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Any stimulus funds that went for shovel-ready infrastructure were a drop in the bucket. Just watch the fucking documentary, genius. This isn't a political issue.
The repairs may be desparately needed, but, seriously, the thieves in DC just spent a Trillion dollars to fix things and all they did was bribe their cronies and reward their sycophants.
How much more graft and corruption needs to go unchecked in this?
It would be nice if we had honest citizen Senators and Congressmen, but sadly, they are all venemous and corrupt jackels who live to steal and will will sell their daughters, wives and mothers into prostitution for a compaign contribution.
As long as we need to pass the repair money through the hands of those that just can't seem to function without a payoff, we're screwed.
The stimulus money did not go for pay offs (mostly) but it did get used in many state and local budgets to replace falling revenues. Few actual infrastructure projects have been funded.
My ex worked for Westinghouse back in the '80s, repairing signals on railroad lines. I assume you guys know this is the preferred method of moving toxic waste, like nuclear rods? Those lines are in terrible condition.
A disaster or two is inevitable if we do not wake the fuck up.
This type of assumption is inaccurate. Bridges all across the US are monintored for wear-and-tear by county highway departments under the supervision of the highway engineers. and funds are available to make repairs or perform maintenance in a timely manner. The number of bridges in a single county is much greater than the average person would believe. Bridge failures rarely are a result of maintenance failures or lack of repairs. They are usually engineering failures."The Crumbling of America" can be seen on The History Channel from 5PM to 7PM (edt) today.
This is a HUGE wakeup call.
America's infrastructure is collapsing. Tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the nation's highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and contaminating rivers and streams. Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark. The Crumbling of America explores these problems using expert interviews, on location shooting and computer generated animation to illustrate the kinds of infrastructure disasters that could be just around the bend.
A third of the nations highways being in mediocre (average") condition is not a failure of maintenance, it is a statistical likelihood.
There is very very little leakage of potable water lines, just not out there.
Sewerage problems are presently under a system of funding that allows them to be inspected constantly and repairs to be made as problems are discovered, and local authorities apply for and get partial funding for all work. There is presently in effect a system in which cities/towns are banned from adding any new residential development until they attain those standards, which in effect limits their growth and their taxing base with they desperately need. It is a self adjusting system, of sticks and carrots. Our streams are the cleanest they've been since the expansion west.
"Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools" Not likely. Sure corruption occurs like in New Orleans where money for maintenance and improvements of levees are sidetracked by corrupt politicians who pocket the money, or use it to buy their elections, but very very few schools are built in vulnerable valley drainage systems. Why not focus on those? Punish the owners of the dams with ongoing fines, or require they be drained down to safer levels.
The power grid? why not encourage its development and improvement rather than discouraging it? No electrical utility company wants their capacity to become strained. The worse case is California, and they inhibit the growth of electrical utilities, forcing the import of their electrical power from state further east. It's a political/ governing problem first of all.
What should Ohio do with $8 billion in stimulus money? Search the list of proposed projects | cleveland.com
Some Ohio roads, and those in other states, reverting to gravel because repairs are too costly | cleveland.com
Bridge collapse: Could it happen here? | cleveland.com
AllieBabba said:Actually, we don't know where the hell the stimulus money has gone. It has disappeared. Surprise, surprise.
They had the chance to put it right. It is not the taxpayers fault that they pissed our money away. You can't keep expecting the taxpayer to be a bottomless cash well for corrupt politicians. Next time, perhaps you should vote better and stop putting these bastards in office.
Find me politicians (potential new lawmakers) who won't become corrupt due to corporate lobbyists running the show, and they will all have my vote. That they just SAY so becomes mere drivel in less than a year in office because they soon get swept up in the money game.
Again, this conversation is getting steered toward US vs. THEM, when this is a major, MAJOR problem that, yes, can only be solved by taxes, but one that every single American (even those living abroad, if they care at all) should start paying serious attention to as a Number One Priority. A "stimulus" package meant only to jump start a flailing economy doesn't even amount to a decent bandaid on the larger, permanent, long-term problems.
Congress and national groups examine the infrastructure needs of the United States. - Free Online Library
American Society of Civil Engineers ) estimates that the backlog of deficient bridges alone will cost $9.4 billion a year for 20 years. The cost of repairing and maintaining roads, water facilities and the electrical grid bring the ASCE estimate of needed investment of $1.6 trillion over 5 years to restore the nation's infrastructure.
If every single American should care then EVERY single AMerican needs to pay Federal Income Taxes. As it is only 50% of us do that and the other 50% don't. So, don't expect us to swallow your bullshit hook line and sinker. find a way to tax those who don't pay. that'll give ya some more money to piss away.
AmericanHorse could be 100% correct, MaggieMae. Mebbe the History Channel produced a heavily biased piece, I dunno. The only industry I have much familiarity with is the railroads and they are unique. They own their lines, but there's so much government investment they almost seem like a public utility.
You're wasting your breath. Wingnuts aren't going to let facts or science get in the way of their extreme ideology.we've already heard this story, nearly two years ago when they passed the "unread" "emergency" stimulus funds to take care of the infrastructure and put people to work doing "shovel ready" jobs. we ain't falling for that shit a second time. get over it.
Any stimulus funds that went for shovel-ready infrastructure were a drop in the bucket. Just watch the fucking documentary, genius. This isn't a political issue.
The repairs may be desparately needed, but, seriously, the thieves in DC just spent a Trillion dollars to fix things and all they did was bribe their cronies and reward their sycophants.
How much more graft and corruption needs to go unchecked in this?
It would be nice if we had honest citizen Senators and Congressmen, but sadly, they are all venemous and corrupt jackels who live to steal and will will sell their daughters, wives and mothers into prostitution for a compaign contribution.
As long as we need to pass the repair money through the hands of those that just can't seem to function without a payoff, we're screwed.
The stimulus money did not go for pay offs (mostly) but it did get used in many state and local budgets to replace falling revenues. Few actual infrastructure projects have been funded.
My ex worked for Westinghouse back in the '80s, repairing signals on railroad lines. I assume you guys know this is the preferred method of moving toxic waste, like nuclear rods? Those lines are in terrible condition.
A disaster or two is inevitable if we do not wake the fuck up.
We just more a few truckloads of railroad switches from Kansas City to Chicago that were paid for by stimulus.
They were top of the line diamond plated chrome...the guys who unloaded the said a normal switch cost a thousand dollars each...these were $8500 each...bought with stimulus money.
These were union railroad builders in Chicago, and even they were appalled.
You're wasting your breath. Wingnuts aren't going to let facts or science get in the way of their extreme ideology.we've already heard this story, nearly two years ago when they passed the "unread" "emergency" stimulus funds to take care of the infrastructure and put people to work doing "shovel ready" jobs. we ain't falling for that shit a second time. get over it.
Any stimulus funds that went for shovel-ready infrastructure were a drop in the bucket. Just watch the fucking documentary, genius. This isn't a political issue.
AmericanHorse could be 100% correct, MaggieMae. Mebbe the History Channel produced a heavily biased piece, I dunno. The only industry I have much familiarity with is the railroads and they are unique. They own their lines, but there's so much government investment they almost seem like a public utility.
If The History Channel is now seen as biased, I'd like to know why. What's in it for them?
Find me politicians (potential new lawmakers) who won't become corrupt due to corporate lobbyists running the show, and they will all have my vote. That they just SAY so becomes mere drivel in less than a year in office because they soon get swept up in the money game.
Again, this conversation is getting steered toward US vs. THEM, when this is a major, MAJOR problem that, yes, can only be solved by taxes, but one that every single American (even those living abroad, if they care at all) should start paying serious attention to as a Number One Priority. A "stimulus" package meant only to jump start a flailing economy doesn't even amount to a decent bandaid on the larger, permanent, long-term problems.
Congress and national groups examine the infrastructure needs of the United States. - Free Online Library
If every single American should care then EVERY single AMerican needs to pay Federal Income Taxes. As it is only 50% of us do that and the other 50% don't. So, don't expect us to swallow your bullshit hook line and sinker. find a way to tax those who don't pay. that'll give ya some more money to piss away.
And how much in "taxes" would someone earning $20,000 a year generate for the treasury? That argument has gotten so old (and so unsubstantiated), it's grown whiskers. How about petitioning your own legislators to fix the tax code so that Exxon-Mobil doesn't get to pay ZERO in taxes on $16 billion? I do believe their fair share alone would pick up the slack for low-income people who pay none.
Reading this thread it seems as though among other things being said Madeline is saying that anyone who gets elected into office will be a crook so she may as well keep voting in HER crook.
The stimulus money did not go for pay offs (mostly) but it did get used in many state and local budgets to replace falling revenues. Few actual infrastructure projects have been funded.
My ex worked for Westinghouse back in the '80s, repairing signals on railroad lines. I assume you guys know this is the preferred method of moving toxic waste, like nuclear rods? Those lines are in terrible condition.
A disaster or two is inevitable if we do not wake the fuck up.
They had the chance to put it right. It is not the taxpayers fault that they pissed our money away. You can't keep expecting the taxpayer to be a bottomless cash well for corrupt politicians. Next time, perhaps you should vote better and stop putting these bastards in office.
Find me politicians (potential new lawmakers) who won't become corrupt due to corporate lobbyists running the show, and they will all have my vote. That they just SAY so becomes mere drivel in less than a year in office because they soon get swept up in the money game.
Again, this conversation is getting steered toward US vs. THEM, when this is a major, MAJOR problem that, yes, can only be solved by taxes, but one that every single American (even those living abroad, if they care at all) should start paying serious attention to as a Number One Priority. A "stimulus" package meant only to jump start a flailing economy doesn't even amount to a decent bandaid on the larger, permanent, long-term problems.
Congress and national groups examine the infrastructure needs of the United States. - Free Online Library
American Society of Civil Engineers ) estimates that the backlog of deficient bridges alone will cost $9.4 billion a year for 20 years. The cost of repairing and maintaining roads, water facilities and the electrical grid bring the ASCE estimate of needed investment of $1.6 trillion over 5 years to restore the nation's infrastructure.
Reading this thread it seems as though among other things being said Madeline is saying that anyone who gets elected into office will be a crook so she may as well keep voting in HER crook.
Isn't that what everyone does? The fact that Republicans will soon take over the House means squat, even with a few tea partiers in the mix. Nope, as far as the topic of our collapsing infrastructure, I'll be dead and gone before anyone gets serious about making it a real issue. It will take a sink hole swallowing up an entire city before that happens, or something equally catastrophic.
They had the chance to put it right. It is not the taxpayers fault that they pissed our money away. You can't keep expecting the taxpayer to be a bottomless cash well for corrupt politicians. Next time, perhaps you should vote better and stop putting these bastards in office.
Find me politicians (potential new lawmakers) who won't become corrupt due to corporate lobbyists running the show, and they will all have my vote. That they just SAY so becomes mere drivel in less than a year in office because they soon get swept up in the money game.
Again, this conversation is getting steered toward US vs. THEM, when this is a major, MAJOR problem that, yes, can only be solved by taxes, but one that every single American (even those living abroad, if they care at all) should start paying serious attention to as a Number One Priority. A "stimulus" package meant only to jump start a flailing economy doesn't even amount to a decent bandaid on the larger, permanent, long-term problems.
Congress and national groups examine the infrastructure needs of the United States. - Free Online Library
American Society of Civil Engineers ) estimates that the backlog of deficient bridges alone will cost $9.4 billion a year for 20 years. The cost of repairing and maintaining roads, water facilities and the electrical grid bring the ASCE estimate of needed investment of $1.6 trillion over 5 years to restore the nation's infrastructure.
Vote out incumbents. Preferably those who run as Independents.
And, let's have term limits on these bastards. Limit the amount of time they have to become corrupt.
This type of assumption is inaccurate. Bridges all across the US are monintored for wear-and-tear by county highway departments under the supervision of the highway engineers. and funds are available to make repairs or perform maintenance in a timely manner. The number of bridges in a single county is much greater than the average person would believe. Bridge failures rarely are a result of maintenance failures or lack of repairs. They are usually engineering failures."The Crumbling of America" can be seen on The History Channel from 5PM to 7PM (edt) today.
This is a HUGE wakeup call.
America's infrastructure is collapsing. Tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the nation's highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and contaminating rivers and streams. Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark. The Crumbling of America explores these problems using expert interviews, on location shooting and computer generated animation to illustrate the kinds of infrastructure disasters that could be just around the bend.
A third of the nations highways being in mediocre (average") condition is not a failure of maintenance, it is a statistical likelihood.
There is very very little leakage of potable water lines, just not out there.
Sewerage problems are presently under a system of funding that allows them to be inspected constantly and repairs to be made as problems are discovered, and local authorities apply for and get partial funding for all work. There is presently in effect a system in which cities/towns are banned from adding any new residential development until they attain those standards, which in effect limits their growth and their taxing base with they desperately need. It is a self adjusting system, of sticks and carrots. Our streams are the cleanest they've been since the expansion west.
"Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools" Not likely. Sure corruption occurs like in New Orleans where money for maintenance and improvements of levees are sidetracked by corrupt politicians who pocket the money, or use it to buy their elections, but very very few schools are built in vulnerable valley drainage systems. Why not focus on those? Punish the owners of the dams with ongoing fines, or require they be drained down to safer levels.
The power grid? why not encourage its development and improvement rather than discouraging it? No electrical utility company wants their capacity to become strained. The worse case is California, and they inhibit the growth of electrical utilities, forcing the import of their electrical power from state further east. It's a political/ governing problem first of all.
When I guess all that film and interview material with private sector engineers is all manufactured just for an entertaining piece by The History Channel. Right?
Your solution seems to be just kill all politicians. How's that worked out for ya so far? If the tea party can demand that Washington listen to their selected complaints, and be successful, then why can't they simply add our crumbling infrastructure to their list?
Reading this thread it seems as though among other things being said Madeline is saying that anyone who gets elected into office will be a crook so she may as well keep voting in HER crook.
Isn't that what everyone does? The fact that Republicans will soon take over the House means squat, even with a few tea partiers in the mix. Nope, as far as the topic of our collapsing infrastructure, I'll be dead and gone before anyone gets serious about making it a real issue. It will take a sink hole swallowing up an entire city before that happens, or something equally catastrophic.
