Frank Wolf Blames the Tunnel Supporters

This is classic:

Wolf pointed out that there was already $250 million on the table for the Dulles Rail project and said that part of what created the project's slow down was the interest in creating a tunnel through Tysons Corner.

"This tunnel really kicked this thing off," he said. "Had the tunnel thing not come up, construction would have already started. That really delayed this project by one and a half to two years."

Wolf said he understood the reasoning behind wanting a tunnel, but said that sometimes you have to move forward with what you can realistically afford.

"We had the money, it was on the table," he said. "This needs to be a transportation project to take people off the roads."

Translation: Frank Wolf's pet project is near death, largely because of his stubbornness, unwillingness to listen to legitimate concerns, and overall lack of leadership -- and he blames supporters of a tunnel in Tysons Corner! Classic, sort of like Bush blaming all his failings on other people. Is this some kind of Republican thang or what?

Why Won't Wolf Talk About the Tunnel?

Back in February, Frank Wolf avoided a rally for supporters of a Metro tunnel through Tysons. Jim Moran was there. Chap Petersen was there. Tim Kaine called in. Heck, even Tom Davis and Jeannemarie Devolites Davis were there. But, oddly, there was no sign of Frank Wolf, just an explanation from Jim Moran that Wolf wasn't there because he was "afraid that all his work [on Metro to Dulles] could come to naught." And all that work would be...what, exactly? According to the Washington Post, the entire project is on the verge of going down the tubes, as cost estimates have soared and as there have been "new hurdles, new objections, every step of the way."

Anyyway, you'd think that if Frank Wolf cared so much about Metro to Dulles, he would show up at a rally with 500 people who strongly support the project -- with a tunnel, of course. Yet, when I asked Tom Davis whether he thought Jim Webb was going to get involved in the issue, Davis snarled, "single-issue Senator." I wonder if Tom Davis would also snarl at Frank Wolf, who refuses to meet with his constituents, the vast majority of whom want a tunnel through Tysons.

Meanwhile, what I hear coming out of the Tysons Tunnel emergency summit meeting held on Capitol Hill August 2 is that Frank Wolf remains opposed to a tunnel, and fully prepared to move forward with the no-bid, single-source contract for "Big Dig" Bechtel to build an "aerial route" through Tysons. The question is, why? What reason could Frank Wolf have for opposing what the overwhelming majority of his constituents want? What reason could he have for opposing open, competitive bidding on this multi-billion-dollar project? What, in other words, does Frank Wolf know that we don't know? It would be great if we could ask him that question except for one problem: Wolf won't meet with anyone who disagrees with him. Convenient, eh?