Invest In America
Orders of Magnitude
June 10th, 2008
How far away is Congress from meaningfully addressing the country's infrastructure crisis? Based on testimony at a Capitol Hill hearing this week, 1.59 trillion steps away.
The Case
Stranded On The Road for Cheap Political Points
Doing away with federal gasoline taxes for even a short period of time will do serious damage to the economy as we head into a recession and as high gas prices affect our commuting patterns. Federal gasoline tax dollars go into a trust fund that helps pay for roads, bridges and mass transit. According to the federal government's own calculations, every $1 billion spent of the gasoline tax revenues creates nearly 35,000 jobs. A summertime "gas tax holiday" could cost the nation almost 350,000 jobs and would halt work on vital improvements to roads and bridges, as well as mass transit systems stressed by new riders leaving their cars at home. According to the Congressional Budget Office, we're already falling behind in our ability to pay for our transportation needs. The bigger issue is this: An economy that depends on the efficient interstate movement of goods and services can't afford to continue starving the maintenance and growth of our transportation network. But that's what we've done under the Bush administration, which opposed moves even from within its own party to increase transportation spending enough to match actual needs. Dumping the burden on already-strapped and unevenly equipped states won't solve the problem. A transportation system that allows the economy to operate efficiently and save precious fuel is a national priority; we should all share in the costs and the benefits.read more »
Rebuild Our Public Infrastructure
Conservatives have no legitimacy when they complain on one hand about pork-barrel spending while squandering money on “bridges to nowhere,” on crony corporations like Halliburton and on subsidies for their political contributors. Meanwhile, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates we need to spend $1.6 trillion over the next five years to fix our roads, bridges, water lines and other essential public resources. These are real needs, not "pork." Plus, it's a matter of global competitiveness: Countries like China and India are making massive investments in public transportation, schools and broadband, while too many of our children study in crumbling schools, workers lose productivity on crowded roads, and Internet commerce suffers under some of the slowest and most overpriced broadband connections in the industrialized world. The more-than-$100 billion a year spent on the war in Iraq would go a long way to funding these investments, which would enhance our economic security..read more »
Facts & Resources
Levees and Dams Falling Apart
In 2007, the American Society of Civil Engineers found more than 150 levees to be at high risk of failing due to poor maintenance; Over a quarter of the dams overseen by the Corps of Engineers have exceeded the lifespan for which they were designed and need major repairs to ensure their safety.
U.S. Bridges Need Repair
The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that nearly 25 percent of bridges in the U.S.—over 152,000 bridges—are “structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.”
The News
Under Strain, Cities Are Cutting Back Projects
October 1st, 2008
Panel’s Bipartisan View: F.D.A. Is Underfinanced
April 16th, 2008
The Voices
Woe is the Worker
Candidates don't talk about the price workers pay for growth-at-any-cost business.read more »
Health Care Double-Whammy
What we should fear is not government control, but what will happen to caregivers.read more »
Latest from our Bloggers
sep
30
2008
Sweeten the Deal
The bailout package failed. Republicans didn’t line up behind their leadership, unconvinced about the size, the urgency or even the rightness of rescuing tycoons from their own mistakes. read more »
sep
22
2008
Building Our Way Out
The economy is sinking. Wages are flat, costs are rising and bridges are collapsing. Wall Street doesn’t know which way is up.
The answer is right before us. Bridges and dams and schools.
America needs rebuilding. And the American people need jobs. Put one and one together. read more »
aug
1
2008
Undoing A Failed Legacy on Public Investment
The conservative failure in public investment, and progressive solutions for addressing that failure, is the subject of my interview with Eric Lotke, the research director of the Campaign for America's Future, on WHMP-AM, where I was substituting for Bill Dwight. Lotke points out the consequences of years of disinvestment in public assets, including examples of how we are falling behind other countries, and discusses some solutions now being considered by progressive-minded leaders in Washington.read more »
jul
31
2008
Collapsing Bridges, Sinking Levees. It’s (Past) Time to Invest
Our nation’s infrastructure is dying of old age and neglect. The solution is obvious: Repair and rebuild. We can't allow conservatives to have us running scared from this issue.read more »
jun
26
2008
Obama & Telecom Immunity: The Importance of Pushing
Obama's disappointing decision to support the FISA bill speaks to the importance of pushing politicians for bold progressive change, and pushing well.read more »
may
29
2008
Making Sense of the Rising Cost of College
As college students celebrate graduation this May, their joy is combined with the harsh reality they face post-graduation--many of these students will graduate with unmanageable levels of loan debt that they can not afford basic necessities. read more »
may
6
2008
Let's Bank On Rebuilding America
Instead of a silly argument over a "gas tax holiday," we desperately need a serious discussion about the nation's infrastructure. And there is a good legislative proposal that could be the basis for that discussion. read more »
apr
8
2008
Would You Close Your School To Pay For Iraq?
When Gen. David Petraeus testifies today about the status of the Iraq occupation, I'll be thinking about my neighborhood elementary school, which may have to close while we continue to waste billions on a failed foreign policy.read more »
