Pelosi's spokeswoman Jennifer Crider confirmed this for me. She also conceded the language could not have been inserted if the Republican majority objected. "They're in charge," said Crider. "The Republicans control who gets what."
Even in San Francisco the proposed subway has some discerning liberals scratching their heads. This is because it will not connect a major residential area with downtown. Instead, it will link a handful of entertainment and tourist venues (PacBell baseball stadium, Moscone Convention Center, Union Square retailers and Chinatown) that are mostly within walking distance of one another and are already connected by public transit.
"I understand, there are people who cannot walk even a block," wrote Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll. "I would bet, however, that these people would much rather have a subway that actually went from their homes to downtown."
Why did the Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee provide startup money -- and language that may lead to half a billion dollars in future funding -- for Pelosi's boutique subway? Committee spokesman John Scofield told me Pelosi did not get everything she wanted -- which would have included flatly directing the administration to fully fund the subway. But, he also said, "you don't want to have a bill that just has Republican projects."
Right. Speaking of those, Pelosi's Republican counterpart, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (who called the bill "an achievement in fiscal restraint") got $3.6 million for work on an airport in his hometown.
In spirit, then, if not on rails, Pelosi's little subway runs all the way from San Francisco to Sugar Land, Texas.