’re just arguing on the money. We’re trying to keep money that we’ve already borrowed. We’re trying to utilize money left over from COVID, which there is about $600 billion left over. So, the Republican side is trying to focus on just using that. Nancy Pelosi will not have that. She wants to borrow all new money. And she wants about a $2 trillion package.”

“It’s going to be hard for her to get support, enough support to get it,” Carl added. “I mean, even her own people are rebelling. You got the gang that is fighting her. They want about a $6 trillion package. They want the original package or nothing at all. So, for her to raise enough votes is going to be tough — really tough.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.