Reagan's Legacy: The Deutsche Bank Building

The bridge collapse in Minnesota was a fresh reminder of this government's inability to even maintain our country's infrastructure, let alone tackle improvements and new projects. Of course, Katrina and the lack of progress at Ground Zero had already pulled back the curtain on what Reaganesque "smaller government" really means.

Well, Reagan's legacy has come back once again to bite us. Today the Deutsche Bank building caught fire, and from the looks of it it was a fairly large blaze. One firefighter suffered cardiac arrest, another severe smoke inhalation, and a third has a badly twisted ankle. Additionally, officials are worried that smoke from the fire contains toxic waste from inside the building.

Just last week I was at Ground Zero and looked up at the Deutsche Bank building. Since 9/11 it has stood, severely damaged and shrouded in netting, awaiting demolition. Body parts and toxic waste have been found several times since the disaster, most recently last year. As I stood there, I thought to myself, "What does it say about our government that we can't tear down a building six years after an attack?" Rebuilding is understandably more complicated (although I'm disappointed with that as well), but razing a mid-level skyscraper is not exactly rocket science.

Now more than ever we need effective, hands-on, dare I say "activist" government. Just another reason we have to win the White House next year.