The American Society of Civil Engineers has released a report stating that America’s aging infrastructure is in dire need of increased funding for maintenance, repairs, and replacements. There is a handy blog post summarizing article, complete with an infograph, and the 40 page study can be found here (pdf).
A national funding increase of $94 billion per year would create a tremendous amount of benefits. It would prevent layoffs, create new jobs, increase exports, and save families an average of $1000 per year. Given the statistics, this should be a no-brainer, but America is crippled right now by the increasingly shrill calls to cut government spending. Spending is anathema and there is apparently no possible way that we can get more out of the government than what we put in, according to the deficit hawks. I am tired of this attitude. America needs infrastructure investment now or we will be hobbled in the long term.
When it’s been either renewed according to a reasonable schedule of repair and replacement given the expected useable lifetimes of its components or placed in a zone of reversed time flow, depending on your definitions.
And theres another factor. We have to fix the shit anyway. Now, with the economy down, the materials we need to build with are likely as cheap as they are going to get. Assuming the economy has at least some recovery, that will change. So, do it now.
Our bridges were built to last 50 years. The average is 47 years old. We need to take care of business. The sooner the better. There will be some ugly incidents if we don’t take care of it.
But, but, but … rich people take helicopters, so what do they care if bridges collapse. And they wouldn’t be able to afford those helicopters if you raised their increment rate by a couple of percent. And that would destroy the helicopter maintenance jobs.
Plus, infrastructure is inherently socialist.
Excellent user name/post link, btw.
Seriously, Mr. Roadshow in Silicon Valley published the annual cost of damage to cars from roads full of potholes, etc. Quite hefty, and yet another tax on the poor to avoid a tax on the rich.
Yeah, right :rolleyes:. We have tried investing in our infrastructure for years and look where it got us. In a pile of debt that our children’s children will have trouble paying off. What we need now is to cut spending. Cutting our domestic spending by 30% will create jobs which is what this country needs right now. When unemployment is back in the range it was with Presidents Reagan and Bush and we have paid off the excessive spending policies of the current president, we can maybe try to spend money on the luxuries of roads, bridges, schools and libraries. Until then, however, we just can’t afford it.
Gee, and back in the WTF to do with all the unemployed threads I keep mentioning WPA infrastructure projects as a way to give jobs to unemployed people ranging from clerical support through construction through management … and keep getting either ignored or told that it wouldn’t work.
such reports are bought and paid for by those who will benefit from all the wasteful spending. It’s time for belt tightening, not for pumping money that we don’t have in the first place into the pockets of politically connected contractors and their lobbyist and politico friends.
No, it’s time to spend money to get the economy going. And tax the rich to pay for it since they are hogging most of the money in the country. “Tightening the belt” will just hurt the economy and make people suffer, which is why the Right likes the idea.
Fine, recreate it as the CWA and slip it in under FEMA. Previously it was under FERA which was replaced by the WPA and the SSA. Since it is an emergency deal, it can be administered by FEMA, make them actually do something positive for the country.
It should NOT be doled out as contracts, it needs to be done as a governmental agency. We had the ability to do it once, we can do it again.
So, things on your planet don’t wear out? Roads don’t get potholes? Around here we have to retrofit things for the inevitable earthquakes.
Do you have any evidence that the infrastructure issues that have been talked about for year are not valid?
