Jesse Jackson: A Lot More Than One Bridge Could Crumble Under GOP

[babylonsister]

A Lot More Than One Bridge Could Crumble Under GOP
by Jesse Jackson

A 40-year-old bridge collapses into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Levees give way in New Orleans at the foot of the Mississippi. An 83-year-old steam pipe produces an eruption that terrorizes Manhattan. As our infrastructure literally crumbles beneath our feet, America is building the largest embassy compound in the world in Iraq — an area larger than the Pentagon — to manage a war now estimated to cost $1 trillion.

What happened at both ends of the Mississippi and is happening in cities across the country are tragedies, but they aren’t random accidents. They are the direct price of the right wing in power. Scornful of government, intent on cutting taxes and slashing spending, they systematically have shorted public investment in our basic infrastructure — in bridges and roads, in rail lines and air systems, in parks and schools.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave America a D for its infrastructure in their most recent report in 2005. Ironically, bridges did better — a grade C — than sewers, water treatment and a range of other areas. In the report, more than one out of every four bridges in America were rated as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Don’t think about that when you drive over your next bridge.

For over 25 years, we’ve cheated on public investment. ”Government,” Ronald Reagan preached, ”is not the solution. Government is the problem.” Activists like Grover Norquist took this to the extreme, saying, “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can . . . drown it in the bathtub.”

Norquist and his allies have bullied Republicans into signing a pledge never to raise taxes. In Minnesota, the conservative governor, Tim Pawlenty, campaigned against taxes and vetoed an appropriation bill that would have provided increased funds for highway and bridge repairs. Interstate 35’s Bridge 9340, rated structurally deficit by the U.S. Department of Transportation, had repairs on it postponed for a year.

One trillion dollars squandered in the debacle in Iraq. A clamp on vital investments here at home. Those are the stated priorities of modern-day conservatives — a far remove from those of President Dwight Eisenhower, who built the interstate highway system while putting a lid on military spending and balancing the budget. Ike knew that infrastructure was important; military adventurism was dangerous and fiscal balance was common sense. Modern-day conservatives have abandoned every part of his lessons.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/09/3077/

[tularetom]

1. What do conservatives want to conserve?

We have a huge investment in our infrastructure right now. A true conservative would see the necessity of protecting that investment by spending a (relatively) few bucks on maintenance. The longer we let these bridges go, the more of them will have to be replaced rather than repaired. Besides for these assholes who love war so much the Interstate system was originally conceived as a means of moving troops and materiel rapidly around the country in case of an attack. You'd think they'd want to keep it up for that reason if nothing else.

[watrwefitinfor]

2. "...the direct price of the right wing in power."

This is the meme that we have got to get out there. This, along with all their other crimes, has to be hung around the collective necks of the REPUBLICAN PARTY. Congress, presidential candidates, ALL OF THEM.

If this is not done - and done in a big way - we are toast again in 2008.

Wat