The Hill: Oberstar blasts White House, accelerates highway bill

From The Hill:

Lawmakers pushed back aggressively against the Obama administration Thursday as they moved forward with the long-anticipated highway bill.  Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), the panel’s ranking member, said that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was wrong to call for an 18-month extension of the existing law Wednesday and that any delay in overhauling the nation’s transportation system could lead to more job losses.  “We don’t have time for 18 months. That puts Damocles’s sword of uncertainty over the future of transportation. It’s unacceptable,” Oberstar said. “We are open to discussion with the White House but they have to come across the divide to talk to us.”