Expect a lot more of this
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Expect a lot more of this
So there was a big water main break in Center City Philadelphia this weekend. Yup, another one:
A water main break disrupted the dinner hour and retailers on bustling Walnut Street, one of the toniest shopping districts in the city during the height of the holiday season.
The main shopping district in Rittenhouse Square was flooded late Saturday afternoon after a water main break sent water gushing up through several large fissures in the middle of the 1600 block of Walnut Street.
In many key parts of Philadelphia, the water mains are more than a century old, so it's not surprising that there have been so many big breaks this year. Also ancient: America's railroad bridges -- like the one that collapsed late last month in Paulsboro, N.J., causing a toxic chemical spill.
It doesn't have to be this way. Yes, spending hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure freaks a lot of people out, what with the so-called "fiscal cliff." Indeed, GOP leaders reportedly laughed at President Obama for suggesting a paltry $50 billion in the ongoing budget talks. The laugh should be on us. Now is a better time than later for the U.S. to try and catch up with the First World nations (of which we used to be one), not just because of the collapsing bridges and burst pipes and what not, but because interest rates are at historical lows and borrowing to create jobs pays back some of the money with income tax revenues and by not paying so much in unemployment benefits.
Don't listen to me -- listen to the New York Times:
But the biggest reason to spend money on these projects is that they are desperately needed in every city and state. Around the country, there are 70,000 structurally deficient bridges; one of them, in southern New Jersey, collapsed under a train last week, sending tank cars full of flammable gas into a creek. There are 4,000 dams in need of repair, and the electrical grid in this supposedly advanced country ranks 32nd in the world in reliability, behind Slovenia’s. Those Republicans who deride this investment as worthless stimulus might want to explain to freezing homeowners why it is too expensive to bury fragile power lines.
The president’s $50 billion proposal for highways, rail, mass transit and aviation, hard as it will be to achieve, is only a slim down payment on the real job. (He proposed the same package last year as part of the American Jobs Act, which Republicans ignored.) Most estimates put the cost of basic repairs at more than $2 trillion, and that does not even include long-range upgrades to the electrical grid, storm protection and mass transit.
Around the country, ridership on transit has grown significantly since the 1990s, but federal investments have fallen far short. The Transportation Department says that if $18 billion were spent every year — 40 percent more than is being spent now — transit systems might get to a state of good repair by 2028. But that does not include spending to improve service or keep up with growth, or to protect systems like New York’s from storm damage. (The city’s subway system needs $4.8 billion just to recover from Hurricane Sandy.)
Soooo...let's get to work, America. It's the biggest no-brainer in the history of mankind.
Right, I built this!/I earned this! It's like talking to a two-year-old.— Hamlet- I guess I shouldn't be surprised that right wingers continue to cite the 'you didn't build that' quote of context. The problem with examining the productivity increases added by sound infrastructure is that its already baked in. Its hard to justify with what would be considered 'real numbers' by right wingers. So when you read, for instance that vastly improving the ability to commute into Manhattan would indirectly add wealth to NJ, through property value increases, that's not real, therefore can't exist, therefore must be banished from the discussion. Nobody thinks of the value of being able to drive from point A to point B with relatively little problem until you can't anymore, due to a cave-in or a collapse. Then it becomes real, and too late. YOu can be sure, though, that freight companies, or FedEX, for instance, have a clear understanding of what would happen to their costs (productivity) if a route was rendered completely unusable.— Murrayman
- Right, when he walk's into an interview Mr. Smith says, "I earned this job!" and punches the hiring manager in the face. That's why he's a millionaire.— Hamlet
- Hamlet is quite typical of those on the left, who believe that positions of responsibility are given to you, rather than being earned.
People who built a company from the ground up: you were lucky. You didn't build that.
It's a cancerous mindset, and it continues to spread.
— Mr. Smith - Murryman, I usually think a Republican I'm talking to online does not have a pot to p!$$ in because so many of the ones I see IRL don't.
Look at the way right wingers usually word posts (lack of education) or how they distort documented facts as if a fact could be argued like it was an opinion (lack of reasoning skills). Who would give these people positions of responsibility?— Hamlet - When asked what he thought of the age of the US infrastructure, Sen. Rubio replied, "I'm not a civil engineer, man. Everyone has theories. Its a great mystery."— Murrayman
- I know it's a bit trite, but it's so true: Republicans campaign on the slogan "Government Doesn't Work!" then they get elected and prove it.— Hamlet
- "And good luck with your alpha" Oh phish, that is so nice of you. Lets repeat the old truism: Markets climb a wall of worry. Please continue to be you, communicating the doom and gloom, even if you don't understand it very well (relating food stamps to suggest the headline UE number is a conspiracy). Yay phish! What's sad of course is your posts suggest overwhelmingly that you don't have a p1t to p1ss in. Ha-ha, I said "pot", referring to phish. He-he.— Murrayman
- " In case you haven't noticed, the Federal Gov is not that good at doing anything!" - Oh I know, they do NOTHING well. Medicare admin costs a fraction of private sector insurance cost, the FBI can't investigate anything very well, nothing comes about as a result of government research, and the government definitely cannot manage to present a strong military. They CAN"T DO anything! I h2te Conservatives, truly. They are the scourge of the political landscape.— Murrayman
- No Murray, they are something more that just meat with eyes. They will be permanent voters of the Democrat party. And good luck with your alpha— Phishface
- "But hey, we got that 7.7% unemployment headline number from Pravda" Phish I'd like to take this time to thank you and the rest of the perma-bear Cassandras for helping to make my PA stock full of alpha. Much thanks. Keep naysaying please. Spread the word. Doom and gloom.— Murrayman
- "I thought the $800,000,000,000 stimulus went to "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. Didn't it?" Oh what, you don't know the specifics? Strange, then, that we find out you're a cynic, nothing more, without a shred of knowledge of detail. "600,000 more moochers" - that's all they are - to phish and the rest of the perma-bears they are nothing more than meat with eyes and digestive systems. Phish isn't interested in whether they are working, or their circumstances -- they are parasites. Forget the general welfare clause - we must turn our backs on them, let nature weed them out, etc, ad nauseam.— Murrayman
- 600,000 more moochers added to the food stamp rolls in sept. But hey, we got that 7.7% unemployment headline number from Pravda:
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=214743— Phishface - Cliff Notes Version:
Rich people should pay more in taxes so city residentsin the city don't have to deal with a water main break.
Crazy idea, but why don't the people who use mass transit, or drink the water, in the city pay for those things.— barlowjames - I thought the $800,000,000,000 stimulus went to "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. Didn't it?— Mirror
- Good point that this 'stuff' needs to be fixed. No point at all made as to how to pay for it except that it is somehow the Federal Governments problem. Blame O, don't blame O, it's not really his issue. The Paulsboro derailment was an equipment problem combined with operator error. Again, NOT a Federal Gov problem rather a Conrail problem. Just because 'somebody' should do something, that doesn't mean it's the national taxpayer as part of any Federal initiative. In case you haven't noticed, the Federal Gov is not that good at doing anything!— elbrewador
- *yawn*
— wokmaster - Smitty, it's all in the way you write your grant application.— SteveMG
- I want $10,000 from the Federal Government to re-point my chimney. Right now!— Mr. Smith
- Early in Obama's first term I thought he was flirting with labeling his administration the "New Foundation," but (perhaps because of possible Republican backlash, although they would have objected to anything) he abandoned it. I think it's time to bring it back and make the "New Foundation" the infrastructure of this nation. Not only is the old infrastructure decaying and decrepit, but we also ought to be doing what our Pacific neighbors (and even the rest of North America) are doing--building new, massive projects. The power network, the Internet, and even the water transporting systems all need to become new.— Archimedes
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