Posted on 01/07/2025 5:01:13 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Signs that we were once a truly great nation are all around us. Previous generations of Americans handed us the keys to the most magnificent domestic infrastructure that the world had ever seen, but now it is literally falling apart all around us. Thousands of bridges are structurally deficient and there have already been some very high profile collapses. Hundreds of thousands of miles of highways and roads in the United States are in very poor shape. Aging sewer systems are leaking raw sewage all over the place, and children are being slowly poisoned by lead pipes that desperately need to be replaced. The power grid is hopelessly overloaded and is extremely vulnerable. Meanwhile, our ports, our dams, our subway systems, our bus terminals and our airports are crumbling right in front of our eyes. The truth is that our nation’s infrastructure says a lot about who we are.
So what does America’s crumbling infrastructure say about us? Sadly, it says that we are a rusting, crumbling, decaying leftover from a better, more prosperous time.
When Joe Biden took office in 2021, his administration told us that “investment in U.S. infrastructure as a share of GDP has fallen by more than 40 percent since the 1960s”…
Public investment in U.S. infrastructure as a share of GDP has fallen by more than 40 percent since the 1960s. The World Economic Forum now ranks the United States 13th when it comes to the overall quality of infrastructure.
So Congress passed a bill that gave the Biden administration more than $100,000,000,000 to spend on fixing our infrastructure.
Honestly, I have no idea what they did with all that money.
In 2021, the official White House website was reporting that 45,000 bridges and 20 percent of our roads were in poor condition…
More than 45,000 U.S. bridges and 1 in 5 miles of roads are in poor condition, per the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 2007, the I-35 bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour, killing 13 and injuring 121.
Well, fast forward a few years later and the Department of Transportation is still telling us that “over 40,000 bridges” are in poor condition…
The Department of Transportation considers 6.8% of the over 600,000 bridges it tracks and rates to be in “poor” condition. That doesn’t sound too bad on a percentage basis, but it’s over 40,000 bridges in total.
And it appears that the condition of our roads has actually gotten worse in many states.
For example, Consumer Reports says that almost half of all urban roads in the state of California are not currently in acceptable condition…
Despite an enormous yearly disbursement for highways that tops $21 billion, the Golden State manages to keep just a little more than half their urban roads in acceptable condition. However, this is an outsized job since, in addition to 840 miles of coastline, California boasts more miles of urban roads than any other state and has the second-highest mileage of rural roads in the country.
Data from the National Highway Administration shows California’s roads are the most traveled in the U.S., so it makes sense that the state also has the second-highest number of motor vehicle-related fatalities in the country.
Back in 2021, the Biden administration also made a big deal out of the fact that millions of Americans were getting their tap water through lead pipes…
Millions still get water from lead pipes, despite the fact that exposure to lead has irreversible health effects; in 2015, a state of emergency was declared in Flint, Michigan as citizens learned that their water supply contained toxic levels of lead.
So why didn’t the Biden administration fix this problem?
An article that was published late last year revealed that the EPA is estimating that “more than 9 million service lines” are still made out of lead…
The EPA estimates that more than 9 million service lines are made of lead, a neurotoxin that can cause nervous system damage, learning disabilities and other health problems, especially in children. If lead pipes corrode, as in the infamous case of Flint, Michigan, they can poison drinking water.
While no amount of lead exposure is safe, the federal rule now requires utilities to notify the public and improve corrosion treatment if lead in their water exceeds 10 parts per billion. Some homes in Syracuse, New York, recently tested at 70 parts per billion.
Our politicians are constantly telling us that they just don’t have enough money to get everything done.
Personally, I would really love to see exactly what the Biden administration spent more than 100 billion dollars of infrastructure money on.
Have you traveled through any of our airports lately?
Compared to other industrialized nations, they are a complete and utter joke.
Why can’t we have beautiful airports, modern subway systems, functional roads and bridges, and safe water coming out of our taps?
More tax revenue is collected in America than anywhere else in the world, and so we certainly deserve the best infrastructure.
When I bring up the topic of taxes, most people immediately think of the federal income tax. But the truth is that there are literally dozens of different taxes that they use to extract wealth out of us…
When you take all forms of taxation into account, some Americans actually end up handing over more than 50 percent of their incomes each year.
So our politicians have no excuse for not fixing our infrastructure.
But even though they extract money from us in dozens of different ways, our infrastructure crisis just seems to keep getting worse.
In some areas of the country, roads that were once paved have actually been transformed into gravel roads because they are cheaper to maintain.
Our crumbling infrastructure is a perfect metaphor for our crumbling society as a whole, and it is time for the American people to start demanding better from all levels of government.
* * *
Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com
I get so tired of hearing politicians speak of welfare as “investment”.
Didn’t biden promise to do something about our infrastructure when he took office?
Or am I remembering wrong?
They didn't answer the question either.
Every dimrat promises to fix the infrastructure then uses the money to feather their own nests.
Shovel Ready Jobs was the latest catch phrase.
“Sadly, it says that we are a rusting, crumbling, decaying leftover from a better, more prosperous time.”
Would that be a time before Socialist Democrats raped and pillaged America and sold many parts of us to the highest bidder? Asking for a friend. ;)
That’s exactly right....they didn’t answer the question ...however it is my understanding utility companies ARE and Have Been checking the grid since they knew this arctic long duration freeze was coming. So there’s that.
You don’t need any infrastructure, we have generational welfare to pay for.
Good point. Why want to invest into a area or project when you will cut and run somewhere else. That seems to be the retirement playbook.
He also promised to “cure cancer.
“But our Public Employee’s get paid very well, awesome benefits and Golden Pensions...”
Don’t forget the annual bonuses despite mediocre performance.
(Not my curb, but very similar)
Well, he is an oil cancer survivor.
There are rubber curb ramps here that have been there for decades with no damage. I think they make the surface different for wheelchair traction or something like that. When I first started sewing the ramps about 30 years ago I thought they were for kids on skateboards! Oops!
It’s for blind people to alert them of the intersection I think.
Yes. That’s right! I never see blind people anymore. Weird.
That also. Government uses every program as a washing machine, vote turn out operation, job reward for supporters, etc.
I lived in Hawaii during that commie POS was president. The Honolulu federal building was under some sort of construction his entire term with a great big sign out front, “American investment act” or whatever that porkulus bill (ht Rush) was called. There was never anyone working. Being Hawaii and seeing how easy and fast that Kenyan bastard got permits to fix up his house it was no doubt a bribe because the Kenyan knew he would be buying real estate on the island.
Wait a minute.... didn’t Brandon brag about his $2 TRILLION Build Back Better bipartisan bill (later amended by the Inflation Reduction Act) passed in 2022?? You mean that didn’t fix any infrastructure or deliver rural internet or ??
Nah, Brandon built it all back better. /s ROFLOL
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