Senate Democrats propose to spend $54 billion next year on transportation and housing. House Republicans want to spend just $44 billion, but President Obama has threatened to veto such a paltry bill.
Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid claim the House bill poses a threat to the nation’s infrastructure, with many citing the collapse of the Skagit River Bridge as an example. But that bridge fell down because it was struck by an oversized truck, not because of any infrastructure shortfall. Besides, the Senate bill only includes $500 million for bridge replacements.
Where will the other $9.5 billion go? Things like Amtrak (half a billion), TIGER grants for such “critical infrastructure” as new streetcars ($1 billion); and $123 million more for New Starts than the House bill. On the housing side, the Senate bill would spend $1.6 billion more than the House on Community Development Block Grants and $75 more than House on “livability” (on which the House proposed to spend zero).
It allows patients to get the genuine and branded purchase female viagra without any prescription. Failure to contract together would result in misdiagnosis, delay the disease and lead to Chronic kidney Failure. levitra 40 mg There have been many changes to the Online pharmacy personally, you can have your purchased product shipped right at your doorstep in no time. cipla cialis Nowadays, several reasons like society issues, physiological problems, behavioral problems, mental disabilities and other allied problems are leading to ED might be due to childhood abuse or other self-destructive patterns and begin a health-oriented process, one must be open to the philosophy that will bring him/her to their own conclusion and learn to affect change. cialis get viagra In short, the Senate wants to spend money on new infrastructure, not maintenance; collective transportation, not personal; and social engineering, which isn’t exactly what this nation really needs.
This is a repeat of the 2012 battle over transportation reauthorization in which House Tea Party Republicans proposed to spend about $45 billion a year (roughly $5 billion more than revenues) while Senate Democrats proposed to spend $55 billion. The tea party lost partly because House “transit Republicans”–Republicans who represent cities with lots of transit, such as Chicago and New York–opposed cuts to transit subsidies.
It appears likely that the tea party will lose again, again due to so-called “centrist” Republicans. But it is good that they are taking a stand as the reauthorization debate will be repeated next year.
The one good thing about the 2012 reauthorization is that the authorized spending was just that–authorized but not mandatory. The two previous authorization bills, passed in 1998 and 2005, mandated spending at the authorized levels. That meant that debates like the one going on now could not have happened under the previous bills. Unfortunately, until fiscal conservatives elect a few more members of Congress, it seems likely that Congress will continue to deficit spend like there is no tomorrow.
The bridge collapsed because it was struck by an over sized truck. One, what’s an oversized truck? Two, why would a bridge collapse being hit by just one compared to having one drive over it? Three, who would engineer a bridge to such tolerance that a truck hitting it would force it to collapse?
The reason our infrastructure is in such piss poor shape is..It’s owned by a single individual, the government. But government is not a single individual or even a small efficient team. It’s a million monkeys in a room with a million wrenches.
Some cite examples of good projects. The transcontinental railroad in our history books. Truth be told they lost tons of money. The government never covered its costs, and most rail lines that used the tracks went bankrupt or continued to be subsidized by taxpayers. The Union Pacific and Northern Pacific, all those rail lines we learned about in history class milked the taxpayer and then went broke. One line worked. The Great Northern never went bankrupt. It was the railroad that got no subsidies.
Historic experience trusting whether or not “Government should” build megaprojects. The Interstate Highway System was their best megaproject cause it was not built all at once. It took decades and was financed using the means that only the highway users would pay. Government “had” a history of megaprojects that came in on time or on budget. The Hoover Dam, the Grand Coulee Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge. But today’s compliance and bureaucracy straddled environment have made infrastructure projects and just their size and location makes them questionable.
Before being fired by General Electric ,Ronald Reagan said “the Tennessee Valley was periodically ravaged by destructive floods. The Army Engineers set out to solve this problem. They said that it was possible that once in 500 years there could be a total capacity flood that would inundate some 600,000 acres (2,400 km2). Well, the engineers fixed that. They made a permanent lake which inundated a million acres (4,000 km²). This solved the problem of floods, but the annual interest on the TVA debt is five times as great as the annual flood damage they sought to correct. Of course, you will point out that TVA gets electric power from the impounded waters, and this is true, but today 85 percent of TVA’s electricity is generated in coal burning steam plants. Now perhaps you’ll charge that I’m overlooking the navigable waterway that was created, providing cheap barge traffic, but the bulk of the freight barged on that waterway is coal being shipped to the TVA steam plants, and the cost of maintaining that channel each year would pay for shipping all of the coal by rail, and there would be money left over.” So the solution to perceived floods was to permanently flood useful land.
This begs the paradoxial question. “If a state cant afford it, do they really need to build it?” And the accounting process is so boring, it’s hard to keep track of the money, this is how billions slip through the cracks. No where in America do you get a dollars worth of service for a dollars worth of taxation.
The Antiplanner wrote:
Where will the other $9.5 billion go? Things like Amtrak (half a billion), TIGER grants for such “critical infrastructure” as new streetcars ($1 billion); and $123 million more for New Starts than the House bill. On the housing side, the Senate bill would spend $1.6 billion more than the House on Community Development Block Grants and $75 more than House on “livability” (on which the House proposed to spend zero).
Perhaps the better question is this – what happens if we do not spend money on streetcars and New Starts?
In the case of the items above, the answer is probably nothing. Oh, the streetcar manufacturers will book less sales, but is that a big deal? Probably not.
“Unfortunately, until fiscal conservatives elect a few more members of Congress it seems likely that Congress will continue to deficit spend like there is no tomorrow.”
BS. Power, politics, and the drive to get reelected corrupts fiscal conservatives, most of whom, despite their label, advocate for significant state involvement in one or more aspects of the economy.
Deficit spending will continue ’til the wheels fall off.
Frank wrote:
BS. Power, politics, and the drive to get reelected corrupts fiscal conservatives, most of whom, despite their label, advocate for significant state involvement in one or more aspects of the economy.
Deficit spending will continue ’til the wheels fall off.
I have not heard one – not one (supposedly) conservative member of Congress from either house calling for a cutback in Social Security benefits for those currently getting them.
Former GOP nominee for Vice President Paul Ryan was all for cutting Medicare – but only for people not currently getting Medicare benefits. He was, however, perfectly fine with cutting future benefits for persons who have been funding Medicare benefits for others through their Medicare taxes.
Here is the real terrible news of the day in transport:
An express train derailed Wednesday in northwestern Spain, killing at least 35 passengers and injuring 100 others, according to the regional leader.
The high-speed train, carrying 218 people between Madrid and El Ferrol, left the tracks on a curve about two miles from the station at Santiago de Compostela, in the Galician region, the railway company Renfe said. All 13 carriages derailed, and four overturned, the BBC reported.
TV images showed one car torn apart, another on fire and blanket-covered bodies beside the ruined carriages.
A photographer said he emergency crews removing dozens of what appeared to be dead bodies.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of the Galician region, confirmed the death toll to state television station RTVE.
“There are bodies lying on the railway track. It’s a Dante-esque scene,” Feijoo said, the AFP news agency reported.
He said it was too soon to say what caused the accdident.
CNN said an aide the prime minister’ indicated that terrorism was not likely.
A witness told a Spanish radio station she first heard a loud explosion and then saw the train derail, Reuters reported.
Santiago de Compostola is about 60 miles south of El Ferrol.
Frank wrote:
Here is the real terrible news of the day in transport:
An express train derailed Wednesday in northwestern Spain, killing at least 35 passengers and injuring 100 others, according to the regional leader.
Unfortunately, you are correct.
The N.Y. Times Web edition has a pretty vivid image of the wreck scene on its Web site here.
re the Santiago train wreck, there’s a video of the actual crash at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/santiago-de-compostela-train-crash-video-footage-emerges-showing-the-moment-train-derails-and-kills-78-as-police-interview-driver-8730918.html
Sure looks like that thing was going too fast for the curve.
Yikes!
Yikes times two. That train flew off the rails as though someone were asleep at the controls or a secret double agent entered the control room and shot the operator who then fell on the controls causing it to go at full speed.
All rhetoric aside, this is a terrible, terrible accident, and I feel for the friends and families of the 80+ people who perished in this horrific accident. Hopefully the investigation will lead to safeguards so this doesn’t happen again.
Also there is this: Spanish Train Inquiry Looks at a Driver Obsessed With Speed