Transportation seat puts Lipinski on a roll

Since he was elected to Congress in 2004, Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) has been trying to wrangle a seat on the House TransportationCommittee.

After a two-year internal campaign, this week he was tapped forthe panel. Lipinski told me he is most interested in keeping federalfunding flowing for the mega-project called CREATE to improve theregion's railroad infrastructure. He also wants to watchdog MidwayAirport at a time the city is considering taking it private.

In 2004, Lipinski's father, former Rep. Bill Lipinski, fixed thepolitics so his son, then an assistant professor in politicalscience at the University of Tennessee, could move to the districtand inherit a …