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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Wednesday, February 03, 2021

Infrastructure Relief Might Matter More Than Pandemic Relief

At the moment, we're all salivating at the prospect of another stimulus check. I'm using mine to buy a bidet. But what we really need is a federal bill that addresses our crumbling infrastructure. That was something Donald Trump promised to do four years ago, but it never happened. Our roads and bridges are following apart, to say nothing of our power grid. President Biden is expected to propose a $2 trillion  infrastructure package later this month. It's inadequate. We needed at least $4.6 trillion, just for roads and bridges, back in 2017. 

As noted in Governing, however, the best way to finance is by insisting on a 25-30% match from local and state government. Without that, it becomes an invitation for government waste,. 


19 comments:

Anonymous said...

A bidet, good choice. They are real chick magnets.

Anonymous said...

Infrastructure does need rebuilding, but it should be built with the money from a strong vibrant and profitable economy, not by borrowing more money and hiring union workers to create jobs. They should be built with surpluses not with more debt. With a competitive bidding process that allows all to participate, not just the politically chosen few.

Anonymous said...

If money was the answer to better roads and bridges, Pennsylvanians would be driving on perfectly maintained, gold-plated highways. We're also about to get a huge tax increase from Wolf to pay for "education," that parents with options can't get away from fast enough after unions and woke politicians abandoned them and their kids. We're one of the nation's top spenders on education and highways and bridges, despite being 26th in per capita income. Yet, our public schools and roadways are some of the worst in the country. We've proven that money isn't the answer. In fact, we've proven the more we spend the worse things get. It's like when you keep buying drinks for a dangerous and self-destructive alcoholic.

Anonymous said...

In addition to your noting the last administration’s failures re: infrastructure, maybe Biden could just mirror all those shovel-ready projects Obama completed for the nation. Oh, wait.

Anonymous said...

Pa don't even want to clean the roads of snow unless they get a federal injection.

Anonymous said...

This is certainly an area for bipartisanship, and is easily the lowest hanging fruit for congress to do something meaningful that has a material impact on the country that EVERYONE will benefit from.

Unfortunately, the minority party, does tend to drag their feet on this because the credit for the improvement, the jobs, and economic boosts will tend to go to the party in power.

Highway safety features, expansions and traffic improvements, bridge repair/replacement are all sorely needed in a country that heavily relies on transportation. Funding for airports and rail is also way overdue.

100% agree that local and state matching is required.

John said...

First, may I recommend a real bidet next to the toilet instead of a toilet seat replacement. The difference is in the amount of hot water available to you. The reservoir in a seat replacement is teeny.

Regarding infrastructure: the Hill-to-Hill Bridge is my case in point. The transportation plan states “rehabilitation/replacement”. A good infrastructure fund would have enough money to direct state engineers to build a replacement suited to the needs of the city and region as they are today, not as envisioned in the late 1910s and amended in the 1960s and 1970s. That same fund would have planners ensure that the bridge was as suited to pedestrians and bicyclists as to cars and trucks and that it integrated not simply into the road system, but into our excellent trails. Smart minds with enough money could do it. I’m not holding my breath and will deposit my stimulus money accordingly.

Anonymous said...

I thought Trump was going to get this done, what happened to the art of the deal? why didnt this happen? he was and is a liar and a cheat and he duped 72 million of you idiots to vote for his lies and misdeeds

Anonymous said...

Government jobs do not create wealth, just transfer wealth from one group to another, or worse from future generations to the present one. We need real jobs that produce more wealth, like the ones Biden has squashed.

Anonymous said...

Every politician promises infrastructure work and never follows thru with it. And when something small comes out, the $$$ go to special interest, lawyers and engineers, not into the actual work . THE GOOD OLD BOYS GET THEIRS, WE GET SQUAT! The FHWA /Penndot way.

Anonymous said...

11:05

How could he get it done when the house didn't do anything for America for the last 4 years, except spend on lawyers and witch hunts. Very Sad those Demo Rats, very sad.

Anonymous said...

I've found the biggest dupes are those who point at others for being duped. It's like people who constantly tell you how smart they are. They're usually not very smart.

Anonymous said...

Trump's infrastructure plan is coming. He will announce it after he releases his plan for a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. I am recalling the sequence of events as he announced the week before he took office.

Anonymous said...

The WALL was the most important infrastructure plan that kept America safe. Now we have a war going on at the border daily with border patrol being substituted for the US military. The innocent border patrol agents lives are being threatened from both sides of the border now that the crypt keeper has opened a huge coffin.

Anonymous said...

2:21

You mean 2 years - you forget Trump had a Republican House and Senate in 2017-18. He lost the House in 2019, then the Senate in 2020. So much winning!

Anonymous said...

845 - So, you can see all that from your keyboard in PA? Maybe we take that money and material and put in into roads and bridges. The illegals coming in will be looking for work. They don't seem to mind working in the hot sun or cold winds. I've worked side by side with many "illegals" in shitty conditions. Every time I asked why the company didn't hire locals, it was the same response. "If we can find someone willing to work, they don't last."
We have plenty of natives just waiting around for their next stimulus check. I'll never fault a human being that's willing to work.
We have an entitlement problem in this country and it doesn't discriminate between our two parties. Time to start looking within and do some soul searching on who we are and what we want to be.

Anonymous said...

@12:34 "Government jobs do not create wealth, just transfer wealth from one group to another, or worse from future generations to the present one. We need real jobs that produce more wealth, like the ones Biden has squashed."

Government creates wealth by printing money first and foremost. Where that wealth goes is subject to debate. Government created jobs for public works projects is what dug this country out of a depression and with the peace dividend following WWII created the biggest middle class in history and with it the greatest economic expansion this country has ever seen.

Sadly one group began to accumulate wealth at a higher rate than others, then leveraged that wealth to lobby the US Government into continuously cutting their taxes, creating perks and opportunities to make it easier to avoid paying their share, deregulated and stripped down laws that served as barriers for them to accumulate more wealth and then passed it down untouched to their offspring who did nothing to create that wealth.

Its getting dated, but from 1979 to 2010 the after tax income of the Top 1% of earners increased by 275%. That is obscene when compared to the rest of us. The top 2-20% saw theirs increase by 65%. 21-80% only had an increase of 40% and the bottom of the table only increased 18%.

Anonymous said...

annon 11:43, you are so right but sadly it will be mocked or ignored. The monied interests in this country have successfully segregated us into warring political groups with misinformation like the rich make jobs and shit like, money equals hard work. Your once real pensions now 401K wall street play money make jobs, so you are paying for this not the money men. One example of this complete horshot is the second amendment argument. The corporations have convinced people that their guns are going away. So during democrat adminntrations gun and ammo sales go through the roof. During republican adminntrations you are told buy them while you can and sales go through the roof. Reality is no one has taken anyone's guns and there is no responsible effort underway to take them. However gun company stocks have skyrocketed and so have prices. Once cheap ammo and fire arms are no priced at ridiculous amounts.

Wake up people. republican's/democrat's are not the enemy, your own sloppy thinking is to blame.

Anonymous said...

@3:21 - I do wonder at what point does this populist MAGA monster recognize that their "Republican" heroes are the same as their "Democrat" enemies, then pivot their rage towards the 1%, banks and financial groups out there.