In light of the tragedy what does Bush do?

[Bern80]

As cocky pointed out the bridge is owned and inspected by the state. The money for maintenance of the bridge came from the fed. The state decides how they want to use it. For whatever reason they chose to use a majority of those funds constructing this light rail system. You can go on and on all you want about this federal funding bill. The money was allocatted at the state level. And since you apparently haven't looked it up yet, the dems have been in control of this state bascially since the beginning of time.

 

[mattskramer]

As cocky pointed out the bridge is owned and inspected by the state. The money for maintenance of the bridge came from the fed. The state decides how they want to use it. For whatever reason they chose to use a majority of those funds constructing this light rail system. You can go on and on all you want about this federal funding bill. The money was allocatted at the state level. And since you apparently haven't looked it up yet, the dems have been in control of this state bascially since the beginning of time.

Okay. So it is the entire Democrats’ fault. Let’s fix the damn thing and move on.

 

[CockySOB]

http://www.apta.com/media/releases/tcc.cfm

read this , read who supported it and then realise the R congess over the next three years refused to extend this program as these people asked.

Let's try being a bit more current than 2003, shall we? How about we jump ahead to 2005 and SAFETEA-LU, a public law signed into effect by GWB. While we're at it, let's examine the Minnesota DOT public release which discusses this legislation.

U.S. President George Bush signed a $286.4 billion six-year transportation reauthorization bill Aug. 10, 2005 that covers federal fiscal years 2004-09.

Although the details of the reauthorization package are still being reviewed, Minnesota state and local governments can expect to receive about $3.5 billion in federal transportation funding through 2009, an increase of about 46 percent (or about $1.1 billion) over the previous six-year bill.

So despite the big, bad tax cuts, GWB and the Republican Congress increased Federal allocation of funds to improve our highway infrastructure.

While we're at it, let's find out when the bridge was last inspected by the appropriate authority, the MN/DOT. The records from the FHWA NBI show that it was inspected in May of 2006 (locations 287-290 being in the format YYMM).

And for further consideration, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune tells us that the MN/DOT had thought about reinforcing the bridge, but had opted NOT to make the repairs right away.

Frankly this is like Katrina in one aspect - the Feds sent the money to the states and the states fucked up using the money wisely. And yes, I know the Governor of Minnesota is a Republican.

 

[Gunny]

Actually, the Secretary of Transportation and the Dept. of Transportation prioritizes the replacing and repair of bridges that are a part of an Interstate Highway. It is entirely the responsibility of the federal government to care for these bridges but they choose to administer this through the state. Federal law requires the Secretary of Transportation to prioritize the replacement of these bridges. Bridges that are a part of the National Highway System but are not a part of an interstate highway can also receive federal funding upon the request of the state who controls that highway.

City's are responsible for city roads including collectors, principal arterials, and minor arterials within the city. There's a city transportation infrastructure where the city is entirely responsible for city roads. They can request state and federal funding for these roads as necessary and there is a process by which they do this and they may or may not be approved for funding. Inside a city there are state roads which are the responsibility of the state. The city isn't responsible for maintaining or replacing these roads. The federal government is in-kind responsible for roads which are part of the interstate highway system. The states can request money from the federal government to replace or maintain state roads and bridges that are a part of the National Highway System but dont' fall under the authority of the federal government.

In fact, local cities cannot request federal money to replace a bridge that is part of an interstate because they have no authority to replace it. But they can request money from the federal government for city bridges which are not a part of an Interstate. Minnesota also has the same Transportation Planning system with the state Department of Transportation (MNDOT), Metropolitian Planning Organizations (MPO's), and transit authorities. Their system of government is the same as that of any other state in the country and their transportation planning infrastructure is essentially the same as that of any other state. They don't have anymore discretion over how federal transportation funds are used than does any other state. It is because of this that I know you are either really ignorant or a liar because the same federal programs, and the same method of administering them exist across state lines.

Also, federal funds wouldn't be used for anything other than its intended purpose. Are you suggesting the State and City stole federal money? If so please provide the names of the criminals. Because that is what they would have done. It's not a state by state thing. Federal law requires cities with a population larger than 50,000 to have a MPO, and the MPO, and the State Department of Transportation work with the Department of Transportation in planning for transportation. The same rules and regulations govern interstate highways that are a part of the National Highway System and the same system of planning exists. These rules are the same across the country. And the federal Secretary of Transportation and Department of Transportation is responsible for classifying and prioritizing bridges that are a part of the interstate highway system for replacement or repair. You can attempt to deny this but the reality remains the same.

What you failed to mention is that the Federal Government gives the State a percentage of each project and that the federal government is the one who prioritizes bridge projects that are a part of the interstate highway system. I would suggest that you try again.

The highways under construction here within the San Antonio city limits, I-10 and Loop 410 specifically, are part of the interstate system and the State of Texas is paying for the construction.

In your first paragraph you state the fed chooses to make repairs through the state. In light of that, there obviously is nothing for me to "try again." Regardless what it says on paper, you cannot ignore real application.

 

[Truthmatters]

Let's try being a bit more current than 2003, shall we? How about we jump ahead to 2005 and SAFETEA-LU, a public law signed into effect by GWB. While we're at it, let's examine the Minnesota DOT public release which discusses this legislation.


So despite the big, bad tax cuts, GWB and the Republican Congress increased Federal allocation of funds to improve our highway infrastructure.

While we're at it, let's find out when the bridge was last inspected by the appropriate authority, the MN/DOT. The records from the FHWA NBI show that it was inspected in May of 2006 (locations 287-290 being in the format YYMM).

And for further consideration, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune tells us that the MN/DOT had thought about reinforcing the bridge, but had opted NOT to make the repairs right away.

Frankly this is like Katrina in one aspect - the Feds sent the money to the states and the states fucked up using the money wisely. And yes, I know the Governor of Minnesota is a Republican.

Baffoonary....On my part!

You are right,I in my shifting priorities this week did not read your entire responses.

They did reup it after letting it lapse for only two years instead of to date.

I stand corrected and accept the ridicule I deserve for my inattention to peoples full posts.

I often get up from the computer and deal with my real life and it will look like I am on when Im not, I blew it by not paying full attention.

I will say this though they did put on hold repairs for the years they did not fund it.

So if it was not funded for two years even the eventual reupping of it with a small increase in funds is still a cut from sustaining the program.

To bad it was too late to fix the Katrina levies when they finnally reupped it.

 

[CockySOB]

To bad it was too late to fix the Katrina levies when they finnally reupped it.

I think you missed my reason for mentioning Katrina. Both states received funds from the Federal government which was designated for somewhat specific uses into other, lesser purposes.

 

[manu1959]

I think you missed my reason for mentioning Katrina. Both states received funds from the Federal government which was designated for somewhat specific uses into other, lesser purposes.

i always wonder why all these problems were not fixed during the democratic golden years?.....they claimed to have ballanced the budget and had surplus....why not help the people...

 

[Truthmatters]

That was only two years.

Give us six full years and see what happens.

That is what the Rs had.

Six full years where they had no Dems with any power to speak of.

 

[Bern80]

That was only two years.

Give us six full years and see what happens.

That is what the Rs had.

Six full years where they had no Dems with any power to speak of.

But that isn't the point truth. What the parties in U.S. Congress did or didn't have time to do is beside the point. the fed can only do so much. I.E. it can only give money to the state because, appropriately, the state government should know better than the fed what the state needs. So the money is allocatted to the state by the fed for the state to decide how best to use.

The reupping of this bill has little do with the priorities the MN legislature had as far as it's highways were concerned. The money given the fed can further by denoted into spending pools such as roads, general fund, etc. One of those categories is mass transit. The light rail system is mass transit and has been in the works for longer than six years.

 

[Truthmatters]

They can allocate funds which they Tie to certain projects.

This is why roads ,bridges ,levis, dams and the like cannot just be left up to the states to deside when an how they can afford to fix things.

We have to realise their are certain things the whole country has a stake in even if its in one state it can greatly effect they nearby states.

This is where federal government really should be doig what needs to be done.

Delaying the money for these projects for two years eliminated Billions of dollars from the attempt to fix these problems.

Yes now it has been restored by for two years nothing was spent on this project.

What was the yearly budget for this project?

Now double that and it will be the amount of money we would need to add to the project just to catch up to what it would have been.

Why did they put this on hold?

To help their numbers in the overall budget.

in short ,tax cuts.

 

[Bern80]

They can allocate funds which they Tie to certain projects.

This is why roads ,bridges ,levis, dams and the like cannot just be left up to the states to deside when an how they can afford to fix things.

We have to realise their are certain things the whole country has a stake in even if its in one state it can greatly effect they nearby states.

This is where federal government really should be doig what needs to be done.

Delaying the money for these projects for two years eliminated Billions of dollars from the attempt to fix these problems.

Yes now it has been restored by for two years nothing was spent on this project.

What was the yearly budget for this project?

Now double that and it will be the amount of money we would need to add to the project just to catch up to what it would have been.

Why did they put this on hold?

To help their numbers in the overall budget.

in short ,tax cuts.

Dude did you even bother to read my post? The planning for light rail was well into the planning stages long before this two year lag the fed bill. Reupping it or not reupping it wasn't going to change where the big chunk of money was going to be spent. As I said, one of the things a state can use the money for is mass transit.

I would like to clairfy however that while I think the light rail was a colossal waste of money, I wouldn't blame what happenned on the state dems and more than I would blame the fed republicans. Whether you and Edward choose to adimit it, the time you're spending (and invariably that will be spent by the politicians) trying to blame this on someone is completely unproductive in moveing forward.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Provide evidence of no funds spent at all. You have made the claim that for 2 years no money was spent at all and I call bullshit.

Truthmatters

I will say this though they did put on hold repairs for the years they did not fund it.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

Nothing like using emotion from a tragedy to pass more big government programs!

Government = bad

therefore we should allow our bridges and damns to fall to pieces.




That is your argument. And it is very weak.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

First off while deficient the brdige was not deemed unsafe for use.

I propose that the assessment that the bridge was safe to use was incorrect.


Anyone else agree?

 

[SpidermanTuba]

Forgive my ignorance but I think that the road is I-35. I also think that the Letter “I” stands for “Interstate” meaning that it goes through multiple states. If that is the case, doesn’t the road fall within the jurisdiction of the federal government, as does interstate commerce? Anyway, it seems like a minor insignificant technicality. The point is that the federal, state, or local government is going to need to spend money on tools, supplies, and manpower to fix the bridge.

You'll notice you see state police on Interstate Highways, not federal police.

But considering the Interstate system was built for the purposes of defense - I think ultimately the price of ensuring its safety should fall to the feds.

 

[Truthmatters]

Provide evidence of no funds spent at all. You have made the claim that for 2 years no money was spent at all and I call bullshit.

Truthmatters

The years that this money was NOT put into the system did hold repairs back.

You see when the system has this money and then the program is put on hold instead of funded the money stops flowing into the projects using it.

This amounts to a cut of funds putting some repairs behind.

Why do you think it was not just funded?

What was the congresses reasoning?

I bet is was an attempt to keep spending down wouldnt you agree?

Maybe somebody wanted a bridge to no where?

 

[CockySOB]

Which money, TM? Be specific. Yes, Congress has spent money willy-nilly on pork projects, and I find that deplorable. But to the best of my knowledge money has always been made available to the states to improve and maintain the national transportation infrastructure.

 

[Truthmatters]

The bipartisan leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee has proposed a $375 billion highway and transit investment plan for fiscal years 2004-09 as part of the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The $375 billion is the funding level derived from the U.S. Department of Transportation 2002 "Conditions & Performance Report" as necessary to maintain and begin to improve the nation’s surface transportation network.


http://www.apta.com/media/releases/tcc.cfm

This was not reupped that year.

That means that money never made it into the system right?

That means like 150 billion was not in the system for repairs when it had been in previous years.

The money was not restored into the system until 2005 right?

 

[Truthmatters]

http://tinyurl.com/yvf33h


this article makes mention of the 6000 earmarks in the bill which forced the money to be spent mostly on new construction like the "bridge to nowhere".

 

[Alpha1]

Lets go Desh...the 6 miners have have been trapped for days now and you still didn't get around to blaming Bush or Cheney....you should be searching the far left blogs for talking points....lets get crackin'...