won't pay to fix to sell you

[Ostap]

If you believe Republicans who say this is about protecting kids, I have a bridge those same Republicans won't pay to fix to sell you.
link with timecode

Hello, teachers. Does "to sell you" mean "to persuade the voters that they (Republicans) care"?

 

[SoothingDave]

"I have a bridge to sell you" means you are going to take advantage of a simple person who believes they can buy such a thing.

A con man could get money from a fool by "selling them" the bridge in town. Of course, the con man doesn't actually own the bridge.

Whoever authored this is combining that phrase with the additional complaint that Republicans don't want to spend money on fixing bridges and other infrastructure.

 

[Ostap]

"I have a bridge to sell you" means you are going to take advantage of a simple person who believes they can buy such a thing.

A con man could get money from a fool by "selling them" the bridge in town. Of course, the con man doesn't actually own the bridge.

Whoever authored this is combining that phrase with the additional complaint that Republicans don't want to spend money on fixing bridges and other infrastructure.

I didn't know the whole phrase was an expression

 

[probus]

We always strive to keep politics out of this forum, so I'll add that (unwisely) deferring expenditure on bridge maintenance is not peculuar to Republicans nor to the USA. Every year bridges collapse due to lack of maintenance. In the Canadian county where we have our summer home several bridges have been closed for years because they've become unsafe due to lack of maintenance.

 

[Skrej]

"I have a bridge to sell you" means you are going to take advantage of a simple person who believes they can buy such a thing.

The expression stems from the infamous conman George C Parker who successfully duped quite a few gullible people into believing they could buy the Brooklyn Bridge (as well as several other public landmarks) around the beginning of the 20th century.

One of George Strait's classic songs makes reference to selling "ocean front property in Arizona" (which is of course landlocked). He also makes a nod to the 'bridge to sell you' expression, although he changes it to the Golden Gate Bridge.