We know that George Bush is an addict (possibly an ex-addict, but the patterns remain the same), so we know how to think of his "quick fix" for the economy. Addicts want it fast, easy and painless. Our economy is in tough shape - if you read Paul Krugman you would have seen this coming five years ago. More serious economists debate in the Times here.
Instead of Bush's ideas, how about we fix this: USATODAY.com - Report: Nation's infrastructure crumbling.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Crowded schools, traffic-choked roads and transit cutbacks are eroding the quality of American life, according to an analysis by civil engineers that gave the nation's infrastructure an overall grade of D.
A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers released Wednesday assessed the four-year trend in the condition of 12 categories of infrastructure, including roadways, bridges, drinking water systems, public parks, railroads and the power grid.
The overall grade slipped from the D-plus given to the infrastructure in 2001 and 2003.
"Americans are spending more time stuck in traffic and less time at home with their families," William Henry, the group's president, said in a statement.
The report said $1.6 trillion should be spent over the next five years to alleviate potential problems with the nation's infrastructure. Transportation alone requires $94 billion in annual spending, the report said.
Read the American Society of Civil Engineers report here. The page is now illustrated with the Minnesota bridge collapse, which happened two years after the report appeared in 2005. Too bad they didn't use a picture of New Orleans after Katrina, but maybe that would be too bald an indictment of America's political neglect of the concrete and steel that keep us going.
America, let's spend money rebuilding our schools, maintaining our highways, rebuilding our rail system. Spend that measly $20 billion on the San Francisco-Los Angeles high speed rail project - what's 20 billion when we've dumped a trillion into the sands of Iraq?
All that construction money will roll over into the economy, feeding people and generating wealth. Plus we will have - nice schools, secure bridges, good new public transit, and yeah, for bonus points, how about clean drinking water?
Explain to me why this is not practical or possible, but cutting a check for every American, and wasting all that blood and treasure in Iraq, are perfectly rational.
What happened to America that we don't listen to our civil engineers anymore? We will build WiFI access for the planet but we don't want to fix the mold in our local schools or prop up the bridge we drive over each day? WTF?