All in a Word

In another example of useless politics, we got word today that the Republicans in Congress are priming their base to interpret President Obama's anticipated call in tonight's State of the Union speech to "invest in infrastructure" as "spending as usual." Here we have a very real, objective, documented problem that has consequences for everyone in the nation whether you travel over bridges in the course of your day or if you produce or consume any goods shipped on highways that cross them. What is the response? Belittle the call to solve the problem because it is coming from a president of another party. It would be easy to characterize this as childish and silly if it weren't such a serious problem.

The taxpayers have paid to assess the quality of the infrastructure--we know how bad the roads and bridges in the nation are. We know they will not fix themselves. We know what happens when a bridge fails (as it did in Minnesota a few years ago.). We know what gaps in heavily used infrastructure means to the efficiency of our economy. What we get is word games to score political points.

Our nation needs an approach to infrastructure upgrades on a par with what we did to put a man on the moon beginning 50 years ago. We need to devise the means to correct the worst infrastructure problems in each of the 50 states in a fair and objective way. We need criteria that speaks to both national and local interests. We need to stop playing the games and begin fixing things.

To do so will result in innovation in materials, techniques and design. To do so will put people to work immediately and for a period of time that will allow the level of workforce in infrastructure building and repair to expand and contract in a way that won't disrupt the economy.

Will that take tax money? You bet, a bunch of it. We will get back a third of the salary we pay each worker in state and federal taxes. Each company of builders and material suppliers will pay taxes, too. The salaries will flow through the economy creating more jobs and more opportunity.

This should be done through creation of fixed interest 30 year infrastructure bonds. Why? First, we should be attracting some of those trillions of dollars in off shore bank accounts not being used to build anything. And because it makes sense to pay for things like highways, bridges, etc. over a long period. If a bridge lasts 50 years, what is wrong with amortizing the cost of it over 30 years of its useful life?

If the Congressional Republicans want to disparage the word "infrastructure," how about "stewardship?" That means taking care of your stuff. Just as we take care of our homes and businesses, our cars, our tools and guns, we have a responsibility to take care of our infrastructure. And, Congress? That's what we elected you to do. If you want to play word games, get a Scrabble Board.