Intellectual Congestion On WTMJ-AM

Jeff Wagner, an AM 620 WTMJ conservative talker, took righty talk radio's inherent contradictions to an all-time high this Monday morning as he worked his way through a fill-in slot for regular morning host Charlie Sykes.

Wagner was whining - - something of a pattern - - about the weekend news that a $44 million, three-month I-94 resurfacing from 32nd St. in Milwaukee all the way to Highway 16 in Waukesha County was going to substantially add to commuting times.

The story and a comment, here.

Complaining that highway work you support will make your commuting more difficult is like parking yourself at a buffet table and complaining that overeating makes your pants too tight.

Remember that Wagner and the other righty talkers were instrumental in killing the region's light rail option years ago - - an alternative aimed at highway congestion relief - - and which would have placed an operating train parallel to the very highway corridor that is scheduled for resurfacing.

A highway corridor, by the way, that will be torn up again when the full so-called freeway expansion and reconstruction plan that Wagner and the talkers all promoted finishes its multi-billion spending spree.

But set aside the talkers' culpability in condemning the region to highway spending and the repetitive delays these projects entail.

Wagner's instant solution to the disruptions that will come with the I-94 resurfacing?

The conservative solution?

Pressure Scott Walker, the highway-addicted incoming Governor to speed up the resurfacing work.

Which would entail overtime, and a higher price tag, right?

Tax-and-spend conservatives.

When it suits their personal needs.