Posted on 06/29/2008 6:59:46 AM PDT by Bean Counter
America is falling apart.
Literally.
From highways to bridges to plumbing to telecommunications, we are not keeping up with our national maintenance chores.
Our highways are crumbling. Just maintaining them as they are would cost up to 40 cents a gallon more in gas taxes over the next five years.
And that would do nothing to meet the increased demand; highway travel and hours stuck in traffic have both grown by about 25 percent in the past 10 years.
Remember that bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis last summer? More than one-quarter of U.S. bridges -- including one-quarter of Oregon's -- are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
We need to spend $250 billion to fix our aging water pipes. And our telecommunications system is far slower than the rest of the world's lightning-fast broadband.
"We're basically sliding toward Third World status," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. "It's pathetic."
The aging infrastructure is more than a headache that strands us in traffic and slows our e-mail. It poses a huge threat to our economy.
Our overseas competitors are making huge investments. China is building a 53,000-mile national highway system, along with light rail and other mass transit. Sure, China is playing catch-up. But the United States lags Taiwan, Japan, and 17 other countries in broadband deployment.
Just as relatively low wages in other countries pushed U.S. jobs overseas, so, too, could our deteriorating infrastructure.
Oregon's congressional delegation is in a position to make a difference. DeFazio chairs the House subcommittee on highways and transit. He'll play a key role in drafting a road and transit funding bill next year. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is pushing for the government to issue billions of dollars in bonds to pay for highway improvements. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., is pushing for a national transportation plan.
Blumenauer responded to DeFazio's comparison of the United States to Third World countries with a minor correction:
"You're doing a disservice to some Third World countries," Blumenauer said. "We're losing this battle. We're investing less in infrastructure than at any time in our history."
Oregon has shown some of the worst planning ever known when it comes to building public infrastructure, like building Interstate 5 through the middle of Downtown Portland, OR. We are still trying to correct some of the biggest screw-ups but there are a bunch of bridges in the state that are about to fall right into the water. One, the Sellwood Bridge can't even carry a Fire Truck, and the squabbling continues over the designs for a replacement.
The 100 year old Columbia Crossing that carries Interstate 5 across the Columbia River will fall in before a solution is found, because Portland's transit special interests insist that any new bridge carry Loot Rail into Washington State, or else no bridge will be built at all.
It must be election time for Blumenauer and DeFazio...
So it goes.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
And whose fault is that, D-Ore?
Not a good example. The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed due to a construction error. The linking plates at girder interconnects were made of thinner steel than the original design called for---IIRC, installed was 1/2" thick, and blueprints called for 1" thick.
I wounder what that price tag would be?
The price tag will be huge.
Many roads and bridges will have to be privatized in order to get the work done.
If they used the taxes they collect for highway maintenance ON highway maintenance, the roads would be the envy of the world.
Just take what they collect from truckers alone. They pay up the wahzoo in a multi-layered scheme of taxes and fees for every mile they run...
Then there's the taxes you and I pay on gas taxes and excise taxes...
There needs to be a wide-scale accounting of where all that money ultimately end up.
| "We're losing this battle. We're investing less in infrastructure than at any time in our history."
In other news, Congress just cut the Medicare reimbursement of doctors by 10%. Remember this the next time the Donks pitch you on government-provided health care. They're doing to the medical profession what they already did to the bridges. |
You don’t need more taxes. Just take the graft out of government and you’ll have plenty of money. Just go to a 10%, no more, flat tax and you’ll have all the money the government needs. Stop sending our tax money overseas and you’ll have the money you want for highways. There’s plenty of funds available......it’s all in how it’s spent. Stop the pork barrel also.
You see this at hospitals, too. They get endowments to build new stuff, but they don't get anything to maintain ‘em (or to build parking). Having a maintenance team or a parking garage named after you just isn't as sexy as having the hospital wing named after you...
The plan is to create the National Infrastructure Bank. And that could happen sooner than later. Some see it as a way to stimulate the economy.
DeFazio and Oberstar tried to raise the Fed gas tax a few months ago but got no support in Congress.
Aside from the ‘construction error’, I recall the state was floating over a Billion $ in excess tax revenues that year. God forbid the states’ actually maintain their own infrastructure.
Toll bridges
Toll highways.
Toll rails.
Tolled dams.
Tolled buildings.
These repairs need to be made but, would the PPPs be cheaper and would these companies really want this sort of multi-trillion dollar challenge.
Read the legislation.
Or this one?
Excuse me .. the reason the highways are crumbling is because the custodians of the GAS TAX FUNDS to repair the highways (or so they told us) - has now been put into the general funds (in some states) and not held aside for road repairs only.
CA finally got the picture and forced the legislature to separate the funds and keep the road funds for only road projects.
So, if you were honest, you would post their original statement, the responses they received from numerous states, and their subsequent back off from the statement.
It has been pointed out to you numerous times that there are numerous members of Congress and state legislatures who are threatened with the loss of authority over how road funds are dispersed. Pork equals re-election.
I'm not up to snuff of Oberstar/DeFazio.
Plus, their statement and their attempt to raise the gas tax were done in conjunction. Not much support for either.
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It's those greedy corporations! Down with Big Road! We need to turn highway construction over to the government! The government will keep us safe!