Redefining the Debt

  I'll have another candidate ready for you all this afternoon, meanwhile, we must continue to think about the issues that are shaping this election.  

I've been thinking a lot about what Romney's been saying on the campaign trail.  He's been putting a lot of energy into the budget deficit and the national debt that we'll be passing on to our children and grandchildren.  I worry about that too, Mr. Romney, but I think we have some more pressing issues.  Never mind that your plan will grow that debt while insuring your pals in the one percent contribute less and less.

So, we're worried about the national debt that we're passing down to our kids.  Perhaps it's time we took a look at what else we're leaving for them.  Romney and Team Red have been barking and barking about the "failed stimulus."  What was that stimulus package really?  It was an investment in ourselves.  President Roosevelt pulled us out of the Great Depression by investing in us.  We built new roads and interstates.  We invested in new schools and improvements to our infrastructure.  We put Americans back to work by investing in our country--and it worked.

What do we have now?  One in four of our nation's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.  Our nation's bridges are usually built to last for about fifty years and the average age of a bridge in the US is now 43.  As of 2008, of the 600,905 bridges in the US, one in four rural bridges were determined to be deficient, and one in three urban bridges were labeled deficient.  The urban issue is more significant, given the amount of wear and tear on those bridges.  More traffic equals more use, and a lot of that use is by large trucks carrying freight.  Truck miles have almost doubled in the past 20 years.  Of the three trillion vehicle miles traveled in the country over bridges in the past year, 223 billion of those miles are accounted for by trucks carrying increasingly heavy loads.

Never mind the inconvenience of a closed bridge and having to re-route to the average Joe.  This is costing us all money, not only personally, but it is a waste of tax payer dollars when school buses and public works vehicles have to be re-routed.  Not to mention the safety issue when emergency services have to detour, taking more time to reach individuals in need.  It's just common sense that we need sound structures to drive over.  This is an area that we must address, and soon.  This area of our infrastructure is woefully underfunded.  So--we're passing unsafe bridges on to our kids.  

In 2004, we spent a peak of $29 billion on public schools in our country.  By 2007, that spending had declined to a little over $20 billion.  There really hasn't been much reliable data collection on repairing schools in over a decade, but the National Education Association estimates that it would require $322 billion to bring our schools up to an acceptable standard.  Our nation's schools, especially the ones in inner cities are crumbling.  So, we're passing lousy school buildings off to our kids--now.  And they'll only get worse for our grandkids.  

It is estimated that there is an $11 billion shortfall in upgrading the facilities that process and purify our drinking water.  Our facilities are growing old and are reaching the end of their usefulness.  Leaking pipes alone lose an estimated 7 billion gallons of clean drinking water a day.  We're leaving our kids to clean up the mess so they can have clean drinking water.

4,000 dams in the United States have been declared deficient, including 1,819 rated as a high hazard.  For every high hazard potential dam we repair, two more are declared deficient.  Demand for electricity has risen 25% since 1990, and an estimated investment of $1.5 trillion may be needed by 2030 to continue to repair and reinforce our electrical grid.  Poor road conditions cost motorists $67 billion dollars a year in repairs and operating costs.  All of this we're leaving behind for our kids to deal with.  And the list goes on and on...hazardous waste disposal, solid waste management, levees, aviation, etc...

So, Team Red has a problem with the stimulus package?  And they're worried about the national debt they're passing on to the next generation?  If they're truly concerned about a national debt being passed on, they only need look out their front door to find it.  We owe our kids a country that isn't crumbling from the foundations.  They deserve a country that is solid, and well built.  We have to start investing in ourselves.  Not only will we benefit from a stronger country--so will our kids.  Investing in us will put us back to work with good-paying jobs.  This is a common sense move, and the Republican resistance is nothing more than obstructionism.  It is a stubborn refusal to move the country forward.  After all, in the words of Mitch McConnell, "Our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term."  
Team Red needs a time out to get their priorities straight.  Vote straight blue in November and invest in us.