Where are the unsafe bridges?

[Lovebears65]

I was looking at different cities where I used to live , Since I moved around a lot being a military family .. I find it funny the worst bridges are where the UNIONS are, like in Pittsburgh. But if you go to Corpus Christi Tx it only had one bridge that was bad.. Even in Jacksonville which has alot of bridges they had a whole lot less then in Pittsburgh.

Yea, because you went out and examined the bridges yourself. Unions only make up 10% of all the workers in America. They have become so few, Republicans are having a difficult time finding enough to point fingers at. Bridges - a case in point.

I went to that website you moron..

 

[Flopper]

I would think that a consumption tax taxes those that consume most. A flat tax on income does what you describe. I personally believe that a progressive tax like the one we have now IS the right way to go, I'm just not 100% opposed to a consumption tax.

For our progressive tax system, I think it needs more progression at the top. Someone making 250K should not be taxed at the same level as someone who makes a million.

We have a consumption tax. We call it a sales tax. It favors the wealthy. To balance it off we have a progressive tax called an income tax which favors the lower middle class and the poor. There is nothing really wrong with the basic tax system. We just need to eliminate a lot of credits and deductions so we have a fairer tax. Some deductions and credits such as charitable deductions benefit all society but others such as a credit for investing abroad just helps send jobs overseas.

Please explain the Logic that says sales taxes favor the Wealthy? The Wealthy Buy more things, eat out more, etc. All things you pay sales taxes on, while the poor tend to buy Groceries and eat at home, Which you DO NOT pay sales taxes on. Rich People pay far more in Sales taxes than the Poor.

Sales taxes favor the rich because they do not create the burden they do for lower income earners. Low income earners do not bank their earnings. What they earn is what they spend and mostly for things they really need. The wealthy on the other hand bank or invest a large portion of their earners. An increase in sales tax on the wealthy just means they bank less. An increase in sales taxes on the low income earner means they have to make real sacrifices.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

How many of those years was there a Republican Governor? Democrats want to do things. Republicans want to stop them. It's the same old story.

Why wasn't it "Shovel ready" 2 years ago?

Shovel ready means the work is ready to begin now. Republicans don't understand how things are built. For instance, when it comes to a dam or bridge, you can't just throw a few boards across a ravine. You need to study the surrounding ground to make sure rain won't soften it or an earthquake won't knock it down. A foundation needs to be built and that's only the beginning. The "need" makes it shovel ready. After planning, study and design, then the first shovel hits the ground. But the work, meaning jobs, has already been going on.

Republicans in congress sure scooped up the stimulus money fast enough for projects in their districts. They created hundreds of thousands of jobs, which they took credit for, all the while insisting the stimulus didn't create a single job. You know it's because Obama is black. They just can't give him credit for anything. He must have taken Affirmative Action. He must have been "GIVEN" good grades. He just has to fail, no matter the cost to the country. He just has to.

Dams? You mean like Hoover Dam?

 

[thereisnospoon]

We have a consumption tax. We call it a sales tax. It favors the wealthy. To balance it off we have a progressive tax called an income tax which favors the lower middle class and the poor. There is nothing really wrong with the basic tax system. We just need to eliminate a lot of credits and deductions so we have a fairer tax. Some deductions and credits such as charitable deductions benefit all society but others such as a credit for investing abroad just helps send jobs overseas.

Please explain the Logic that says sales taxes favor the Wealthy? The Wealthy Buy more things, eat out more, etc. All things you pay sales taxes on, while the poor tend to buy Groceries and eat at home, Which you DO NOT pay sales taxes on. Rich People pay far more in Sales taxes than the Poor.

Sales taxes favor the rich because they do not create the burden they do for lower income earners. Low income earners do not bank their earnings. What they earn is what they spend and mostly for things they really need. The wealthy on the other hand bank or invest a large portion of their earners. An increase in sales tax on the wealthy just means they bank less. An increase in sales taxes on the low income earner means they have to make real sacrifices.

Oh please. It's very simple math.. The more one spends, the more in sales taxes they pay.
The converse is true for lower income people. They spend less, have less disposable income therefore they pay a much smaller portion of the total sales tax revenue base.
In many states there is either no sales tax on necessities or it is lower than the regular sales tax.
For example, in NC the state sales tax rate is 7% plus any county levy.
For food clothing and other basic necessities it is 3%.
In New Jersey there is NO SALES TAX on clothing, shoes, paper goods and other staples.
Why do you object to those who have the means and discipline to save money?
Is it because you feel it is not "fair" for some to save while others do not.
Let me tell you something.....EVERYONE can save.
It is not the problem of every tax payer when those of limited means cannot figure out that they have just as much responsibility as others.
When I see a low wage worker buying cigarettes or alcohol for example, I cringe. Because these people are the first to bitch and moan about how expensive things are. Well guess what? If that person would drop their vices ,they could save a whole bunch of money. Maybe pay their fucking bills on time.
If a person in NY can afford 90 dollars a week for a carton of smokes, they can afford to stop smoking and put that $90 in the bank. I don't want to hear the excuses.
I stated above that everyone can save.....
Growing up we didn't have a lot of money. My parents put something in the bank every week. It didn't matter if it ten bucks. They did it. Yeah, it was a sacrifice. SO what? You live within your means....Period.
My wife used to work with this woman who complained the daycare was going to kick out her kids. She said the daycare was not being flexible on allowing her to pay late. Get this. She drove a Lexus. Her husband drove an SUV....My wife asked why she needed two new vehicles. Why not sell one and she'd have money for the day care. Her response? "Well you have to drive a nice car".....HUH?!!!!
I see and hear stories like this an I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SYMPATHETIC?!!!!
Fuck that....We live beneath our means. We could go ahead and swipe plastic and buy a lot of toys and other stupid shit, but we don't. Why? Because there's always a rainy day. Yeah. Save for when shit doesn't go just right.
It's not about being right. It's about DOING right.

 

[thereisnospoon]

posted by rdean
Shovel ready means the work is ready to begin now. Republicans don't understand how things are built. For instance, when it comes to a dam or bridge, you can't just throw a few boards across a ravine. You need to study the surrounding ground to make sure rain won't soften it or an earthquake won't knock it down. A foundation needs to be built and that's only the beginning. The "need" makes it shovel ready. After planning, study and design, then the first shovel hits the ground. But the work, meaning jobs, has already been going on.

Republicans in congress sure scooped up the stimulus money fast enough for projects in their districts. They created hundreds of thousands of jobs, which they took credit for, all the while insisting the stimulus didn't create a single job. You know it's because Obama is black. They just can't give him credit for anything. He must have taken Affirmative Action. He must have been "GIVEN" good grades. He just has to fail, no matter the cost to the country. He just has to.


First, do not try that race crap here. It doesn't wash and you know it.
We want Obama to fail because his policies are not in the best interest of the country. Obama is anti-private sector. He is an elitist liberal. His view of the country is that of contempt. When he talks about the people of the United States he refers to us as "America"...Almost as though he is not part of the people. Like he is above us..He has also said "America just does not understand my policies." Or words to that effect...How fucking arrogant is that? Like we're his minions and he has to educate us.
This is true for community organizers.
You have no clue the whereabouts of stimulus money. In fact many Governors wanted to refuse it. That was not permitted. SO what if states used the money to reduce debt? That probably did less damage than spending it on some pork barrel nonsense.
And please....Don't start the excuses about shovel ready projects. Obama stated many times over these projects were ready to go. To anyone with average intelligence and no agenda bias, that meant ready to go. All the studies and other details were already complete. The money ,Obama said, was to get the work going. Hence the term "shovel ready"..
BY the way....nowhere in the US were "hundreds of thousands of jobs" created by any stimulus. If that were true the unemployment rate would have dipped significantly. It rose. Please stop the nonsense.

 

[Care4all]

but what to tax for a consumption tax....? do you tax the rich who buy a tax accountant or tax lawyer, or who buy a live in maid or gardener? or yachts? or multiple homes? or for the stock they buy with their money? Or big purchases made over seas? is there a consumption tax on what the wealthiest spend their money on?

i just do not see how a consumption tax would be fair, unless things like the above is considered in the consumption tax....

otherwise, a consumption tax burden is regressive.

One thing that has amazed me since my foray into the world of discussion forums is the number of middle to lower middle class people who worry so about the 'rich.' I don't get it. The rich don't need us or our worries about them.

Hasn't anyone read The Great Gatsby? LOL

the issue and reason for changing our tax structure in the first place, according to many users on this board, is because the tax structure is unfair for the wealthy, unfair for the rich, when they pay the majority of the income taxes while along with the other argument that 45% of workers pay no income tax.

so, as far as i am concerned, it is an argument of others that are ''looking out'' for fairness of equality in taxes, for the rich.

I am only responding, by making certain that ''this change'' to make things '';more fair for the wealthy'' or ''fair for all'' in our 'new' tax structure proposed, that all I's are dotted and T's are crossed with this consumption tax so that it is not just another structured UNFAIR tax system.

 

[Flopper]

Please explain the Logic that says sales taxes favor the Wealthy? The Wealthy Buy more things, eat out more, etc. All things you pay sales taxes on, while the poor tend to buy Groceries and eat at home, Which you DO NOT pay sales taxes on. Rich People pay far more in Sales taxes than the Poor.

Sales taxes favor the rich because they do not create the burden they do for lower income earners. Low income earners do not bank their earnings. What they earn is what they spend and mostly for things they really need. The wealthy on the other hand bank or invest a large portion of their earners. An increase in sales tax on the wealthy just means they bank less. An increase in sales taxes on the low income earner means they have to make real sacrifices.

Oh please. It's very simple math.. The more one spends, the more in sales taxes they pay.
The converse is true for lower income people. They spend less, have less disposable income therefore they pay a much smaller portion of the total sales tax revenue base.
In many states there is either no sales tax on necessities or it is lower than the regular sales tax.
For example, in NC the state sales tax rate is 7% plus any county levy.
For food clothing and other basic necessities it is 3%.
In New Jersey there is NO SALES TAX on clothing, shoes, paper goods and other staples.
Why do you object to those who have the means and discipline to save money?
Is it because you feel it is not "fair" for some to save while others do not.
Let me tell you something.....EVERYONE can save.
It is not the problem of every tax payer when those of limited means cannot figure out that they have just as much responsibility as others.
When I see a low wage worker buying cigarettes or alcohol for example, I cringe. Because these people are the first to bitch and moan about how expensive things are. Well guess what? If that person would drop their vices ,they could save a whole bunch of money. Maybe pay their fucking bills on time.
If a person in NY can afford 90 dollars a week for a carton of smokes, they can afford to stop smoking and put that $90 in the bank. I don't want to hear the excuses.
I stated above that everyone can save.....
Growing up we didn't have a lot of money. My parents put something in the bank every week. It didn't matter if it ten bucks. They did it. Yeah, it was a sacrifice. SO what? You live within your means....Period.
My wife used to work with this woman who complained the daycare was going to kick out her kids. She said the daycare was not being flexible on allowing her to pay late. Get this. She drove a Lexus. Her husband drove an SUV....My wife asked why she needed two new vehicles. Why not sell one and she'd have money for the day care. Her response? "Well you have to drive a nice car".....HUH?!!!!
I see and hear stories like this an I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SYMPATHETIC?!!!!
Fuck that....We live beneath our means. We could go ahead and swipe plastic and buy a lot of toys and other stupid shit, but we don't. Why? Because there's always a rainy day. Yeah. Save for when shit doesn't go just right.
It's not about being right. It's about DOING right.

In terms of individual income, a sales tax imposes a greater burden (relative to resources) on the poor than on the rich. A higher sales tax is far less a burden on the rich than the poor because the poor spend everything they earn and the rich spend far less than they earn. If I had a million in taxable income, I would certainly choose an additional sales taxes over additional income taxes.

It's amazing that so many people in middle and low income brackets are so interested in low taxes for the wealthy while so many of wealthiest people don't object to paying higher taxes and among the wealthiest many think tax rates are too low on rich.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Sales taxes favor the rich because they do not create the burden they do for lower income earners. Low income earners do not bank their earnings. What they earn is what they spend and mostly for things they really need. The wealthy on the other hand bank or invest a large portion of their earners. An increase in sales tax on the wealthy just means they bank less. An increase in sales taxes on the low income earner means they have to make real sacrifices.

Oh please. It's very simple math.. The more one spends, the more in sales taxes they pay.
The converse is true for lower income people. They spend less, have less disposable income therefore they pay a much smaller portion of the total sales tax revenue base.
In many states there is either no sales tax on necessities or it is lower than the regular sales tax.
For example, in NC the state sales tax rate is 7% plus any county levy.
For food clothing and other basic necessities it is 3%.
In New Jersey there is NO SALES TAX on clothing, shoes, paper goods and other staples.
Why do you object to those who have the means and discipline to save money?
Is it because you feel it is not "fair" for some to save while others do not.
Let me tell you something.....EVERYONE can save.
It is not the problem of every tax payer when those of limited means cannot figure out that they have just as much responsibility as others.
When I see a low wage worker buying cigarettes or alcohol for example, I cringe. Because these people are the first to bitch and moan about how expensive things are. Well guess what? If that person would drop their vices ,they could save a whole bunch of money. Maybe pay their fucking bills on time.
If a person in NY can afford 90 dollars a week for a carton of smokes, they can afford to stop smoking and put that $90 in the bank. I don't want to hear the excuses.
I stated above that everyone can save.....
Growing up we didn't have a lot of money. My parents put something in the bank every week. It didn't matter if it ten bucks. They did it. Yeah, it was a sacrifice. SO what? You live within your means....Period.
My wife used to work with this woman who complained the daycare was going to kick out her kids. She said the daycare was not being flexible on allowing her to pay late. Get this. She drove a Lexus. Her husband drove an SUV....My wife asked why she needed two new vehicles. Why not sell one and she'd have money for the day care. Her response? "Well you have to drive a nice car".....HUH?!!!!
I see and hear stories like this an I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SYMPATHETIC?!!!!
Fuck that....We live beneath our means. We could go ahead and swipe plastic and buy a lot of toys and other stupid shit, but we don't. Why? Because there's always a rainy day. Yeah. Save for when shit doesn't go just right.
It's not about being right. It's about DOING right.

In terms of individual income, a sales tax imposes a greater burden (relative to resources) on the poor than on the rich. A higher sales tax is far less a burden on the rich than the poor because the poor spend everything they earn and the rich spend far less than they earn. If I had a million in taxable income, I would certainly choose an additional sales taxes over additional income taxes.

It's amazing that so many people in middle and low income brackets are so interested in low taxes for the wealthy while so many of wealthiest people don't object to paying higher taxes and among the wealthiest many think tax rates are too low on rich.

Oh please.....Ok....If a wealthy person buys a $100,000 car, simultaneously a less well to do person buys a $2000 car. Each person pays a 5% sales tax....The expensive car nets the state $5000 while the less costly car nets a whopping 40 bucks....Which person pays more?
A wealthy person owns three vehicles which he fills with gas each week. It costs $300 per week for gas. They drive a lot.....The less monied person owns a Toyota Corolla that gets 40 MPG...That person spends $20 per week on gas.....Who pays more in sales and fuel taxes?
To answer your premise that these taxes are unfair to lower income people. Look, whether the sales tax was 10% or 0% the poor person still spends the same percentage of their income. There is no difference.
Only one rich person with a whole lot of opinions thinks he pays too little. He can write a God Damned check. Then shut the hell up.
Oh...the reason why we do not want taxes increased for anyone is because once that starts, we're all open season for increases as well. And IT WILL happen.

 

[yidnar]

Can anyone give me a link to the location of the unsafe bridges Obama is talking about. I heard someone say Obama isn't telling but I thought I saw someone else say it is known.

But I'm not sure what thread that is in.

Appreciate the help. Thanks.

there an unsafe bridge in my hometown !! ...................................if you walk over it at night unarmed and alone the black thugs that hang out near it will mug you !!

 

[Flopper]

Oh please.....Ok....If a wealthy person buys a $100,000 car, simultaneously a less well to do person buys a $2000 car. Each person pays a 5% sales tax....The expensive car nets the state $5000 while the less costly car nets a whopping 40 bucks....Which person pays more?

It's not who pays more, it's who hurt more by the tax, the wealthy person with a million dollar income or the poor man with a $30,000 income. The wealthy person will be paying only .5% of his income in tax so he will only be able to save 9.5% of his income this year instead of his usually 10%. The poor person will be paying 5% of his income or $100 so he won't be able to buy a winter coat. A sales taxes puts more of the burden on lower income earners than high income owners.

Sales taxes are regressive taxes. Excluding some basic necessities make them less regressive, however that varies by state. Some states tax groceries and basic necessities other don't.

 

[MikeK]

Go here:

Officials see new urgency to improve USA's bridges - USATODAY.com

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Look our bridges are inspected every year--by professional people for safety concerns. If a bridge is unsafe--we re-route traffic--and FIX it.

You've got an awful lot of faith in Big Government.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Some good points there. Things are so different from the 1930's. Once government gets involved, things are paralyzed, and there's almost no way not to get government involved.

Wow. So bridges are "paralyzed" before the are even built.

 

[auditor0007]

Look our bridges are inspected every year--by professional people for safety concerns. If a bridge is unsafe--we re-route traffic--and FIX it.

Obama didn't know what he was doing--so he did a carbon copy of FDR. In the 1930's when we actually needed roads and bridges--today we have super highways that criss-cross this nation--if we needed a bridge we built it. What took thousands of men with shovels in the 1930's can now be done with a couple of heavy equipment operators. And what was a labor force of primarily men in the 1930's now consists of 1/2 women who typically don't do road and bridge work.

We've had one in the Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Instead of replacing the eastern span of the Bay Bridge quickly, local politicians argued about the design for years while community groups lobbied to have it "moved" because the old location was "racist".

22 years later, people are still driving across the obsolete "dangerous" bridge.

Thanks Government!

Some good points there. Things are so different from the 1930's. Once government gets involved, things are paralyzed, and there's almost no way not to get government involved. Takes years for studies and approvals and you might not ever get them. *sigh*



The people asking why these bridges weren't fixed in the first stimulus round also have a good point.



How much does it cost to fix a bridge? What's the average wait time for all the studies and approvals?




I think all the Democrat gazillionaires who don't think they pay enough in taxes should each adopt a bridge and get 'er done.

There is an estimated $2.5 trillion needed for infrastructure repair in the US. Like so many others, you obviously are good with the idea of just passing the cost on to our kids and grandkids. God forbid any of it come out of your pocket, right? If I am wrong, please feel free to correct me.