Engineers: U.S. infrastructure close to failing
By Meagan Clark, International Business Times
U.S. infrastructure — roads, bridges, rail, drinking water, waste water, solid waste and more—is close to flunking according to a recent assessment from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Once every four years, America’s civil engineers assess the nation’s infrastructure with an A to F report card. The engineers grade eight major categories: capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation, maintenance, public safety, resilience and innovation. This year’s grade average of all eight categories is a modest improvement, but hardly one to cheer about — it’s a D+ compared to a D in 2009. The nation’s infrastructure GPA has averaged in the D’s since 1998 for delayed maintenance and underinvestment across most categories.
“While the modest progress is encouraging, it is clear that we have a significant backlog of overdue maintenance across our infrastructure systems, a pressing need for modernization, and an immense opportunity to create reliable, long-term funding sources to avoid wiping out our recent gains,” the report states.
Solid waste earned the highest grade, a B-.
City and state efforts to repair and update some of the nation’s most vulnerable bridges improved the bridge category, and short-term federal funding improved several categories. However, improvements are not all due to government. Increased private investment for efficiency and connectivity helped rail’s grade improve.
I got an idea– We declared war on poverty and got more poverty. We declared war on terror and got more terrorist. We should declare a war on infrastructure, jobs and money
I seem to recall that the Obama Regime pitched an $867,000,000,000 “stimulus spending” program on the taxpayers a few years ago as a fix for our aging infrastructure AND the economy. That money was to go for “shovel ready” jobs.
Whatever happened to that massive spending by the Regime? Nearly a Trillion taxpayer dollars.
I’ll give you a hint – it went to public sector payrolls.
Yes, where did all that money go?
PUBLIC SECTOR PAYOFFS you say?
And tax refunds for illegal aliens, and free medical care for anybody and incarceration of light weight criminals, and etc,etc.
You guys are clever beyond my imagination.
Are we going to see you doing a team stand up routine in a Casino showroom?
I seem to recall that we were losing 700,000 jobs per month when this admin. took over in the midst of the greatest economic disaster since the Great Depression, brought to you by 30 yrs. of reaganomics and the GOP. Thanks to programs such as the stimulus and others, there have been 45 straight months of private sector job growth despite continued seditious sabotage by those in Congress whose only goal is the failure of our President. They think their only chance to regain power is a bad economy and they’re doing their best to provide that, regardless of the damage to our country and its citizens. You would have to be pretty stupid to want to return the policies of such proven losers.
I think we should create more jobs rebuilding our infrastructure to stimulate our recovery. Working people will have money to spend creating demand and a need for small+large businesses to hire yet more people and tax revenues will rise simultaneously lowering the deficit. This is how you grow an economy, from the middle out. Returning to the failed idiocy of the last 3+ decades is never going to work.
I’ll give you a clue, nothing is ever going to trickle down from the 1%ers no matter how many hate radio/TV multi-millionaire scamsters tell you to just “work harder, prosperity is right around the corner”.
BB, Wrong. consistent, but wrong. Here are three recognized culprits to the “housing” crash component of our economic calamity – sure there are others, these are three of the more prominent.
Community Reinvestment act.
Freddie and Fannie massive invasion into the syndication markets
Democrats Blocked reform of Fred and Fannie 2005
Do your homework.
As I have said before, and the libs keep squealing when I do, it will get worse before it gets better.
However I will add, some places/regions are already getting better. Not SLT.
CJPubworksTV,
Why would anyone believe a word you say about economics or follow one single piece of your clueless financial advice when you have such a horrible track record of failure? You also continue to blame everyone here in SLT for losing your home and all the clients you had that were stupid enough to listen to your “expert” advice, I’ll bet it was all that “squealing” from those poor folks that chased you right out of town and good riddance. Why is it our fault that you have always been wrong about politics and investing? By the way genius, that socialistic Pres. Obama’s administration has just seen another record high Dow Jones number.
On SLT . If this city council had not made some bad decisions in our recent past, (decisions that cost us money) we’d be in pretty good shape by now. Some U. S. cities are fully recovered from the recession. We’re among the laggers. I don’t like the government mentality that we must always be moving ahead. Sometimes standing firm on what we have is a good decision. The failed parking garage, the big hole, and paid parking at our best beach was bad policy caused by this mentality of moving ahead into the future.
BB,
I left the financial industry on my 50th birthday, (for the second time) I didn’t lose a single client. Read between the lines on that one… Unfortunately for my clients they lost me as many since have lamented.
Since then I spent what I had and enjoyed the early retirement. Learned myself a whole bunch of new skills too. Now I make stuff and sell it. It’s fun. Better than living the lies of the financial industry and the governments that control it. Now Obama Care and the welfare state.
No thanks.
I get buy, I sell enough stuff. It’s really lots of fun. I meet people all the time coming into the studio.
However BB, You should watch what you say, I am very skilled at understanding the law. On top of that my record is provable in court. I never had a single complaint against my U4, not one ever! Twenty years in the business and it is a litigious industry at that. And I was on the Bloody edge of it at that. My clients were not in SLT, they were in NY and SF and Sacramento NJ and Florida… 20 years, dude.
Watch yourself, I’ll take your house through the courts if you are not careful.
He’s right B. B. This is a public forum, and you could be sued for what you say in a public forum. You keep putting your words in writing, and pressing send. If C.J. knows who you are, you could receive a subpoena next week. Keep disrespecting people, and it could happen.
CJPubworksTV,
You’re not taking anything from me or anyone here in SLT, or anywhere for that matter. Your threats are just like everything else you have to offer, worthless BS. You can’t intimidate me. Go ahead and sue me if you want to try. You’re out of your league.
tahoe Pizza Eater, You too.
In ’06 California passed a bond initiative that was touted, by yes a sort of Republican Gov., and by a Democratic Leg., as something that would “rebuild California’s infrastructure!”
Then we got the Obama almost Trillion $ ‘investment’ in our infrastructure. I thought CA didn’t need any of the ‘investment’, because we already had the money to rebuild our infrastructure?
And then after all that, we still have a failing infrastructure? Whatever the causes of the financial collapse, and anemic recovery, lack of infrastructure spending can’t be one of them!
So I guess the answer to the question of, “How much spending is enough?”, is quite simply, “More!”
Maybe we should should just take the Dams out, let nature manage the earths ‘infrastructure’ and follow a possibly less costly and more sustainable approach. If we add it all up – how much of human supported infrastructure has really secured our survival on the planet?
Learn more Jan 7th on Nat Geo TV 10pm, as the Earthgym emerges (The Legend of Mick Dodge)
and why do you people not share your photo and real name when making comments? i feel like I am at a costume party.
Jacquie let me guess, the show is right after a show on the devil’s triangle and before a show about big foot.
Do you really not know why many people have to have an anonymous screen name?
J. C. If you intend to post comments here, you’d be wise to use an alias too.
CJ is plagiarist.
No reason to trust anything they say.
Bitter, CJ and the other Pro 18th Century Con-artists… ARE YOU KIDDING ME! You can’t just change history to suit your CON at any cost agenda.
The only “failed stimulus” was the $2.4 Trillion Dollar Iraq-Destroy-and-Rebuild Plan from 2003 started by that “War Loving Bush Jr Regime.” The real “stimulus” that got the United States out of NEGATIVE GDP and back to POSITIVE GDP in just SIX (6) MONTHS was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And, It included over 30% in tax cuts.
AMERICAN NEWFLASH: Housing is booming, unemployment is dropping, Stock Market is booming to record highs, America is out of Iraq, we are leaving Afghanistan, we did not get into new Wars in Libya or Iran, Syria has turned over its WMD gas to the British and the United Nations, poor people are able to sign up for Affordable Health Care. Detroit is selling automobiles at a fast rate. We don’t live in polluted filth like the Chinese, Indonesians, Malaysians and Indians do.
And don’t come off with some lame Health Care Website garbage after Target was HACKED and over 40 Million Target Customers had their credit card numbers being sold in Ukraine last week… Thank you Free Markets for that one.
CONS need to stop with the doom and gloom… it doesn’t work any more.
Well I’m glad to hear that times are so good that the Fed doesn’t need to keep dangerously expanding its $4Tril, balance sheet at the rate of $75B/month. Now that’s a financial time bomb!!
CNBC (not exactly a right-wing rag) did a very good piece on how the Fed. program has been trickle down economics on steroids, except it’s barely trickled down!
Even the ardent Obama supporters I know, because they want to engage in a rational discussion, concede the health care roll out was a disaster, and that the post-recession growth cycle has been anemic. They concede that, because they know I’ll concede Obama came into a bad situation. (But with the caveat that while a Republican was in the White House when the economy tanked, Democrats were in control of Congress.)
Anyway, it’s not a false choice between bloated, excessive, wasteful govt., and no govt. at all. We absolutely need govt!! It’s about valuing taxpayers hard earned $, and doing what can be done to control costs. Something, that Yes, Republicans have been far from successful at!
This story, though, is about infrastructure. And it clearly illustrates that lots of money does not guarantee results! In spite of throwing lots of govt. $ at the situation, just like with schools, we haven’t gotten an improved situation!
And even Obama was caught mocking the results of his stimulus, when he cracked about the lack of shovel-ready jobs!
So times aren’t great. But hopefully we will be able to sustain even our current low level growth before & after the ‘Fed Bubble’ bursts?!
Glad we agree PARKER, times are much better in the USA then any other place on Earth. Debt as a percentage of GDP is fallng fast. I did not get hacked by Target. And, our schools in SLT are in much better shape then the Nevada side.
Yep Rock,
We do agree! It’s much better here than in Socialist Europe and Canada! So we can end the risky Fed money pumping, asset inflating, savings destroying, has us thinking over $3/gallon is a good price for gasoline, and it’s just giving us a fake sugar high, policy!
And I meant to say in my previous post, 4th paragraph, “It’s a false choice”.
Merry Christmas!
Sure think Parker. Socialist Europe, Russia, China, South America, Africa… did I miss a continent? Australia? Hey, why don’t you throw your hat in the ring to take over at the FED? I mean, you seem to want to stop this and that… maybe they would accept your resume. As far as the “sugar high.” The United States has been on an inflated sugar high since slavery began in America. Cheap slave labor built the economy of the South and the White Slave owners were made millionaires via slaves and the Cotton Gin. Somehow, we just keep moving forward.
Real economic recovery is local jobs for local people who put it back in the local economy. I believe all summer long, the only “local” companies I saw working on the streets were STUPD and once Haen Engineering. Granite was the biggie, not to mention Disney(?) a few times. right to work, lowest bidders, whatever the reason, but a good show of out of towners taking the money out of town. Big jobs, big contractors, yet I am sure with a little local coordination we could of provided a lot of work for a lot of small local contractors and kept most of that money right here locally.
Rock, you put words in my mouth, and then you seem bothered when I site you?
You say the US is the best place on Earth. Great! Then we don’t need to try and imitate all these Socialist Countries! Something Obama and the Dems keep trying to do!
Plain & Simple, if things are so great, the Fed wouldn’t feel the need to engage in an unprecedented intervening of the economy! Period!
And to interject to the tragic history of Govt. Sanctioned Forced Labor/Freedom Depriving rights of human beings, makes no sense. And has nothing to do with the unprecedented money pumping the Fed has been undertaking!
If Govt. spending worked so great, the US, and CA, would have the best infrastructure in the World! And if the economy was doing so great, the Fed wouldn’t feel the need to keep supporting it!
PARKER. We would have the best infrastructure in the world if we did not spend our money on Wars and Defense budgets. Slavery built the country and primarily the South. Everyone seems to know this except you.