Quote:

---

Fresh from a battle with House Republicans over aviation funding, congressional Democrats led by Sen. Barbara Boxer will soon clash with their GOP counterparts over highway and mass transit programs. The potential jobs at stake for California — and the nation — dwarf those of the airport funding scrap.

Federal funding for highway construction and repair, as well as mass transit, expires Sept. 30, at a time when some say infrastructure improvements are a great way to put people to work in a struggling economy.

When lawmakers return from their August recess, House Republicans led by Florida Republican John Mica want to pass new legislation that cuts funding for those programs by 33 percent to 36 percent. http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110808/NEWS0301/108080312/House-GOP-
wants-billions-cuts-road-funding Kee-riste, with our infrastructure crumbling around us, THIS is what they want to do? Gimme a break!

Their recent bill would raise disaster money (which they previously cut), but at the cost of state funds for disaster preparedness, among other things (like cutting grants for clean energy vehicles).

The logic escapes me.

Quote:

---

Such are the incentives of the American political system. The Pentagon spending $50 million on a "lightning weapon" that doesn't work is business as usual but making sure our bridges are sturdy enough to withstand strong tropical storms is a low priority.

---

In New York

Quote:

---

The commuter rails are crippled. The airports -- especially JFK, which practically shuts down any time the wind picks up -- are shut down. Thousands of outer-borough residents and many of the nearby suburbs are completely without power. These are some of the oldest cities in the country, and their power and water and transportation systems show it.
.....
Finding the cash to turn the NYPD into a paramilitary international intelligence agency is no problem. Replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge will take another decade. And replacing a bridge is at least a big, sexy project that state legislators love. It's even harder to get people excited about addressing sand erosion in Rockaway Beach.

---

For some information on our low infrastructure spending and the political incentives that got us here, check out http://www.economist.com/node/18620944?story_id=18620944 It's truly sad, what's happening to this country.