Thursday, January 09, 2014

U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE - Bipartisan Push to Revitalize

It is important to note that this type of spending CREATES jobs and promotes transportation infrastructure.

But I expect that the Money-Worshiping Republicans will insist it be paid for by cuts to programs that help ordinary citizens, no matter how good it would be for our nation.  It a part of their psyche that nothing is worth spending money if it's too expensive in their eyes (aka does not benefit their rich paymasters).

"LaHood, Rendell make bipartisan push to revitalize America's infrastructure" PBS Newshour 1/8/2014

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  Finally tonight, a conversation about rebuilding the country's roads, bridges and other critical components, as seen through the lens of American competitiveness.

Infrastructure investment rarely captures national attention, until there's a tragic failure or accident, such as the 160-foot chunk of Washington State's Skagit River Bridge that suddenly gave way in May, the deadly 2007 collapse of the 1-35 bridge spanning the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and the historic failure of New Orleans' levee system during 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

But some experts say the problems are exacerbated by a lack of investment that can leave the nation's transportation, communications, and energy networks outdated and unreliable.

Still, there's been more investment in the years since the recession began, the most prominent being President Obama's 2009 stimulus bill.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as it was called, allocated $150 billion to a wide array of public works projects.  While the stimulus fund has expired now, the president has continued to press Congress for more spending.


Build America's Future link

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