Joe Conason urges Democrats to promote a jobs program repairing our long-neglected infrastructure in The National Memo.
Considering how incessantly all politicians blather about jobs and how badly we need them, it is remarkable how little most of them actually do to increase employment. Much of what they’ve done in Washington over the past few years has achieved precisely the opposite, in fact – which leaves voters understandably cynical about government’s capacity to address an ongoing economic calamity.
But what would happen if at least one party’s leadership decided that jobs truly must be created, as soon as possible – and that the perennial crisis of decaying infrastructure must be addressed at the same time? This year, Democrats ought to seize the chance to find out.
Anyone who has been paying attention ought to know the dire facts about U.S. infrastructure: Far too many of our roads, bridges, transit, schools, pipelines, airports, and seaports are outdated – or even in danger of falling apart. Our estimated shortfall in infrastructure financing is roughly two trillion dollars or so over the coming decade. Once the nation with the best transportation structures in the world, the United States has dropped below a dozen or more competitors.
As an example, civil engineers report that it is nothing short of miraculous that there have not been more disastrous highway bridge collapses like the one on I-35 in Minnesota a few years ago. With jobs scarce, government spending on infrastructure to stimulate the economy is a no-brainer.
Cross-posted from The Sensible Center
http://thesensiblecentercom.blogspot.com/2014/01/its-infrastructure-stupid.html