This is an old Republican strategy. It’s called “The Two Santa Claus Theory”. The idea is to spend like crazy giving your side what they want while your in power and then screaming bloody murder about the national debt when the other side takes over. Sort of neener neener we spent all the money so all the workers/poor can just suck it. It’s worked for forty years.
Are tax cuts, “thoughts and prayers”, filibustering, obstructing Congress by not bringing a bill to vote, denial, and austerity actually working to repair our infrastructure? Is it because only the 99% depend on a functional infrastructure, while the 1% can work around it? Or are the “originalists” only thinking in terms of 18th-century infrastructure?
The F-35 jet fighter program cost 1.5 trillion dollars, and the aircraft is useless.Two such programs would just about take care of most of our infrastructure. The newest aircraft carrier is another boondoggle.
It’s a shame that people like MontanaBill have no concept of the importance of human capital as a driving force on the economy. Infrastructure development that ignores human capital is worthless for building a healthy society.
You’re going to hear this from me a lot; It has nothing to do with the cost.
Our Federal and state budgets are used as a tool to promote, or limit, social and cultural change.
When in power Democrats fund programs which they feel help social change and Republicans do everything they can to halt or reverse any perceived change. It isn’t about HOW much money is spent. It’s all about the MANNER in which it is spent.
Our Federal, state and even city budgets should be basically eternal. Look how long China, Egypt and India have been around. Every continent has cities going back millennia. We should be planning budgets that last for decades, even centuries. Not weeks or months at a time.
slightly old article from 2017 but I doubt things have gotten all that much worse
“Government statistics show that our infrastructure isn’t actually crumbling. While conditions vary from state to state, the most recent data on highway quality (from 2012) classify 80 percent of urban highways as either good or acceptable. For rural highways, the figure is almost 97 percent. Meanwhile, the quality of bridges has improved as well. In 2004, 5.7 percent of bridges were classed as structurally deficient, meaning that the bridge isn’t unsafe but that it could suffer from a reduction in its load-carrying activities. By 2014 that number had declined to 4.2 percent.”
It’s true that anyone who can actually do handyman work and knows what they are doing has all the work they can handle. The people who would benefit from a CCC type program would be those who would do the hard labor under the supervision of the guy who actually knew how it should be done. The IBEW and similar unions should even give preference to those who had completed those programs successfully. They would have gained experience that would give them a leg up on completing their training, and the unions would also know that they were getting guys ( and now days, gals) who were willing to show up everyday, sober, and ready to work.
The party that opposed the election results, that supported an armed insurrection, doesn’t approve of the current president’s infrastructure bill? Who knew?
If I recall correctly, both the CCC and the WPA were stomped on by the Supreme Court…along with most of the other trying to help projects Roosevelt tried…but it took time for the challenges to them to work their way up through the Judicial ladder, so they all did at least some good. FDR lost his temper about this (VERY understandably!!), and tried something I am sure he later deeply regretted. It was a court-packing to the max idea. The Court’s average age was even higher than it normally is, at that time. Roosevelt wanted to “relieve the stress” on the large majority of older justices, by having additional justices appointed for every regular justice 70 years old or older. I don’t know exactly how big that would have made the court, but it would have been about 14 or 15, I would imagine. Obviously, it didn’t pass Congress, despite a big Democratic majority…Congress then, though hardly composed of angels, was less disgustingly partisan than it is now. Many in Roosevelt’s own party felt that while this would have helped desperate Americans initially, it would have ultimately been a catastrophe for the Court, and for the Constitution.
The circumstances that Roosevelt faced were unique. Banks were shutting down. Depositors were losing their life’s savings. Businesses were running out of enough cash to keep going. At least 25 percent of American workers were unemployed. Many Americans felt it was a national emergency.
“When Roosevelt took power on March 4, 1933, many influential Americans doubted the capacity of a democratic government to act decisively enough to save the country,” writes historian Anthony Badger in “FDR: The First Hundred Days.” “Machine guns guarded government buildings. The newspapers and his audience responded most enthusiastically to Roosevelt’s promises in his inaugural to assume wartime powers if necessary. That sense of emergency certainly made Congress willing to give FDR unprecedented power.” Adds political scientist William Leuchtenburg in “The FDR Years”: “Roosevelt came to office at a desperate time, in the fourth year of a worldwide depression that raised the gravest doubts about the future of Western civilization.”
The new president immediately established a new, infectious atmosphere of optimism. Even Sen. Hiram Johnson, a Republican from California, conceded, “The admirable trait in Roosevelt is that he has the guts to try…. He does it all with the rarest good nature…. We have exchanged for a frown in the White House a smile. Where there were hesitation and vacillation, weighing always the personal political consequences, feebleness, timidity, and duplicity, there are now courage and boldness and real action.”
Roosevelt immediately called Congress into special session and kept it there for three months. He found that the Democrats who were in control were eager to do his bidding, and even some Republicans were cooperative. Raymond Moley, a member of FDR’s inner circle, said many legislators “had forgotten to be Republicans or Democrats” as they worked together to relieve the crisis.
FDR quickly won congressional passage for a series of social, economic, and job-creating bills that greatly increased the authority of the federal government—the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), which supplied states and localities with federal money to help the jobless; the Civil Works Administration (CWA) to create jobs during the first winter of his administration; and the Works Progress Administration, which replaced FERA, pumped money into circulation, and concentrated on longer-term projects. The Public Works Administration (PWA) focused on creating jobs through heavy construction in such areas as water systems, power plants, and hospitals. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) protected bank accounts. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided jobs for unemployed young men. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TWA) boosted regional development. Also approved were the Emergency Banking Act, the Farm Credit Act, and the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).
So, in the spring of 1935, Roosevelt launched a second, more aggressive series of federal programs, sometimes called the Second New Deal.
In April, he created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to provide jobs for unemployed people. WPA projects weren’t allowed to compete with private industry, so they focused on building things like post offices, bridges, schools, highways and parks. The WPA also gave work to artists, writers, theater directors and musicians.
In July 1935, the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act, created the National Labor Relations Board to supervise union elections and prevent businesses from treating their workers unfairly. In August, FDR signed the Social Security Act of 1935, which guaranteed pensions to millions of Americans, set up a system of unemployment insurance and stipulated that the federal government would help care for dependent children and the disabled.
In 1936, while campaigning for a second term, FDR told a roaring crowd at Madison Square Garden that “The forces of ‘organized money’ are unanimous in their hate for me – and I welcome their hatred.”
RAGs about 3 years ago
Probably last upgraded under FDR…
Daeder about 3 years ago
There are the high costs of things we need, like infrastructure.
And then there are the high costs of things we don’t need, like excessive military spending.
Guess which one conservatives are worried about and don’t want to “waste” money on?
hermit48 about 3 years ago
This is an old Republican strategy. It’s called “The Two Santa Claus Theory”. The idea is to spend like crazy giving your side what they want while your in power and then screaming bloody murder about the national debt when the other side takes over. Sort of neener neener we spent all the money so all the workers/poor can just suck it. It’s worked for forty years.
Patjade about 3 years ago
The rhetoric is certainly old and outdated.
Ontman about 3 years ago
Wasn’t the former guy talking about infrastructure for years? ONLY talking mind you.
walfishj about 3 years ago
Infostructure spending should be regarded as an INVESTMENT not an expense.
superposition about 3 years ago
Are tax cuts, “thoughts and prayers”, filibustering, obstructing Congress by not bringing a bill to vote, denial, and austerity actually working to repair our infrastructure? Is it because only the 99% depend on a functional infrastructure, while the 1% can work around it? Or are the “originalists” only thinking in terms of 18th-century infrastructure?
FrankErnesto about 3 years ago
The F-35 jet fighter program cost 1.5 trillion dollars, and the aircraft is useless.Two such programs would just about take care of most of our infrastructure. The newest aircraft carrier is another boondoggle.
morningglory73 Premium Member about 3 years ago
It is necessary to take care of our infrastructure or we will come tumbling down in pieces literally. It’s overdue.
martens about 3 years ago
It’s a shame that people like MontanaBill have no concept of the importance of human capital as a driving force on the economy. Infrastructure development that ignores human capital is worthless for building a healthy society.
Durak Premium Member about 3 years ago
You’re going to hear this from me a lot; It has nothing to do with the cost.
Our Federal and state budgets are used as a tool to promote, or limit, social and cultural change.
When in power Democrats fund programs which they feel help social change and Republicans do everything they can to halt or reverse any perceived change. It isn’t about HOW much money is spent. It’s all about the MANNER in which it is spent.
Our Federal, state and even city budgets should be basically eternal. Look how long China, Egypt and India have been around. Every continent has cities going back millennia. We should be planning budgets that last for decades, even centuries. Not weeks or months at a time.
codak about 3 years ago
slightly old article from 2017 but I doubt things have gotten all that much worse
“Government statistics show that our infrastructure isn’t actually crumbling. While conditions vary from state to state, the most recent data on highway quality (from 2012) classify 80 percent of urban highways as either good or acceptable. For rural highways, the figure is almost 97 percent. Meanwhile, the quality of bridges has improved as well. In 2004, 5.7 percent of bridges were classed as structurally deficient, meaning that the bridge isn’t unsafe but that it could suffer from a reduction in its load-carrying activities. By 2014 that number had declined to 4.2 percent.”
https://reason.com/2017/02/09/federal-infrastructure-spendin/
rlaker22j about 3 years ago
even Jesus said there will always be poor people
Diane Lee Premium Member about 3 years ago
It’s true that anyone who can actually do handyman work and knows what they are doing has all the work they can handle. The people who would benefit from a CCC type program would be those who would do the hard labor under the supervision of the guy who actually knew how it should be done. The IBEW and similar unions should even give preference to those who had completed those programs successfully. They would have gained experience that would give them a leg up on completing their training, and the unions would also know that they were getting guys ( and now days, gals) who were willing to show up everyday, sober, and ready to work.
FrannieL Premium Member about 3 years ago
The party that opposed the election results, that supported an armed insurrection, doesn’t approve of the current president’s infrastructure bill? Who knew?
tatra1233 about 3 years ago
If I recall correctly, both the CCC and the WPA were stomped on by the Supreme Court…along with most of the other trying to help projects Roosevelt tried…but it took time for the challenges to them to work their way up through the Judicial ladder, so they all did at least some good. FDR lost his temper about this (VERY understandably!!), and tried something I am sure he later deeply regretted. It was a court-packing to the max idea. The Court’s average age was even higher than it normally is, at that time. Roosevelt wanted to “relieve the stress” on the large majority of older justices, by having additional justices appointed for every regular justice 70 years old or older. I don’t know exactly how big that would have made the court, but it would have been about 14 or 15, I would imagine. Obviously, it didn’t pass Congress, despite a big Democratic majority…Congress then, though hardly composed of angels, was less disgustingly partisan than it is now. Many in Roosevelt’s own party felt that while this would have helped desperate Americans initially, it would have ultimately been a catastrophe for the Court, and for the Constitution.
Frankfreak about 3 years ago
Republicans may also be against the infrastructure bill because it will provide jobs for many immigrants.
ferddo about 3 years ago
Odd to see Biden driving here, since he usually takes the train… and as President now he is chauffeured…
Lola85 Premium Member about 3 years ago
Did I read correctly that only 5% of all that money has been actually designated for the infrastructure? That’s the main thing that’s been touted.
Scoutmaster77 about 3 years ago
What’s the problem? Weren’t corporate boardrooms just upgraded a few years ago?
briangj2 about 3 years ago
The circumstances that Roosevelt faced were unique. Banks were shutting down. Depositors were losing their life’s savings. Businesses were running out of enough cash to keep going. At least 25 percent of American workers were unemployed. Many Americans felt it was a national emergency.
“When Roosevelt took power on March 4, 1933, many influential Americans doubted the capacity of a democratic government to act decisively enough to save the country,” writes historian Anthony Badger in “FDR: The First Hundred Days.” “Machine guns guarded government buildings. The newspapers and his audience responded most enthusiastically to Roosevelt’s promises in his inaugural to assume wartime powers if necessary. That sense of emergency certainly made Congress willing to give FDR unprecedented power.” Adds political scientist William Leuchtenburg in “The FDR Years”: “Roosevelt came to office at a desperate time, in the fourth year of a worldwide depression that raised the gravest doubts about the future of Western civilization.”
The new president immediately established a new, infectious atmosphere of optimism. Even Sen. Hiram Johnson, a Republican from California, conceded, “The admirable trait in Roosevelt is that he has the guts to try…. He does it all with the rarest good nature…. We have exchanged for a frown in the White House a smile. Where there were hesitation and vacillation, weighing always the personal political consequences, feebleness, timidity, and duplicity, there are now courage and boldness and real action.”
Roosevelt immediately called Congress into special session and kept it there for three months. He found that the Democrats who were in control were eager to do his bidding, and even some Republicans were cooperative. Raymond Moley, a member of FDR’s inner circle, said many legislators “had forgotten to be Republicans or Democrats” as they worked together to relieve the crisis.
(To be continued)
briangj2 about 3 years ago
(Continued)
FDR quickly won congressional passage for a series of social, economic, and job-creating bills that greatly increased the authority of the federal government—the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), which supplied states and localities with federal money to help the jobless; the Civil Works Administration (CWA) to create jobs during the first winter of his administration; and the Works Progress Administration, which replaced FERA, pumped money into circulation, and concentrated on longer-term projects. The Public Works Administration (PWA) focused on creating jobs through heavy construction in such areas as water systems, power plants, and hospitals. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) protected bank accounts. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided jobs for unemployed young men. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TWA) boosted regional development. Also approved were the Emergency Banking Act, the Farm Credit Act, and the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).
https://www.usnews.com/news/history/articles/2009/02/12/the-first-100-days-franklin-roosevelt-pioneered-the-100-day-concept
(To be continued)
briangj2 about 3 years ago
(Conclusion)
So, in the spring of 1935, Roosevelt launched a second, more aggressive series of federal programs, sometimes called the Second New Deal.
In April, he created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to provide jobs for unemployed people. WPA projects weren’t allowed to compete with private industry, so they focused on building things like post offices, bridges, schools, highways and parks. The WPA also gave work to artists, writers, theater directors and musicians.
In July 1935, the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act, created the National Labor Relations Board to supervise union elections and prevent businesses from treating their workers unfairly. In August, FDR signed the Social Security Act of 1935, which guaranteed pensions to millions of Americans, set up a system of unemployment insurance and stipulated that the federal government would help care for dependent children and the disabled.
In 1936, while campaigning for a second term, FDR told a roaring crowd at Madison Square Garden that “The forces of ‘organized money’ are unanimous in their hate for me – and I welcome their hatred.”
https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal