Some, yes. As long as THEY get to control it.
Posted on 08/02/2007 8:52:59 PM PDT by Kaslin
Government: Bodies hadn't even been pulled out of the river in the Minneapolis bridge collapse before President Bush was being blamed. But sticking it to Bush is infantile. Civic priorities are what need re-examination.
As a matter of fact, the president cannot repair every pothole or monitor the soundness of every bridge in the U.S. at the federal, state and local level. Would anyone really want a federal government that was that all-powerful and controlling?
But that doesn't seem to matter when a failure occurs, as horrifically happened with the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in urban Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Already some have leveled blame at the president. Even before records are examined as to the whys and wherefores of the Minnesota disaster, Bush is being criticized for America's decaying urban infrastructure. It's all so easy.
Conventional wisdom among Bush-haters has it that "Bush's" war on terror is pulling funds from necessary national infrastructure projects and letting the country fall apart. Democratic demagogues used this to good end in the Hurricane Katrina disaster that hit New Orleans, and then echoed it with the devastating tornado that flattened 99% of Greensburg, Kan., this past May.
Now that another disaster has hit, this time in Minneapolis, the same fact-free finger-pointing is starting:
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
As long as Clinton accepts the personal blame for the 2002 Alabama bridge disaster, I can live with it being “Bush’s fault.”
This has nothing to do with the President. It all boils down to the MN department of transportation.
Oh good grief. We have some real twits running around this country.... calling themselves “informed”.
Infrastructure costs are basically paid via the gas tax. Gas tax revenue does not go toward defense department activities.
If they’re criticizing Bush, what they’re really criticizing him for not raising the gas tax. So where were the Democratic bills to raise the gas tax and pay for more infrastructure projects? If they weren’t pushing to raise more revenue, then how can they criticize Bush?
Furthermore, Democrats have been pushing for years to divert gas tax revenues to support non-automobile transportation, such as mass transit. I-35W was not a subway; it was a highway used by automobiles. Why didn’t the Democrats divert money from mass transit boondoggles to support infrastructure repair?
Finally, THE BRIDGE WAS BEING REPAIRED, WHICH PROBABLY WAS A FACTOR IN ITS COLLAPSE!!!! Are they suggesting that not repairing it would be preferable? That goes against their complaint.
Let me be rude here. The Constitution outlines the responsibilities of the federal government, one of which is the maintainance and construction of “post roads” and other transportation infrastructure, so I have no problem with the feds taking the heat for this one, and in the larger scheme of things, the roads are pretty good in this country compared to many of the places I’ve traveled around the world.
The problem is that the federal government is now involved in my classroom curriculum, whether or not teenage girls cross their legs on a date, building some congressman’s Museum of the Mushroom in Mississippi, and telling McDonald’s to inform me about how much fat is contained in every burger. So much money is going to so many different things that are none of the business of the federal government that it is not surprising when there isn’t enough money or manpower to get the things done that need to get done.
Unfortunately, I’m in a tiny minority on this one.
But don't forget the MN governor is a republican. If the libs can't pin this on Bush, they'll go after Pawlenty. BTW, I don't know what even Pawlenty could have done. The bridge was already rated poorly in 1990. According to the news there are a LOT of bridges that carry this rating.
Something like $15 billion dollars was sunk into that hole in Boston. I am sure there are interstate bridges in Massachusetts that were not fixed because of money that was diverted to that boondoggle.
That should be the lead statement in every news report.
Interstate highways are built, with mostly federal funds, by the states where they are built. Maintenance and testing remains a state responsibility forever.
Assuming many states are incompetent, the inspection by federal engineers is simply an oversight function to assure that maintenance is not ignored.
You can lead a horse to water, etc...
I am totally tired of listening to this coverage.
Enough already!
Money was being spent on this bridge. Don’t forget that there was a construction crew actually working on it when it went down. Maybe they should have been working on the structure instead of the surface, but it’s stupid to insinuate Iraq has drawn money away from this bridge.
Rude and ignorant is no way to go through life.
Can you point me to the specific article in the Constitution?
If interstate highways is a federal Constitutional obligation, why did it take 160 years for Eisenhower finally to initiate the interstate system?
In California, the governator will be ecstatic to learn that the feds have sole obligation for maintaining interstate highways.
Just saying.
The war in Iraq has absolutely nothing to do with how MN-DOT spends its allocation.
Last November, the voters of this state agreed by referendum to constitutionally encumber vehicle sales taxes for road repair. One wonders if that includes bridges. The Legislature also passed a gas tax increase which was vetoed by Pawlenty.
I feel these are debates the people of Minnesota need to have. Along with the one about how much money state government spends on things that are none of its darn business. Somehow, I think only one of these debates will actually happen.
Meanwhile, to assess blame, especially when there are bodies still in the Mississippi River is gutter politics at its worst, and unfortunately what we have come to expect from the left.
One incident on September 11, 2001 (if I remember correctly) did more damage to the American infrastructure than all the supposed negligence of the past hundred years.
You raise an interesting point. We are back to the old Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist debate. Who has the responsibility for maintaining the roads, bridges, etc.? The Federal Highway Act of 1956 might be able to shed some light on this subject.
George Bush doesn’t care about Norwegians.
Exactly, but in their hate for President Bush, the left can't help themselves but to blame everything on the president whether it is his fault or not
It’s not just Bush. It’s Pawlenty, low-tax Republicans, you name it. The bile on the Red-Star Tribune’s blogs today was just incredible. As long as Democrats have someone to hate, they’re happy.
Oh please, every time a disaster happens these people blame it on Bush. They don’t think and consider the REAL reasons why it happened, they just immediately blame the president, even on things completely unrelated to politics. If there were a Rat in office they’d be silent. Hypocrisy, hypocrisy...the lifeblood of the left.
That describes out modern news media to a tee.
Ed Schultz Blames Bush For Minnesota Bridge Collapse and click on he
Someone had to say it. LOL
A coworker (Indian, Muslim) blamed DIVORCE on Bush. I haven’t laughed or put a person in their place like that in long time. Just insane thinking.
Now how much did that new stadium cost them?
>>>>>>>The Constitution outlines the responsibilities of the federal government, one of which is the maintainance and construction of “post roads” and other transportation infrastructure, so I have no problem with the feds taking the heat for this one, and in the larger scheme of things, the roads are pretty good in this country compared to many of the places I’ve traveled around the world.
Rude and ignorant is no way to go through life.
Can you point me to the specific article in the Constitution?
If interstate highways is a federal Constitutional obligation, why did it take 160 years for Eisenhower finally to initiate the interstate system?
In California, the governator will be ecstatic to learn that the feds have sole obligation for maintaining interstate highways.
Just saying.>>>>>>>
Please read Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. This is the section that enumerates the specific duties of Congress which includes the power to “establish Post Offices and Post Roads.”
Much of Section 8 is taken up with the power of Congress to regulate commerce between the United States and other nations and between the states. The federal government has always been involved in building the infrastructure for that commerce, starting with the Cumberland Road and the C and O Canal. (Yes, the canal was a complete failure.) The post roads of the late 18th century were the interstates of the era. The federal government helped the railroads expand westward. When cars came into common use, the federal government helped fund paved roads - like US 1 and Route 66. The interstate highways are part of that continued heritage. For the most part, building roads and bridges has been a positive and legitimate use of federal power.
My point is that many of our current problems would vanish if Congress simply restricted themselves to the enumerated powers outlined in Section 8. Of course, Pres. Franklin Roosvelt grabbed onto the notion that providing for the “general welfare” meant the establishment of socialism, and here we are.
I suppose they will use this to sink Pawlenty’s chance at becoming VP.
Meanwhile the politicizing is sickening.
Maybe Democrat politicians screaming the loudest, all of whom were in Congress during the 1990s, should be looking at themselves to see who is to blame for this disaster.
The Feds, and the State of Minnesota, have plenty of money, the problem is they misuse far far far too much of it.
MN Dot and the state politicans that, during the 1990s, wasted $1 billion building a light rail line, that start about 1 mile from this bridge, from downtown Minneapolis to the Minneapolis Airport
The State of Minnesota, and the Feds, collects plenty of gas tax. The problem lies in what they waste it on.
The really sick thing is the terminal for this billon dollar boondogle is about 1 mile from this collapsed bridge.
Bush signed a highway bill with a bridge to nowhere and countless other earmarks for worthless projects - he did not demand that highway spending be truly need-based.
Congress? They allowed the earmark culture of corruption to fester.
The federal DOT? Don't make me laugh.
Minnesota? They knew in 1990 that the bridge was deficient - and, even though it was the most highly-travelled bridge in the state, three administrations - including indepenent Jesse Ventura - did nothing to replace the bridge.
Local governments? They want light rail. New stadiums. But money for a critical bridge replacement? Not our problem - don't want the Twins to leave town just because a bridge needs to be replaced.
And one would think that government agencies would have learned from the Columbia disaster that you do, indeed, need to be concerned about the small stuff in critical systems - whether it be falling foam or corrosion/fatigue in a bridge with no design redunancy.
So this bridge collapse is, IMO, an indicator of just how rotten government and government institutions have become in the 40 years since it was built.
And the voters only have themselves to blame in the end. We keep sending the same lame-assed wankers back to Congress and state houses time and time again.
Pawlenty threw in with McCain. So I guess I wouldn’t support him anyway.
And yes, the politicization is sickening.
And they want to control healthcare?
This list is from Nealz Nuze this morning regarding MN -
Let’s take a look at Citizens for Government Waste’s “The Pig Booklet” for the state of Minnesota for the year 2006. Take a look at all of the “pork” projects. I’ll give you a taste of a few:
The state bailout of the Minneapolis Teacher’s Retirement Fund, which puts state taxpayers on the hook for $972 million in unfunded liabilities
A new $776 million Twins Stadium to be paid for with a Hennepin County sales tax increase — (approved by state legislators with no voter referendum)
$97.5 million for the Northstar Commuter Rail line
$34 million in subsidies to ethanol producers that have seen a 300 percent increase in profits in the last year
$30 million for bear exhibits at the Minnesota and Como Zoos
$12 million to renovate the Shubert Theater in downtown Minneapolis
$1 million for a replica Vikings ship in Moorhead
$500,000 for a skating rink in Roseville
$310,000 for a Shakespeare festival in Winona
$129,000 for state art grants for North Dakota museums and theaters
And the list goes on and on, folks. This was all tax money spent in Minnesota while that bridge remained un-repaired. Now we’re told that the problem is that taxes weren’t high enough.
Some local guys had a Bush hater call in and blamed the money being spent in Iraq for the collapse of the bridge.
This woman said it was the gov’t’s responsibility to maintain the bridges, and she had no clue that there was any separation between state and federal gov’ts. “They’re the gov’t, aren’t they”?
This is probably VERY representative of your avg “Bush Derangement Syndrome” carrier.
Do they not teach government in publik skools anymore?
I'm with you.
The federal governement should defend the borders, address foreign threats, and fix the roads.
That's it.
Some, yes. As long as THEY get to control it.
This says it all in a nutshell. They want to gripe, point fingers and blame...but abdicate themselves in the process.
I'm not familiar with that. What happened?
Do you have a link?
I'd like to toss that one back at some liberal friends who are doing the 'blame Bush' dance.
Wait a minute! Did you just suggest a TAX HIKE? Turn in your FR secret decoder ring and hang your head in SHAME.
Minneapolis voters unwisely supported spending 50% of state gas taxes for mass transit (a misnomer) which carries maybe 2% of the population.
While it may be politically sexier to get photo op shots in front of new trolley stations than to fund the drudgery of infrastructure maintenance, the unintended consequence is that people die because of misallocated taxpayer dollars.
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