Cincinnati mayor, Mark Mallory, is off to Washington DC to represent the people of Cincinnati - a job congressman Steve Chabot is supposed to do but while never bringing home the bacon he has taken to sending the bacon elsewhere. Mallory says he’s lobbying DC officials to nix Chabot’s streetcar Provision.
The thing about Chabot's anti-Cincinnati streetcar amendment that bugs me is, besides his determination of the project's lack of merit having no merit of it's own, is that he singled out just one passenger rail proposal. That is, he doesn't seem to have any broader view that would lead him to believe the very concept is bad. It just seems more vindictive than anything else. Steve Chabot is supported in one area of the city & frequently refers to himself as a citizen of that neighborhood and not the city that it's a part of. His amendment won't save a dime & in fact includes billions in deficit spending.
Interestingly, the darling of the eastside GOP, Rob Portman, doesn't seem so adamant about usurping the will of local voters.
From the Fishwarp:

The Senate Appropriations Committee did not include a similar measure barring funds for the streetcar in its version of the transportation spending bill. And both of Ohio’s U.S. senators–Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown—have said they have no plans to push such a proposal.

I guess COA T will have to try to pry the senator away from the Romney campaign trail into one of their dark smoky back rooms & make him a deal he can't refuse.

Fishwarp story here.