After Killing a 6-Year Highway Construction Bill, Obama Calls for a Highway Construction Bill!

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2011

One and a Half Years After Killing a 6-Year Highway Construction Bill, Obama Calls for a Highway Construction Bill
Kucinich Says Congress Should Support New Call

WASHINGTON - August 12 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement after President Obama called for a road construction bill so that “companies can put tens of thousands of people to work right now building our roads and bridges and airports and seaports.” Kucinich said Congress should support the call.

“I agree that we desperately need to put Americans back to work rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. The current status of our highway system, which was once a crown jewel of our nation’s transportation infrastructure, has fallen into disrepair. According to a recent report by the American Society of Civil Engineers, continued deterioration of America’s surface transportation infrastructure will cost more than 870,000 jobs and increase transportation costs by more than $400 billion by 2020.

“It is noteworthy that while the President now accuses Congress of dragging its feet on a Transportation Appropriations bill, it was just one and a half years ago that the White House prevented Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN), the then-Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, from bringing a comprehensive highway funding bill to the floor.

“Mr. Oberstar’s bill had bipartisan support. It would have made a $500 billion dollar, six-year investment in the infrastructure and economy of America. It would have put Americans back to work. The White House blocked the bill.

“I am glad that President Obama now recognizes the desperate need for a road construction bill. The question which remains is how hard he will push to make it happen given that only a year and a half ago he opposed a bill that would have created millions of jobs in infrastructure repairs.”

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http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=255966


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House plan to create 6 million jobs to rebuild transportation infrastructure rejected by White House

The Obama administration had a real opportunity to push for and pass a bold transportation infrastructure plan two years ago.

They blew it. This is what I posted on August 15, 2010. BBI:

500 billion plan to upgrade U.S. transportation hits federal pothole
By SCOTT SMITH
Scott Smith is director of strategic initiatives for HNTB Corporation
KansasCity.com
July 13, 2009

Our roads, highways and bridges are crumbling under the strain of overuse and old age.

But a comprehensive solution may have encountered a bottleneck that will postpone for 18 months or longer a push to correct the sorry state of our surface transportation system. Delay is something we can no longer afford ....

We find ourselves in this predicament because we have not had a national transportation plan since the interstate highway system was launched in 1956.

U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat and chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, addressed these huge needs by introducing the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009. Oberstar proposes spending $500 billion over the next six years to transform our antiquated system into the reliable, sophisticated network we need to safely and efficiently move people and goods.

The legislation would provide approximately:

•$337 billion for highway construction, including at least $100 billion to begin long-awaited repairs to our national highway system and bridges.

•$100 billion for mass transit, including $12 billion for repairs.

•$50 billion to fund 11 high-speed rail corridors linking major metropolitan areas.

The total investment would create or sustain about 6 million family-wage jobs, many here in the Midwest as our region continues to grow in importance as a transportation hub.

Unfortunately, Oberstar’s bill has collided with a proposal put forth by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The secretary wants Congress to pass an 18-month highway authorization bill that would put off a comprehensive, long-term solution and instead perpetuate a piecemeal mix of half-measures and temporary remedies for our nation’s transportation woes.

This collision need not turn into a pileup — if we make the right choice. Oberstar’s approach is the right way to go.

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/1322647.html


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Will Oberstar’s Grand Highway Plan Stall?
By Colby Itkowitz, CQ Staff
June 27, 2009

Oberstar recently made public the outline of an authorization bill for the government’s highway and transit programs that he hopes will be the capstone of his long legislative career: a six-year, $450 billion package he describes as rivaling President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s creation of the Interstate Highway System more than a half-century ago.

The approximately 800-page draft measure that Oberstar has been refining for months envisions an ambitious overhaul, consolidating more than 100 individual federal programs into four broad categories, while pumping billions of dollars into new highway and high-speed rail projects. Most significant, it would require that federal money be spent to achieve specific goals and measures — cutting congestion in a city by a particular amount, for example — rather than distributing it only by formula among states or through congressional earmarks.

This moment, which is the apex of his political career, could not have come at a worse time for a chairman who puts such a high value on policy purity and such a relatively low value on political posturing. It’s been clear for months that President Obama and Oberstar’s fellow Democrats who are higher up in the congressional power structure are in no hurry to tackle a multi-year highway and transit bill, because they would have to find a way to pay for it — and the White House has said a flat “no” to the notion of raising the gasoline tax, even temporarily, as Oberstar has proposed.

In fact, no sooner had Oberstar arranged to release an outline of his proposal than Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood went to Capitol Hill to reveal the administration’s own plan: an 18-month extension of current programs combined with a few of Obama’s favorite ideas — nothing like the full-blown overhaul of which Oberstar dreams.

“They cut the legs out from under him,” said the top Republican on Oberstar’s committee, John L. Mica of Florida.

It’s not that Oberstar wasn’t warned about how difficult it would be. At the very outset of this Congress, his party’s leaders sharply limited his role in assembling the economic stimulus bill (PL 111-5), which Oberstar and others thought was tailor-made for financing transportation projects that could quickly put people to work. He had written his own proposal and held hearings, gathering testimony from economists and from state and local leaders who vowed that investments in transportation infrastructure were the greatest short-term stimulus. But as the measure grew, Oberstar was edged out, and transportation became just a sliver in the overall package.

Obama, congressional leaders and governors no doubt agree with Oberstar that the nation’s road and rail networks are in desperate need of repair and expansion. But persuading them to pay for it is another matter.

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/1322647.html

Sorry. These are old stories so the newspaper links are no longer available. But here's the link to the original post on Democratic Underground:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8948717&mesg_id=8949890

and will of course omit his killing the other project.

Thus the uselessness of "the List".

America Goes Dark
By PAUL KRUGMAN
August 8, 2011

The lights are going out all over America — literally. Colorado Springs has made headlines with its desperate attempt to save money by turning off a third of its streetlights, but similar things are either happening or being contemplated across the nation, from Philadelphia to Fresno.

Meanwhile, a country that once amazed the world with its visionary investments in transportation, from the Erie Canal to the Interstate Highway System, is now in the process of unpaving itself: in a number of states, local governments are breaking up roads they can no longer afford to maintain, and returning them to gravel.

And a nation that once prized education — that was among the first to provide basic schooling to all its children — is now cutting back. Teachers are being laid off; programs are being canceled; in Hawaii, the school year itself is being drastically shortened. And all signs point to even more cuts ahead.

In effect, a large part of our political class is showing its priorities: given the choice between asking the richest 2 percent or so of Americans to go back to paying the tax rates they paid during the Clinton-era boom, or allowing the nation’s foundations to crumble — literally in the case of roads, figuratively in the case of education — they’re choosing the latter.

Read the full article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/opinion/09krugman.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

You're not suggesting that Krugman lied and just made that up .... right?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704913304575370950363737746.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-02-03-gravel-roads_N.htm


I gather you don't like Krugman, but he's not a liar.

a next county over is debating to turn several paved roads back to gravel. most if not all county roads in this part of northern illinois have been paved in the last 20 years. i`ve noticed that there`s roads that have`t been maintained for several years and are falling apart.

and this is what happens when there is no money for maintenance.

raise and pay taxes to cover maintenance of the roads. Maintenance costs $$.


Here are a couple of idiots....

<snip>
Judy Graves of Ypsilanti, N.D., voted against the measure to raise taxes for roads. But she says she and others nonetheless wrote to Gov. John Hoeven and asked him to stop Old 10 from being ground up because it still carries traffic to a Cargill Inc. malting plant. She says the county has mismanaged its finances and badly neglected roads.

I'd rather my kids drive on a gravel road than stick them with a big tax bill," said Bob Baumann,

But higher taxes for road maintenance are equally unpopular. In June, Stutsman County residents rejected a measure that would have generated more money for roads by increasing property and sales taxes.

<snip>

These people want the maintenance but they want it for free....this is bullshit. It's just convenient to blame the President for the state failing to tax because they are pushed so far right.

I resided close to Henry County. It's major "city" was New Castle, Indiana. During the years I lived there (in a nearby county), we could always tell when we entered Henry County, by the pot-holes in the roads (especially the county

roads). Seriously, in some areas they were nearly impassable, depending on your vehicle and the damage it could withstand. In the two years before I moved, the county began "repairing" these roads using a gravel mixture referred to

as "crush and run." It is gravel, sand and a little tar. Although the amount eventually used on these roads eventually turned them in to "gravel roads," the result was that while it is more difficult to control your vehicle on gravel than tar

or cement, the roads, while dusty and damaging to your vehicle, were much safer to drive on.

I now live in TN and "crush and run" is used on many of the county roads here too. It is a shock to go from the control of a paved road suddenly to a gravel road, and it is dangerous if you are driving fast. Also, in Indianapolis, some

city roads are so full of potholes, it is dangerous and destroys your vehicle by being forced to drive on those roads daily. Wherever it regularly freezes and thaws, potholes occur quicker than in a stable climate. It is hard not to notice,

especially on county (country) roads that a return to gravel is a common occurrence (in my geographic region) as are the non-repair of potholes in urban areas.

Two days ago in my local newspaper which "serves" a city of over 200,000 people, the front page ran a story about the lack of plans to repair a 17 foot deep open "pit" on College street. The "pit" is the result of repairing sewer lines in

the area.

IDK, in "my world", it is hard NOT to notice our devastated infrastructure.

when Oberstar's bill got killed, was then an 18 month bill passed, that provided some funding and created some jobs?

"an 18-month extension of current programs combined with a few of Obama’s favorite ideas — nothing like the full-blown overhaul of which Oberstar dreams."

it seems like Oberstar should have brought the Whitehouse into discussions on his bill. How much were he and his co-sponsors lobbying LaHood and the Whitehouse on their bill?

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

it is MINE."

It's not just a vague, general idea without legislation backing it up .... right?

How much money, for what projects and over what time frame?

I'm listening.

waste your time looking for sky-colored animal droppings.

And GITMO is still open, there are still hostilities in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and possibly other -istan suffixed countries, new hostilities in Libya and Yemen, the two million jobs in infrastructure repair (one of the campaign promises as you'll recall) have yet to appear.

As we've discovered, talk really is cheap.

Oh, and don't forget the tax breaks that didn't go away as promised in that same campaign.

Santa Claus is not real, and there is no Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy.

But keep living in hope. I have come to believe "Hope and Change" is code for "Business as Usual."

Seriously.

suffixed regions rather than a cessation. "Well, I triiieed." Sell that horsesqueeze to someone who might believe it.

That might be a good campaign slogan for 2012: "I tried, but the meanies wouldn't let me." And then wipe runny nose and teared up eye for effect.

Gets *your* vote though.

You're making it easier by the day.

bumper stickers "He tried" - that's a big vote magnet.

Or a campaign slogan "And this time, I mean it"

You should go on Dylan Ratigan and pat him on the back for acting like he knows what he is talking about.
He's a former Republican bitching about Obama, too.

of things, what would it matter? This is after all, simply an internet forum - and that's all. Nothing here will change anything. Perhaps from time to time someone will type something that gets a response of "Off with thee to the greatest!" and even that goes away in a day or two.

Ignore, or not ignore, it doesn't matter.

It does matter, or you wouldn't have responded.

it's AFAIK tnis http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/appropriations/165357-kerry-sees-progress-on-infrastructure-bank-bill

Why that could repair everything in a single state .... like North Dakota!

Will that gigantic sum of infrastructure money be spread out over five or ten years?

We surely can't spend that much in a single year.

Re roads: I happened to drive on a mile long stretch of newly paved road in my city last week. It was a shock. My car didn't rattle, or bounce around on potholes and sloppy patches and huge cracks. It felt like I was floating at 30 mph. The wear and tear on our cars from these deteriorating roads is really expensive.

Roads to Ruin: Towns Rip Up the Pavement
Asphalt Is Replaced By Cheaper Gravel; 'Back to Stone Age'
By LAUREN ETTER
July 17, 2010

SPIRITWOOD, N.D.—A hulking yellow machine inched along Old Highway 10 here recently in a summer scene that seemed as normal as the nearby corn swaying in the breeze. But instead of laying a blanket of steaming blacktop, the machine was grinding the asphalt road into bits.

"When had lots of money, they paved a lot of the roads and tried to make life easier for the people who lived out here," said Stutsman County Highway Superintendant Mike Zimmerman, sifting the dusty black rubble through his fingers. "Now, it's catching up to them."

Outside this speck of a town, pop. 78, a 10-mile stretch of road had deteriorated to the point that residents reported seeing ducks floating in potholes, Mr. Zimmerman said. As the road wore out, the cost of repaving became too great. Last year, the county spent $400,000 on an RM300 Caterpillar rotary mixer to grind the road up, making it look more like the old homesteader trail it once was.

Paved roads, historical emblems of American achievement, are being torn up across rural America and replaced with gravel or other rough surfaces as counties struggle with tight budgets and dwindling state and federal revenue. State money for local roads was cut in many places amid budget shortfalls.



A road crew in Jamestown, N.D., where road repair means reclaiming the original asphalt and processing it to resemble gravel.

Read the full article at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704913304575370950363737746.html

Sid

I cannot judge if it was the right decision or not, but surely there would have been a lot of unhappy voices, and not only from the right, had gas prices been raised.

the bill mentioned in the OP wanted to raise gas taxes and supposedly that's why the administration did not support it.

and a true old-style Democrat from the days when Democrats really were the Party of the People.

He worked his heart out on that transportation bill, thinking that finally, with a Democrat in the WH, Oberstar's vision of solving a major problem and putting thousands of people to work could at last be realized. Instead, the WH cut him off at the knees, after 32 years of tireless service in the House.

We didn't get "Hope and Change", we got a Changeling. A DLC/Third Way cuckoo dropped into the Democratic nest, a brood parasite starving out the chicks who actually belong there.

sw

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Perhaps even racist!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1678224

But, nice try to change the topic!

So do you have an opinion on the lead articles?

:hi:

October 15, 2009



http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/10/15/ray-lahood/

LaHood Promises Comprehensive Transportation Bill (Mar 4, 2010)

http://www.joc.com/government-regulation/lahood-promises-comprehensive-transportation-bill



http://www.houstontomorrow.org/livability/story/obama-administration-preparing-for-comprehensive-transportation-bill/

Context!

LaHood .... said the $450 billion price tag was too high right now. “That kind of money doesn’t currently exist.”

Except trillions exist for wars, Wall Street bailouts and tax cuts for big business and the rich.

The Republicans who kept insisting we "can't afford" big jobs and infrastructure programs. And the Obama administrations response? We ran out of money and can't afford big infrastructure programs!

It's obvious the Obama administration was and remains opposed to bold plans to create jobs including spending the money needed for the nation's infrastructure. They have presented a series of bogus excuses for not fighting for such plans .... we can't afford it, we can't raise the gas tax, we can't get it passed by a Democratic controlled Congress, we have to cut the deficit, we have to find Republican support for a bi-partisan infrastructure agreement, etc.,

I get the context.

They screwed Oberstar and buried his ambitious plan.

Maybe someday it will dawn on you just how stupid that is.

to the election...then its back to same ol' same ol': Using the pugthugs as a foil to give them everything they want.

with the Rethugs having effectively overthrown the government like playground bully's.

...and the bill was put together with funding via increased gas taxes. I suppose its just as toxic now, though it was and is probably a good idea.

The Obama administration wants to start an 'infrastructure bank' so the banks can make money on building roads and bridges, instead of just paying for it with taxes like we have for decades. It creates an unnecessary middle man designed to siphon money off the taxpayers and enrich the banker class. Don't let him do it. We already have gas tax, car tax, toll roads, etc, we don't need to add an unelected, unaccountable bank in the mix.

Thanks,
Long time reader, first time poster.

You are right. That is exactly what they are doing.

And, yes, I listen to Mike Malloy. (I'm going to get all kinds of "kudos" for that one.) I do, also, do my own research. I'm not an anything "bot."

Always!

Welcome to DU..

:hi:

or some insurance corporations. We need to primary this guy.

Oh, and welcome to DU!

You read a word and made an assumption.

Any infrastructure bank would be owned and funded by the Federal Government.

And I have been paying pretty fucking gawd damned fucking close fucking attention to what is being said now.

the details of this "bank"? how will the banks make money off of this?

and now I see the same thing, with this Pander Bear - who will probably veto his own bill after the election - sigh

Oberstar's transportation bill a direct challenge to administration
by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
June 19, 2009

DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar announced a six-year, $500 billion transportation spending bill yesterday to overhaul the nation's transportation system, in direct challenge to the Obama administration's proposal to postpone significant reforms.

The Surface Transportation Authorization Act would provide $337 billion in funding for highway construction, $100 billion for public transit and $50 billion to build a nationwide high-speed rail system.

Oberstar, the chair of the House Transportation Committee, expressed frustration with the Obama administration during an interview with All Things Considered today. "The reality is that the administration does not have a program," Oberstar said. "They do not have a plan. They have not given transportation any thought. I have."

The plan would also restructure the Highway Safety Improvement program to focus on reducing motor vehicle crash fatalities and injuries, provide flexible funding to states, and fund a program to "improve air quality, reduce congestion and improve the public health and livability of communities."

Read the full article at:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/19/oberstar_transportation/

Here let me clean off your rose colored bi focals, I see you have some shit on them.

How about Roman Cement? !!!!


PLUS this is another issue of Global Warming and the damage it's doing to our roads

every winter -- huge costs!


And some of this tar/petroleum stuff on the roadways is buckling in summer?

falling on the closed eyes and covered ears of those whose horn shouts a broken record to loud to comprehend the message, much less even hear it.

truth and figure out how we can most effectively fight in defense of our rights and living standards.

despite the speed bumps.