Where are the unsafe bridges?

i have 5 listed as deficient in my 10 mile radius....but one of them has been closed so they should not have listed it....they built a new bridge next to it.

I started calling that bridge over the Penobscot from Verona Island to Prospect the BRIDGE OF DEATH way back in the early 90s, Care. It was so obviously neglected by MEDOT.

But when the premier builder of suspension bridges for the last 50 years, the man who BUILT that very bridge you and I are talking about, inspected THAT bridge in the nineties, he didn't just say it was in need of work. No, he wanted to close it to ALL TRAFFIC immedately.

MEDOT then finally closed it to trucks while they were building that new bridge.

Meanwhile you and I went over a bridge that the original designer inisted wasn't safe for ANY TRAFFIC for the next few years.

Nice, huh?

Decade after decade of ME DOT ignoring that bridge's maintanance, made that bridge unsafe.

Had it been taken care of PER INSTRUCTION, it would STILL be standing, and STILL be safe.

Instead the taxpayers of Maine are on the hook for something like a quarter billion bucks including interest.
 
And that proposition disproportionately hurts the poor and middle class who don't have their money socked away in savings, stocks and bonds.

What was the tax system under the Robber Barons? What did that concentration of wealth at the tippy top lead to?

Consumption is the fairest way to tax. In my state we dont have an income tax. We also dont tax food. Did I mention this is a blue state?

I don't necessarily disagree with a consumption tax. That isn't the same as a flat tax.

consumption taxes tax the middle class and poor more disproportionately. rich people save and invest more of their income.

it's not that difficult to understand.
 
Consumption is the fairest way to tax. In my state we dont have an income tax. We also dont tax food. Did I mention this is a blue state?

I don't necessarily disagree with a consumption tax. That isn't the same as a flat tax.

consumption taxes tax the middle class and poor more disproportionately. rich people save and invest more of their income.

it's not that difficult to understand.

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.
 
i have 5 listed as deficient in my 10 mile radius....but one of them has been closed so they should not have listed it....they built a new bridge next to it.

I started calling that bridge over the Penobscot from Verona Island to Prospect the BRIDGE OF DEATH way back in the early 90s, Care. It was so obviously neglected by MEDOT.

But when the premier builder of suspension bridges for the last 50 years, the man who BUILT that very bridge you and I are talking about, inspected THAT bridge in the nineties, he didn't just say it was in need of work. No, he wanted to close it to ALL TRAFFIC immedately.

MEDOT then finally closed it to trucks while they were building that new bridge.

Meanwhile you and I went over a bridge that the original designer inisted wasn't safe for ANY TRAFFIC for the next few years.

Nice, huh?

Decade after decade of ME DOT ignoring that bridge's maintanance, made that bridge unsafe.

Had it been taken care of PER INSTRUCTION, it would STILL be standing, and STILL be safe.

Instead the taxpayers of Maine are on the hook for something like a quarter billion bucks including interest.
Actually, I did not live here yet, when the old bridge was still being used...moved in about January of 2007 so the new suspension Bridge was up already.

However, when I lived in Massachusetts, my parents came up from Florida with my father's new toy...an RV....slept 6...pretty darn long and big....anyway, he wanted me to go on vacation up to Maine with him and mom....I was not working at the time so I said, heck yes, I'll go with you, and we left Matt at home!

we came up to visit Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park....we rented a spot in an Ellsworth Rv Park and rented a car for the week to get around. Coming up, (once we made it through the bumper to bumper traffic near the toll booth in New Hampshire) we came in to Ellsworth through 95 and then US1A I believe in to ellsworth, so we missed that Bridge from Verona to Prospect....anyway, dad just could not stand it that the highway was probably 40 miles longer than if he took us1 and Route 3 to cross down the state....

So going back home to Massachusetts, we ended up crossing that old bridge, IN THE big RV for Christmas's SAKE! :eek: OH MY GOSH, talk about getting close with ones Maker at that point! I had to close my eyes, and just pray!

the next time we came up here, I was with matt....in 2006 on vacation in Bar Harbor, to show him what the place looked like where I wanted to move to! :D He had heard about it for years and saw some pics that i had taken when here with my parents back in 2002 I believe it was...., but had never been up here....he loved the area. We went on a day trip to Fort Point Park, to see the Light House there and to have a picnic on the Beach.....we crossed the NEW Bridge to get over there....and I was looking down on to that Old rickety racket bridge that i crossed with my parents a few years earlier and counted my blessings once again, that we made it across that rusty thing!!!!
 
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.
 
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.
 
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!

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.
 
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!

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?
 
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!

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.
 
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.

Why wasn't our integrity of our infrastructure a priority to Obama and the Democrat veto-proof majority Deany? Why was Obama handing out 1/2 billion to bankrupt Green energy companies run by his cronies? How many lives did Obama and the Dems risk? Why are you OK With that?
 
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.

Why wasn't our integrity of our infrastructure a priority to Obama and the Democrat veto-proof majority Deany? Why was Obama handing out 1/2 billion to bankrupt Green energy companies run by his cronies? How many lives did Obama and the Dems risk? Why are you OK With that?

Why didArizona, Texas and other states use 95% of their stimulus funds to balance state budgets for 2 years instead of fixing infrastructure?
 
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.

Why wasn't our integrity of our infrastructure a priority to Obama and the Democrat veto-proof majority Deany? Why was Obama handing out 1/2 billion to bankrupt Green energy companies run by his cronies? How many lives did Obama and the Dems risk? Why are you OK With that?

Why didArizona, Texas and other states use 95% of their stimulus funds to balance state budgets for 2 years instead of fixing infrastructure?
Good question

Why did both red and blue states use the money from the stimulus for state budgets?

Because it was allowed!
 
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.

Ah yes...do you remember the drug addled gasbag, Rush Limbaugh, screaming "Where were the Unions?!?" during the Massey mine disaster?
 
Why wasn't our integrity of our infrastructure a priority to Obama and the Democrat veto-proof majority Deany? Why was Obama handing out 1/2 billion to bankrupt Green energy companies run by his cronies? How many lives did Obama and the Dems risk? Why are you OK With that?

Why didArizona, Texas and other states use 95% of their stimulus funds to balance state budgets for 2 years instead of fixing infrastructure?
Good question

Why did both red and blue states use the money from the stimulus for state budgets?

Because it was allowed!

Did anyone ever offer an amendment to require that the stimulus money only be spent on infrastructure projects?
 
I don't necessarily disagree with a consumption tax. That isn't the same as a flat tax.

consumption taxes tax the middle class and poor more disproportionately. rich people save and invest more of their income.

it's not that difficult to understand.

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.
 
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.

Obama was playing Fast and loose with the Facts again. the Term Structurally Deficient does not necessarily means the bridge is ready to fall down. The Term is used to describe any shortcoming of a Structure. In the Case of a bridge it could simply mean the thing is not wide enough and 2 more lanes are needed for to be Structurally sufficient.
 
consumption taxes tax the middle class and poor more disproportionately. rich people save and invest more of their income.

it's not that difficult to understand.

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.
 
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.

Obama was playing Fast and loose with the Facts again. the Term Structurally Deficient does not necessarily means the bridge is ready to fall down. The Term is used to describe any shortcoming of a Structure. In the Case of a bridge it could simply mean the thing is not wide enough and 2 more lanes are needed for to be Structurally sufficient.

So the American standard should be "eh, good enough"?

More of that race to the bottom...
 

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