Депутат МакКлинток проголосовал против инфраструктурного закона, но позже поддерживал гранты по этой же программе

Our Congressman, Tom McClintock, voted against the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). In 2024, he claimed that “Three years ago, trillions of dollars of excessive federal spending unleashed the worst inflation in 40 years. I opposed these measures . . .” Despite voting against the Infrastructure Law, McClintock was among the GOP lawmakers who subsequently wrote letters to the Department of Transportation supporting local grant applications and projects funded by that exact legislation. And inflation? We all know now that inflation was caused because of the pandemic and supply chain issues. When the pandemic ebbed, inflation cooled and is, in fact, higher now than when Biden left office, mostly because of Trump’s unconstitutional tariffs and the unjustified and ill-conceived war in Iran causing the price of gas to rise. Meanwhile, projects are getting done in McClintock’s district. At the end of his term, President Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda funded 74,000 projects with $695 billion in funding that resulted in 1.7 million construction and manufacturing jobs, 700,000 transportation sector jobs since the start of his administration. While McClintock voted no, Biden, Democrats, and a small minority of Republicans wanted to invest in America: improving roads and bridges, upgrading airports, ports and waterways, replacing lead pipes and improving water infrastructure, plugging 9600 orphaned oil and gas wells leaking methane into the air, installed high-speed internet in rural and tribal areas, modernized the electrical grid, and funded, previously unfunded, Superfund cleanup sites. The Biden administration also built a public website where any American could type in their zip code and see exactly what was coming to their community. That website was taken down by the Trump administration on January 20, 2025. Many Republican Senators and Representatives who voted against the IIJA were later seen smiling, cutting ribbons, and taking credit as projects started in their districts or states. Transportation grants leaned heavily in more populated blue states, while clean energy and power generation have disproportionately gone to red states. Trump is currently trying to take credit for projects started by Biden. Back in 2021, he called the Infrastructure Act “a terrible Democrat Socialist Infrastructure Plan.” Big red signs are appearing at construction sites with huge white letters reading “PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP — REBUILDING AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE.” (The fine print at the bottom states: “Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”) It appears Trump can blame Biden for everything that goes wrong while taking credit for everything Biden did right. Between 2021 and 2025, Calaveras County was slated to receive millions in federal infrastructure dollars. Here’s what was specifically earmarked for Calaveras County, documented in Caltrans press releases: $9.3 million for ADA upgrades, sidewalks, curb ramps, and bike lanes along State Route 49 in Angels Camp. $5.9 million for intersection safety improvements at State Route 26 and Lime Creek Road near Valley Springs. $1.5 million for 20 miles of pavement, guardrail, and drainage rehabilitation on State Route 4 near Copperopolis. $11.2 million for wastewater treatment plant upgrades at Copper Cove in Copperopolis, the largest Section 219 Environmental Infrastructure award in California that year. Broadband fiber network expansion to serve rural and underserved areas of Calaveras County was actively in progress when Trump took office and is now in limbo. Since January 2025, the Trump administration has frozen, clawed back, or put conditions on billions of infrastructure improvement grants, forcing states and counties to sue in federal court just to access money Congress had already approved. California alone has fought back against more than $168 billion in funding cuts. What was McClintock’s goal to help Americans? He has voted against virtually every major investment in his own district while working to strip medical coverage from the constituents who depend on it most. He voted for the American Health Care Act that would have left 23 million more Americans uninsured if it had passed. He voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill that cuts over $1 trillion over ten years from Medicaid, putting 56% of adult Medi-Cal enrollees in his district at risk. He voted against the infrastructure bill that funded $45 million in highway projects and over $100 million in broadband internet in his own district. He approved the Trump administration’s unlawful decision to terminate $1.2 billion in funding for congressionally mandated energy and infrastructure programs in California, which threatened over 200,000 new family-sustaining jobs. Meanwhile, Trump got a trillion dollars for defense spending and is spending about a billion a day on the Iran war. Now he wants $1.4 trillion for defense spending next year. Why? The national debt just passed $40 trillion. In his two terms, Trump is responsible for $11.6 trillion of that. McClintock voted yes on war and wasting money overseas but not on investing in and helping Americans at home. McClintock has been elected for 9 terms! He doesn’t even live in our congressional district! Maybe it’s time for a change. Michael Masuda is running to represent California’s 5th Congressional District. A former Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Department of State, Michael is an engineer used to solving problems. He was raised in Amador County and lives in our district. He previously worked at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory developing technology to keep U.S. troops safe. Where McClintock votes no, he would vote yes. When asked why he is running, he answered, “For my kids.” Michael is married with two young daughters. An engineer by nature, he seeks a functional government that solves problems, listens to people, and is willing to work across the aisle to do that.