Location Transport

Doesn't building 'new roads and bridges' just mean only new or additional *construction* jobs? ?

Is this really the way out? So you have 1 bridge out of 100,000 + (guess) that fails. Are they really that bad. those are pretty good odds How about that switch to Natural Gas proposed by T Boone Pickens?* (I hate the guy, as he funded the Swift Boat con that allowed Bush 4 more years of disaster) Take us off mideast oil? Isn't that more important than smoother roads? Doesn't improving roads and bridges sound like a total waste of money? The ones I drive on are fine! What about a big shift to public/rail/ light rail transportation instead? It all sounds pretty stupid...an it's just going to employ 70% hispanics..thats the picture of the construction business now in many places in America If you were President, where would be the 4 areas of business stimulation, would you address or enhance to create more jobs?

Public Comments

1. Do you know how many *construction* workers are currently unemployed because nothing is being constructed?
2. IT MEANS PURE F'N CORRUPTION WHEN NANCY PELOSI AND HER SORRY DEMOCRATIC ALLIES GIVE CONTRACTS TO THEIR SUPPORTERS ONLY. WHAT WILL BE THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF THAT INFRASTRUCTURE REBUILD? HOW MUCH MORE WILL THE POLAR ICE CAP MELT? HOW ARE WE GOING TO PROVIDE THE ENERGY FOR IT...THEY SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO USE NUCLEAR OR COAL FIRED ELECTRICITY SINCE THEY DETEST IT SO MUCH! WHAT A BUNCH OF LOSERS IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY!!!!
3. I thinking building new roads and bridges is a good idea. It is what FDR did to help America out of the Great Depression, and many of our bridges date back to then. Also, it will create a lot of construction jobs, which pays more than the food service and retail jobs that the Bush administration has largely counted on for its job creation numbers. Finally, if we are ever going to wean ourselves off of oil, we will have a lot of infrastructure to construct for the alternative forms of energy. Windmills, dams, and nuclear power plants do not build themselves.
4. There are also the jobs involved in producing and transporting the construction materials. I don't know why all the focus is on roadwork though.
5. you also have to consider the effect the employment opportunity will have on the economy as a whole. more tax revenue, more income for people to spend on goods/housing/services, relief on unemployment benefits, etc. I think you meant to mention illegal immigrants, not hispanics. There has been a lot of state legislation cracking down on immigrant employment that imposes heavy fines on employers for employing wabs. If Obama is serious about straightening out the American economy he should take steps to ensure these jobs do go to legal workers.
6. But Obama promised his flock jobs.Well here they come,good hard meaningful jobs that bring change to America.Putting people to work,dosen`t that sound good.Can`t backtrack now,if you voted for Barry,he has a bridge for you to build.Change is good.
7. Its all about infrastructure ok if you don't like obama but you really don't know what infrastructure entails so here goes and you'll be educated ok its much more than bridges . the supplier behind it the sub contractors and their supplies the accoutnants the engineers the laborers hope this waste waterso you wont sound like a sore loserfor the 2008 elections. Infrastructure- typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, wastewater, power grids, flood management systems, communications (internet, phone lines, broadcasting), and so forth. In the past, these systems have typically been owned and managed by local or central governments. These various elements may collectively be termed civil infrastructure, municipal infrastructure, or simply public works, although they may be developed and operated as private-sector or government enterprises. Viewed functionally, infrastructure facilitates the production of goods and services, e.g. roads enable the transport of raw materials to the production plant and distribution of finished products to markets
8. And who's going to pay for it? Yep. The American tax payer. Guess our taxes are going up!
9. You say the roads and bridges you drive on are fine ... That's what the people in Minneapolis thought before the bridge collapse . There are thousands of bridges that are not receiving the maintenance they need . The infrastructure has been ignored for so long ,nobody knows what's safe anymore ... but everything seems fine , until inspectors finally get around to checking things out or the bridge you're on falls into a river or dikes give way and New Orleans is under water . Fixing the infrastructure is not a waste of money . It's necessary . Like maintaining your car is necessary. It's maintenance on America. If you changed everything to rail transportation , The railway systems would still need the maintenance that roads do .Think about it .
10. Dont you like to do real work? Maybe you can clean the biffies.
11. i have one bridge my wife goes over every day that penndot fixed, they put big cones up so you can only go over one side, 20 ft. steel. another was in the news yesterday a 61 footer, steel. a drunk hit an end of it and the center just went down to creek, i'd say we have a little neglect
12. 2.5 M jobs to boost infrastructure. Sounds good. Who's going to do the work? Who's going to do the oversight? Who's going to pay the salaries and wages? How about NO to light rail. That's fine for those folks that live in densely populated areas. But what about people who live in rural places. Bypass Natural gas and go straight to solar, wind, and nuclear. You want green. Start making it just as good but cheaper. You make it just as good and cheaper and I'll buy it. A business simulation to create jobs? How about get government off the back of business. Let businesses succeed or fail without government intervention. If people take out mortgages they can't afford let them default. If lenders loan money to people they know probably will fail to pay back let them eat the paper.
13. The 46,000+ mile Eisenhower Interstate System (roads and bridges) is about 50 years old; there are also a lot of 70-year old bridges and roads from FDR's time. They're crumbling and fatigued in so many places. It's estimated that about 25% of the bridges in California alone are in perilous condition. And Louisiana has the most bridges of any state in the country. The damage that they cause, just in terms of potholes) flat tires, axle and suspension damage, etc.), slowed-down traffic (lost productivity; increased gas consumption; pollution), road rage, etc. Hi-speed rail: great idea. Estimated cost for a Sacramento-to-San Diego hi-speed rail: $40,000,000.... per MILE. That's 20 BILLION. Today. Yes, stuff like that is needed. But it serves a much smaller universe of riders and is only a point-to-point transit system. Not something to be ignored, but sensible planning will incorporate it into a comprehensive trans plan, not an either-or confrontation. Any large-scale construction scenario, rail OR highway AND alternative energy plan has ancillary benefits to people and to the economy: workers pay taxes on their salaries, they buy trucks and gasoline and tools and meals and beers and work-clothes, etc., all of which support cafe-owners, clothing stores, gas stations (or plug-in stations), hardware stores, diners and taverns, etc etc etc, It's called "the multiplier effect" which means for every dollar paid as infrastructure investment, it has the effect of injecting $8 into the economy (please feel free to adjust / correct that figure if -- IF -- it's not accurate). It also takes people off of unemployment, maybe even gets some off of welfare and food stamps, too. THAT'S trickle-through economics. FORGET trickle-down (which has an elitist / plantation kind of ring to it anyway, don'tcha think?). FADS are trickle-down. TRENDS are bottom-up. Fads fade. Personally, I'm for trends: they last. #1 focus: Infrastructure. #2: Meaningful banking reform and regulation. #3: Green energy (solar, wind, thermal., hybrids, algae, biofuels, tidal, etc.) #4: Education reform, placing forgotten emphasis on science, math, music-and-arts and physical education: "Mens sana en corpore sano" ("A healthy mind in a healthy body").