INFRASTRUCTURE: LET'S GET IT FIXED

Neglect

by Elizabeth Schoettly Page 1 of 2 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com



You read that right. The greatest, immediate terrorism we have to fear in this nation is not the violence and death carried out by the Bin Ladin Boys, nor the violent and fanatical "folks" (Gawd, I hate that term) who have no legitimate claim to a religion of peace. We need not fear nearly so much as we do, swarthy men wielding box cutters or shoe bombs (although allowing cigarette lighters on planes is just asking for some idiot to light a terrible and terrifying cigar in the loo).

In America, you have a better chance of winning the Lotto or getting struck by lightning than you do of becoming a victim of "the folks" that brought planes crashing into buildings.



You have a greater chance of dying while eating a peanut (choking on it or finding you are allergic) than you have of being a victim of violent terrorism.

That's right. But you have, on any given day, a 50 percent chance of dying while using infrastructure that has been systematically ignored for decades. The I35 Bridge Too Broken proved that. That particular bridge had, for over two years, been out there, available to public use, all while having a 50 percent chance of catastrophic failure. Like collapse. Like killing people due to that not so benign neglect.

Let it sink in. A huge chance, right up there in league with flipping a coin. Nick Coleman, Twin Cities Curmudgeon in Residence put it well in his Star Tribune piece
Would you drive your kids or let your spouse drive over a bridge that had a sign saying, "CAUTION: Fifty-Percent Bridge Ahead"?

.
"This Bridge might or might not get you to the other side. Verify by coin flip -- if you dare". Of course, the flipped coin won't affect the structural integrity of the bridge, won't guarantee safe passage, won't do anything but make you feel that you've done something in the nature of rubbing a talisman as you take your life, and the lives of your family and friends in hand as you cross.

Gee, I feel safer already. I can use toll money for those long trips for double duty. Pay as I travel through Illinois, and check the odds on living to cross a bridge. That's monetary multitasking run amok.

Sadly it all does come down to money. Twice in his administration, Governor Pawlenty has vetoed bills that would have guaranteed money dedicated to transportation (read preserving the safety of infrastructure) and now is trying to claim the Republican controlled Legislative Branch in Minnesota had nothing to do with it. Nope. Not his fault. Blame the Democrats.

Ditto President Bush. The Republicans were in control for six of the past six and a half years, and money has been spent like drunken sailors on everything from Pork A to Pork Zed, plus a War to Nowhere and the infamous Bridge to the same place. But it's the Democrats fault. Yep, in the past seven months, the Democrats were supposed to fix all that was wrong, and vote on new legislation, all while dancing the tarantella on the head of a pin.

No, no, no, no, NO!!!!!

It is the fault of all of us, and those in control of government that have forgotten even a well built house that is not maintained, will fall. We have built our financial priorities on sand. We allow government to spend money like crazy, and if we pay attention, we know that the spending we do indicates our priorities.

We've studiously avoided spending on infrastructure, including the most recent budgets from the President, where he again proposed nothing even close to what is needed to repair and maintain (or replace) necessary bridges.
The budget I've sent to Congress fully funds America's priorities. It increases discretionary spending by 6.9 percent. My Cabinet Secretaries assure me that this is adequate to meet the needs of our nation.


According to ABC News:
Highway engineers say the neglect of America's infrastructure costs lives every day. More than 40,000 people die in highway accidents each year.

Road conditions, the engineers say, are a factor in almost one-third of those deaths.

America's most important road system - 46,000 miles of interstate highway - is now half a century old.

A report card two years ago from the American Society of Civil Engineers said that 34 percent of major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

And that's not all.

If those in Washington, concerned only about their reelection, would swear off the "bridges to nowhere, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, recreationsl centers, etc" we could afford to build new bridges. Will the new Democrat Congress swear off? Nah!

i'm sure most people think it's always the bridge in the adjacent county , state , province , city ... that's going to collapse , not the one they are using .
hbg

canada's worst "bridge disaster" was the collapse of the bridge over the st. lawrence river at quebec city in 1907 .
hbg





link to story :
QUEBEC CITY BRIDGE COLLAPSE

I have a hunch the the illegal and futile war we're conducting in Iraq costs just a [/I]little bit more than the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame.

Moreover, the bridge to nowhee, and most of the other egregious pork, was given us by the Reps, not the Dems. Let's have a bit of honesty.

The bridge to nowwhere was given to us by Sen. Stevens and a nodding Congress. Hopefully, Stevens will be going to prison, along with Rep. Billy Jefferson.

The point is that these earmarks, whoever initiates them, are more often wasteful and designed to buy our votes, without much thought about the "General welfare".

yeap, glad you're so set on rootin' out those "earmarks."

ops.......Democratic and Republican appropriators are accusing President Bush of urging Congress to pack spending bills with pet projects despite his high-profile crackdown on earmarks this year.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/bush-called-out-for-his-earmarks-2007-06-28.html



http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/28/bush-hypocritically-loads-up-on-earmarks/



http://seesdifferent.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/1074/

I'm sure you have no objection to posting 93 threads showing your indignation about all the 93 earmarks George Bush asked for, objective that you are?

by the way in case you were living under a rock for the past year, senator ted stevens threatened to place senatorial "holds" on legislation important to the nation if his bridge was not completely funded. but i don't recall any right wingers like you gnashing their teeth over it.

and in case you missed it, the federal courts just found for jefferson that the money seized in his refrigerator was gained by an illegal search.

good work again by the gonzo led justice dept, eh?

Earmarks are earmarks, whoever initiates them. And the Congress has the power to eliminate Bush's requests.....and they should.

I recall very clearly that Sen. Stevens had a hissy fitt about his bridge to nowhere, and I did declare to many that the bridge should be eliminated, despite his childish threats. Sorry you didn't hear my comments.

Nancy and Harry now have the power to eliminate all this garbage....think they will?

DGS, I realize that this is a bit complex for you, but the pork amounts to peanuts in the scheme of things. When we talk about trillions, we are talking about very major trends in spending, such as the money wasted on our misbegotten war in Iraq.

We should also revisit Bush's tax cuts for the super-rich, which run into the trillions.

Advocate: An insult does not make your point any stronger. The amount spent on earmarks is indeed a small fraction of the total budget. Does that mean that we should continue to tolerate this abuse and waste?

"Two billion here and two billion there, prettysoon were talking about some real money"

This is the first thing posted on this forum which i think is actually worth reading.

all your republican democrat liber conservative segregationalists need to STFU and realise we are all part of this country.


Get the **** out of iraq, get the **** back over here in your own country, spend all that money, the ASTRONOMICAL AMOUNT OF MONEY we waste on war, and invest into us.

Whoever is running this country needs to be shot in the face, all of them.

And another thing, ditch this biased representative BULLSHIT.

We have the internet FFS. Every single person in america should vote directly for the president they want, IF WE CAN ALTER THE CONSITUTION AND DISFIGURE IT BEYOND RECOGNITION THAN WE SHOULD DAMN WELL BE ABLE TO CHANGE THAT, THIS IS THE YEAR 2007 ALREADY.


jesus, i remember why i hate this forum now. I think america is gone beyond repair, figureatively and literally.

Thank you for this post, maybe we will realise more people die from abuse of power by greedy leadership than by terrorism. grow up america, your the laughingstock of the world.

Why do you go off on a tangent about pork when the topic is on the infrastructure? You would receive fewer insults if you stayed on topic.

It will take 1,600 billion to equal 1.6 trillion. In this context, your little quote is silly.

Advocate: Much of the earmark problem deals with the infrastructure in case you hadn't noticed, and the money spent on them could be used to support things that concern the "general welfare" not the interests of selected towns, cities and interests.

Have you appointed yourself to use insults as a way of keeping members on the specific target you wish them to concentrate on?

DGS, again, pork reform is not going to help very much with the infrastructure problem. The reform would make only a tiny dent in the problem. But you persistently bring up pork as the overriding problem in the country, and that its reform would solve the budgetary, tax, military, and other problems facing this country. While I exaggerate, you are very thick-headed when it comes to pork.

I don't believe earmarks (Pork) are the biggest problem we have. I believe there are several others more important, such as the war against those who are trying to kill us and illegal immigration to name a couple.

I am very concerned about our political leaders in Congress poor performance.....that includes conservatives, liberals, Republicans and Democrats.

it would seem to me, based on statistics anyways (and common sense)
we are more inclined to kill an iraqi then they are to kill us. they have no economic incentive to go to war with us. (pssh religious wars have always been about money, so that point is moot)

Wait! i know!!!!!!!!!, lets keep slaughtering them by the thousands and raping and executing their families. maybe then they wont hate us so much!!!!!