Can you say "Big Dig"

The U.N. is asking the U.S. to finance a renovation of its headquarters in New York City by chipping in $400 million of the estimated cost of $1.2 billion. Donald Trump, "

who was called to testify before a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on the cost of U.N. renovations, said yesterday that he had told Secretary-General Kofi Annan that he could fix up the dilapidated headquarters for a third or half of the $1.2 billion price tag that the world body has estimated will be necessary.

Trump said he has offered to take on the project for free and could get it done in half the time -- plus he would add glamorous touches such as marble flooring in the lobby.

Hugh Hewitt is playing a recording of the hearing, and is promising to have a transcript of the hearing posted by his producer, Generalissimo, at Radioblogger which is rapidly turning into nothing but one long transcript of Hugh's show. He ought to start his own blog and not tell Hugh where it is.

You've got to hear the recording, though. His description of the ineptitude of the official put in charge of the renovation as well as the integrity of New York contractors is fascinating, never to be forgotten. Trump predicts that if they leave it up to bureaucrats, they'll end up paying over $3 billion. He claims he could do it for $700,000.00. His pitch is something to behold, and it has the power of knowledge of the subject. It sounds like a cloakroom conversation, and Trump's final words are classic, but you'll have to wait to read them. Here's the AP story.

If I were a Senator, I'd be sending auditors to find out where all our other funding went before I'd give the U.N. another nickel. To heck with the U.N. building. We should put Trump in charge of the GSA!

Update: The audio file and transcript are posted at Radioblogger.com.