Highway Crisis looms if Congress does not act

[Shanty]

But many Republicans say they'd rather offset increases in transportation spending with cuts to other government programs rather than tax increases.

This is good.

Instead, Obama is pushing a plan to close tax loopholes and use the revenue to pay for increased transportation spending for the next four years.

This is bad.

There's no need to offset necessary spending with cuts that hurt the economy in the still continuing wake of the GOP's Great Recession. Yes, the wake is receding, but it could have been mitigated with some more spending, that would have paid for itself by correcting the damage the housing bubble did, and seeing revenues increase faster than they have under the GOP obstructing recovery. One way to help the economy recover is infrastructure spending. If you offset the spending with unnecessary cuts, you don't see the revenues come in as fast.

 

[Shanty]

Highway Crisis Looms as Soon as August, US Warns - ABC News

So does the Do Nothing Congress do something or will they let our roads and bridges fall apart? The work programs that could be putting people to work doing worthwhile jobs could be enormous.... But if the GOP continues to block everything, expect gridlock on your roads soon.

As much as it hurts, the GOP is going to have to give up the money, even if it means helping the economy and the Obama administration.

Quit wasting federal highway dollars on worthless urban mass transit boondoggles, bike paths and other progressive pet projects, and there would be plenty of money for the roads and bridges.

Urban mass transit creates a lot of opportunities for businesses and workers, and more than pays for itself, indirectly, in the larger revenues it helps to create.

It's suburbanites and rural dwellers who commute to urban areas who cost us the most money in wasted dollars.

 

[HelenaHandbag]

Highway Crisis Looms as Soon as August, US Warns - ABC News

So does the Do Nothing Congress do something or will they let our roads and bridges fall apart? The work programs that could be putting people to work doing worthwhile jobs could be enormous.... But if the GOP continues to block everything, expect gridlock on your roads soon.

As much as it hurts, the GOP is going to have to give up the money, even if it means helping the economy and the Obama administration.

Quit wasting federal highway dollars on worthless urban mass transit boondoggles, bike paths and other progressive pet projects, and there would be plenty of money for the roads and bridges.

Urban mass transit creates a lot of opportunities for businesses and workers, and more than pays for itself, indirectly, in the larger revenues it helps to create.

It's suburbanites and rural dwellers who commute to urban areas who cost us the most money in wasted dollars.

Total bunk.

If they paid for themselves, they would not need to steal federal highway funds.

 

[KissMy]

But many Republicans say they'd rather offset increases in transportation spending with cuts to other government programs rather than tax increases.

This is good.

Instead, Obama is pushing a plan to close tax loopholes and use the revenue to pay for increased transportation spending for the next four years.

This is bad.

Tax dollars already heavily 50+% subsidize the highway system, yet you want cuts to other government programs to increase highway funding. Sounds like you want more subsidies. How about cutting my taxes with any cuts to other government programs. I pay 50% tax between payroll & income tax & you want to steal more of it.

Time to cut spending on roads down to the user fees they generate. People who moved close to work & shopping so they can walk, should not be forced to pay even more tax & cuts to SS to pay for asphalt & fuel from oil companies to build roads for their customers. It's time the highway system stood on it's own feet & tax payers stop paying half it's bills.

 

[Mephisto]

I love these fake calls for infrastructure from the racist far left Obama drones.

The far left has been slowly dismantling the ability to up keep the infrastructure as to appease those neo-Nazi environmentalists.

Funny thing is, that it was far left FDR that made the military Industrial Complex that the far left hates.

It was that very complex that made the US infrastructure.

It's not a fake call, our infrastructure is crumbling all round us. As someone that works in the building trades, ironworker, I can attest to all the issues that need to be solved. We've pissed away trillion in Iraq and billion building their infrastructure...one which we destroyed in the first place. Yet, we can't fix the very roads and bridges in our own country.

I guess it will take the Golden Gate bridge to collapse in the bay before we do anything...

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Might need a Separate Tales of the Highway Crisis Thread. Posters will share their stories of coping with our crumbling infrastructure in the Obama Era

 

[peach174]

I love these fake calls for infrastructure from the racist far left Obama drones.

The far left has been slowly dismantling the ability to up keep the infrastructure as to appease those neo-Nazi environmentalists.

Funny thing is, that it was far left FDR that made the military Industrial Complex that the far left hates.

It was that very complex that made the US infrastructure.

Republican defunding has hurt the infrastructure.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=republican+defunding+of+infrastructure

We need to have an audit of the department first.
They spend it on too many other programs and not our infrastructure.

 

[Mr. H.]

But many Republicans say they'd rather offset increases in transportation spending with cuts to other government programs rather than tax increases.

This is good.

Instead, Obama is pushing a plan to close tax loopholes and use the revenue to pay for increased transportation spending for the next four years.

This is bad.

Tax dollars already heavily 50+% subsidize the highway system, yet you want cuts to other government programs to increase highway funding. Sounds like you want more subsidies. How about cutting my taxes with any cuts to other government programs. I pay 50% tax between payroll & income tax & you want to steal more of it.

Time to cut spending on roads down to the user fees they generate. People who moved close to work & shopping so they can walk, should not be forced to pay even more tax & cuts to SS to pay for asphalt & fuel from oil companies to build roads for their customers. It's time the highway system stood on it's own feet & tax payers stop paying half it's bills.

Oh shush.

 

[Papageorgio]

Again idiot partisan hacktard, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data is also revised & trumps your CNN iReport amateur source & the LA Times. On top of that your source confirms that the recession started months after Bush took office. Quote from your source: "The National Bureau of Economic Research, the official arbiter of when recessions begin and end, has determined that the recession began in March 2001 and ended in November of that year."

NY Times: "According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, official arbiter of recession dates, a recession in fact began in December 2007 and lasted through June 2009."

So you have proven Bush caused 2 recessions. Clinton & Obama caused none. How about the double dip recessions caused by Reagan/Bush?

Then why hasn't the great Obama turned the economy around?


Sent from my iPad using an Android.

He has.

My house has appreciated in value by about $100,000 since we bought in 2011.

The economy was in the dumps the beginning of 2009 according to Firefly and Kissmy, Obama should of had it turned around in March of that year, so spare me the long term bullshit.

 

[Papageorgio]

Highway Crisis Looms as Soon as August, US Warns - ABC News

So does the Do Nothing Congress do something or will they let our roads and bridges fall apart? The work programs that could be putting people to work doing worthwhile jobs could be enormous.... But if the GOP continues to block everything, expect gridlock on your roads soon.

As much as it hurts, the GOP is going to have to give up the money, even if it means helping the economy and the Obama administration.

Quit wasting federal highway dollars on worthless urban mass transit boondoggles, bike paths and other progressive pet projects, and there would be plenty of money for the roads and bridges.

Urban mass transit creates a lot of opportunities for businesses and workers, and more than pays for itself, indirectly, in the larger revenues it helps to create.

It's suburbanites and rural dwellers who commute to urban areas who cost us the most money in wasted dollars.

There is the Sounder train that runs between Everett, Wa and Seattle, Wa. It cost a rider $4.50 per seat, the subsidy to keep it running is $32.38 per seat. How is this a good thing for the tax payer?

The same is said of several transit projects, loaded with fat and not economicaly fesible.

 

[bendog]

I can understand not wanting to use gas tax for things like trains and city bus grants, rather than limiting expenditures to the interstate highway system (and entrances and exits and bridges that have 'roads') but the TPM call to simply eliminate the fed dept of transportation and leave it to individual states figure out how stuff like getting oranges from Fla to Kan is one of the more bat shite crazy things these wingnuts have come up with.

I think the core concept for them is to roll back congress's commerce clause power. If they want to go intellectually wankoff in a circle jerk, that's nice for them, but we're a consumer economy and we need to get goods to wal-marts.