Jean Schmidt in NKY

Guest blogger Margaret McGurk reports:

U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt told the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Monday that financing for the new Brent Spence Bridge is a question yet to be answered.

Schmidt, a member of the House Transportation Committee, said, “I don’t know we are going to find the money, but the money has to be found.”

The speech was dotted with references to "the party that is running things now," and "the other party." But she did call attention to Nancy Pelosi's historic election as Speaker of the House, saying " I am thrilled to be serving with a female Speaker."

She managed not to mention either Pelosi's name or party affiliation.

Schmidt also took one mild shot at the current administration when the subject of passport applications came up. Members of her staff sometimes work until 11 at night dealing with the flood of pleas for help from travelers afraid they will miss long-planned trips because of the State Department's massive backlog.

While making a point of saying how much she admires Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Schmidt said when it comes to the passport crunch, "The administration really dropped the ball."

Also, while trying to explain the dangers posed by Iraqi insurgents, Schmidt misplaced the founding of Islam by about 400 years. She told the crowd that the enemy considers it sinful to live anything except "a nomadic life of probably the third century."

Muhammed, the founder of Islam, was born late in the sixth century. Historians date the religion to the early decades of the seventh century.