U.S. Infrastructure

The news today said that the horrible blast and fire was caused by a ruptured gas main that was laid in '56 before the subdivision was built over it. A terrible tragedy that might have been avoided if authorities had acted on reports of gas smell. Probably a lack of manpower to follow up.

Last week about 50 miles from me a crude oil pipeline in or about Bolingbrook, Illinois cracked. It's another old line no one suspected was there. Turns out it supplies (I heard %7 of U.S. needs) crude oil from Canada. The line is shut down until they find the break. The search starts Monday. Meantime gas prices went up $.30 over the W.E.. There's no projection on when it will be repaired.

On a smaller note a 6 mile stretch of bridge about close to me has been deemed unsafe and was shutdown until funds can be found to completely rebuild it. Small stuff in the scheme of things I know, but it was built only 20 yrs ago. That bridge connects 2 interstates. So local traffic is now snarled with semis that can no longer use it. And the heavy traffic is tearing up the roads.

My personal opinion is our country is falling apart. Wait until a major power grid fails.

Three weeks ago, the Long Island Railroad experienced a near total shutdown because of the failure of a critical piece of electrical equipment built and installed in 1913.

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/nyregion/24lirr.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=LIRR shutdown&st=cse

The $50 billion the President has proposed for infrastructure is only about a third of what would constitute a reasonable start. It has been 35 years since the Feds made any major effort to address these problems.

I realize, given he fact that the silly season is upon us, that this takes on political overtones, but it should not. The infrastructure needs repair and upgrades and people in the construction trades, where unemployment exceeds 17%, about twice the national average, need jobs.

America, once the envy of the world in terms of its highways, roads, rail system, airports, bridges, and electrical system, is fast becoming a second-rate power because of a lack of public investment.

I'll stop there out of respect for the rules of this Forum.


Bullseye

We can't seem find money to fix bridges, pipelines, and highways etc., but we can find money for welfare, benefits for illegal aliens, bailing out banks and GM etc. Something is really wrong with our local, state and federal governments.

Harrison said:

We can't seem find money to fix bridges, pipelines, and highways etc., but we can find money for welfare, benefits for illegal aliens, bailing out banks and GM etc. Something is really wrong with our local, state and federal governments.

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Infrastructure doesn't vote, deadbeat recipients do.

Harrison said:

We can't seem find money to fix bridges, pipelines, and highways etc., but we can find money for welfare, benefits for illegal aliens, bailing out banks and GM etc. Something is really wrong with our local, state and federal governments.

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Annual spending on welfare (TANF) — $4.5 billion — amounts to less than one percent of what was spent on the bank bailout (TARP) — $700 billion. Citibank alone received $25 billion, five times the cash transferred to mothers and children receiving public assistance in 2007. Top executives of banks bailed out in 2009 — about 600 guys — received an estimated $1.6 billion in bonuses in 2007. That's a little over a third of what 1.6 million families got in cash from TANF in that year.

Why do you support corporate welfare for the super-rich, and seek to deny bare subsistence — an average of $426 per family per month — to the poor? Ask yourself, WWJD?


Bullseye

Down here in the Ft.Lauderdale area their building a new east west portion of I-595.Lots of money being spent to go fast to the other side of the county.Then if you live near the end I guess you'll have to double back?Or you keep going west and cross Alligator Alley.I can't see it even though It's gonna be a toll road.The 'Alley already is.

What's wrong with you people??? We can't waste our tax money on roads, bridges, and utilities....it's needed for more important things like social tinkering....

I'm going to bet that I pay more in fuel taxes every year than anyone else here. What irks me is that in my home state, less than half of that money goes to actual transportation projects. The other half goes to schools, bicycle paths, etc. And they wonder why Oklahoma has some of the worst roads in the country....

Same with the lottery where the money was initially earmarked for education but mostly gets thrown into the "general fund". Why do they keep crying we need to spend more money on education?
Maybe we should just work, and let THEM decide how much money we're "allowed" every week.

Bullseye 2620 said:

Annual spending on welfare (TANF) — $4.5 billion — amounts to less than one percent of what was spent on the bank bailout (TARP) — $700 billion. Citibank alone received $25 billion, five times the cash transferred to mothers and children receiving public assistance in 2007...

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Why are you interjecting facts into this discussion?

If I want to believe that all our problems are caused by illegals and crack baby factories who are sucking up my hard-earned tax dollars who are you to burst my bubble?

$400 billion to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

$320 billion for FHA funding for at-risk new mortgagees.

$25 billion toward the new $75 billion "foreclosure prevention plan".

The role of the federal government is national defense and international & interstate commerce. The infrastructure of our nation falls into that category on both points.

The priorities of federal government power have been corrupted on every level. It really is time to get back to the basics.

The "stimulus" dollars in this area and in N.E. Illinois was spent on road resurface and bridge repair. Cook co., Illinois and surrounding counties referred to locally as "collar counties" are where the jobs are. Tens of thousands commute daily to Chicago and an area called the Northwest Corridor, a large area just N.W. of the city. All the arterial roads, and many, many smaller "town roads" were torn up since spring. A couple things come to mind: All the projects had new signs about 3X5 proclaiming stimulus money providing infrastructure improvement and jobs. Cost of the signs in Illinois was $800,000. All the jobs created were high paying construction related jobs. A lot of these non arterial roads were prematurely resurfaced, kinda like "busy work". I used to travel them every day. Non of the stimulus money went to recovery of the "everymans" jobs that have all but disappeared. What I'm saying is the whole thing looks like a giant dog n pony show designed to convince people the administration is actually doing something. Whatever gov. dept. that's responsible for inspecting the owners of underground pipelines, power grids, etc., should be working their butts off 7X24 to make sure the owners of said utility's are conducting proactive repairs. Such things are not visible to the public however so they're on the back burner.

There's an emmence BP/Amoco refinery about 8 miles north of me. 50 year old pipelines run under my city. Hardly a month goes by that one of these lines doesn't spring a leak. Currently there's a leak about 1.5 miles from me they've dug up and been working on for a month.

What are you people talking about? There is a great amount of infrastructure rebuilding and new development in various stages of completion all over the country.... Roads, bridges, power plants and electricity grids, water treatment plants, police stations, schools, hospitals, airports... on and on and on... many thousands of projects.

If you don't believe it, just click below for a recent Aug 30 2010 update. Ooooops. I missed the part about "U.S." in the OP Thread title. Sorry.... never mind.

FOXNews.com - Watchdog Agency: U.S. Wasted Billions in Rebuilding Iraq

ChattanoogaPhil said:

What are you people talking about? There is a great amount of infrastructure rebuilding and new development going on all over the country.... Roads, bridges, power plants and electricity grids, water treatment plants, police stations, schools, hospitals, airports... on and on and on... many thousands of projects.

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And every bit of it is w/ borrowed money-Iraq and here! Apparently, no one in charge of this stuff has ever had to live within his/her means or balanced a checkbook.

Bullseye 2620 said:

Why do you support corporate welfare for the super-rich, and seek to deny bare subsistence — an average of $426 per family per month — to the poor? Ask yourself, WWJD?Bullseye

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This is the other extreme end of hyperbole on this issue. As usual, the answer lies in between. IF (big 'if') the funds were going to mothers and children in need it would be a different story (and I question the accuracy of the figure quoted in total as what funds are received from other assistance sources that make up the full price).

The FACT is that many able-bodied scammers are working the system to receive benefits that could help those truly in need because it's easier than working. The WWJD scolding is a cop out since it supposes that all of these funds are going to the purpose intended.

But as has been pointed out, why let the facts get in the way?

As far as "corporate welfare", you need look no farther than the folks you keep sending to congress who promise to "fight for you" to return more tax money to their state than the guy in the adjoining state and is treated like some treasure of a native son for it. Ever since the powers that be educated enough of their constituents that they could vote themselves money from the public till, the results were inevitable.

As far as the infrastructure goes - same reason; We have allowed those we sent to represent us to operate the county's budget in a way not one of us with any sense would consider operating our own. Constant deficit spending and creation of huge transportation and utility systems that are not paid for when they are built and nothing being put back in trust for the time when these systems weaken and crumble and need to be replaced.

The fools who spend their paychecks to buy houses and cars and vacations they can't afford are some of the first to be shocked when the car or house needs to be replaced or repaired and they are so far in debt they don't have the money to make the repairs and want someone to bail them out of their poor management practices.

WWJD ? I believe He would say that those who won't work (and there is a difference as opposed to those who can't ) should not eat, and not to spend that you've been blessed with frivolously. He gave to those in need but stressed personal responsibility and hatred for corruption and abuse.

NFrameFred said:

WWJD ? I believe He would say that those who won't work (and there is a difference as opposed to those who can't ) should not eat, and not to spend that you've been blessed with frivolously. He gave to those in need but stressed personal responsibility and hatred for corruption and abuse.

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I can't seem to find that in my New Testament. Should I have been looking for it in the Book of Fred? Or, is it in the Book of Glenn?

My New Testament includes Matthew 25:40, and it is from there, as well as the references to the injunctions concerning the correct treatment of the poor in Book of Ruth, in the Old Testament, that I draw my guidance.


Bullseye

Bullseye 2620 said:

I'll stop there out of respect for the rules of this Forum.


Bullseye

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Except you really can't help yourself, can you?

Bullseye 2620 said:

I'll stop there out of respect for the rules of this Forum.


Bullseye

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1st

Bullseye 2620 said:

Ask yourself, WWJD?



Bullseye

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2nd

Bullseye 2620 said:

I can't seem to find that in my New Testament. Should I have been looking for it in the Book of Fred? Or, is it in the Book of Glenn?

My New Testament includes Matthew 25:40, and it is from there, as well as the references to the injunctions concerning the correct treatment of the poor in Book of Ruth, in the Old Testament, that I draw my guidance.


Bullseye

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3rd

"I'll stop there out of respect for the rules of this Forum."

Anytime...

lonejacklarry said:

And every bit of it is w/ borrowed money-Iraq and here! Apparently, no one in charge of this stuff has ever had to live within his/her means or balanced a checkbook.

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We've only borrowed about $1.5 trillion this year (about 10% of GDP) . Yet, we tell ourselves that our GDP grew 1.6% last period. Borrow 10%... grow 1%. Do you we all have to be economists to figure this out?

JcMack said:

The news today said that the horrible blast and fire was caused by a ruptured gas main that was laid in '56 before the subdivision was built over it. A terrible tragedy that might have been avoided if authorities had acted on reports of gas smell. Probably a lack of manpower to follow up.

Last week about 50 miles from me a crude oil pipeline in or about Bolingbrook, Illinois cracked. It's another old line no one suspected was there. Turns out it supplies (I heard %7 of U.S. needs) crude oil from Canada. The line is shut down until they find the break. The search starts Monday. Meantime gas prices went up $.30 over the W.E.. There's no projection on when it will be repaired.

On a smaller note a 6 mile stretch of bridge about close to me has been deemed unsafe and was shutdown until funds can be found to completely rebuild it. Small stuff in the scheme of things I know, but it was built only 20 yrs ago. That bridge connects 2 interstates. So local traffic is now snarled with semis that can no longer use it. And the heavy traffic is tearing up the roads.

My personal opinion is our country is falling apart. Wait until a major power grid fails.

Click to expand...

Atlas Shrugged is coming to fruition. Ayn Rand could see into the future.