It isn’t unusual to hear a Democratic U.S. Senator demand that President Donald Trump “pay,” but one lawmaker is taking it beyond language.
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Mild-mannered Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Co.) told the Huffington Post’s Capitol Hill reporter, Jen Bendery, that he believes Trump should refund taxpayers for the Reflecting Pool fiasco.
In a letter he’s sending to the White House on Wednesday, Hickenlooper blasted, “Under the guise of an ‘emergency,’ your Administration bypassed competitive bidding processes to rush a renovation of the iconic Reflecting Pool. Today, the Reflecting Pool is a fluorescent green swamp of algae, and the expensive blue sealant is already peeling off the bottom in sheets.”
Trump rushed to paint the Reflecting Pool “American Flag Blue,” claiming that it wasn’t reflective enough, and there was too much algae, which has been a problem since it was built over 100 years ago.
The pool was previously renovated under President Barack Obama’s administration, which prompted MS NOW strategists to question whether the whole project was another of Trump’s attempts to “up” his predecessor.
To political critics, failure to deliver the promises on the poll on budget, on time and operational, has become a metaphor for Trump’s presidency as a whole. Trump’s pool predicament is akin to his work on the Iran war, lower fuel prices, lower grocery costs, lower inflation, ending the Ukraine war quickly, solving the Gaza crisis, making in vitro fertilization (IVF) free, releasing the investigation files for Jeffrey Epstein, and reducing the national debt.
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It’s no surprise that Trump biographer Michael Wolff said that the president views the matter as “an insult to the country and a challenge to him personally.”
Now, he’s searching for someone to blame, Bendery wrote. He’s tried to claim there are mysterious “vandals,” and liberal foes he thinks jumped into the pool in the dead of night to slash the new lining or dump fertilizer and algae in the water.
When Bendery asked the White House about it, Taylor Rogers said, “It is shameful that elected Democrats would lie to the American public about the deranged vandalism that has taken place at the Reflecting Pool. President Trump generously spearheaded the restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and it is now reflecting beautifully despite the vandals’ attempt to destroy it.”
AlterNet investigated the pool on Tuesday afternoon and found no 200-350 foot gash, but there is evidence of the lining being thinned or rubbed off in large swaths of the pool. These areas look different from where the paint was peeling off.
Hickenlooper wrote in his letter, “Americans worked hard for their money. When they pay taxes, they expect those dollars to fix roads, support schools and protect our public lands. They do not expect to bankroll failed presidential vanity projects. If you want a blue Reflecting Pool for a photo-op, you should pay for it yourself.”
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