Today’s White House blog post documents the revival and resurgence of the American auto industry that was once believed to be on the verge of extinction. The whole story is explained in the following three simple gifs.
Image courtesy: Whitehouse.gov
Image Courtesy: Whitehouse.gov
Image Courtesy: Whitehouse.gov
Apparently, the American public have the least amount of trust in their political overlords. New polling from Gallup shows car salespeople actually maintain a decent-sized advantage on Congresspersons when it comes to “honesty and ethical standards.” What’s more interesting? That’s actually a slightly smaller gap in than in 2013, when it was 66-47. So, it is not all that bad, right? Click here for the full story.
Image Courtesy: Washington Post. Click the image for full story.
It should be maddening for any tax payer in the country to see how the public dollars are spent wastefully on projects that are not really benefiting the community. Today’s Washington Post story on one such wasteful spending measure shows how badly the lawmakers manage the money, despite the pressure to not do so from the administrations (incl. current and the previous administration ). It explores an obscure federal program established by Congress in 2000 allows tiny airports to draw $150,000 in federal funds every year. The article uses Oklahoma’s Lake Murray State Park Airport as a case study. This issue of wasteful spending takes added importance as the public are nervously watching what’s going to happen with the looming sequestration (scheduled to kick in on March 1) as the country is embroiled in a tough political battle to avoid further slide. Brilliant reporting.
And a few interesting nuggets from this Washington Post story:
Pres. Bush opposed continuing the program but the Tea Party dominated congress decided to continue with it.
Source: Center for American Progress
Amidst all the exhaustive and bitter political battles that rage day after day over the weak fiscal health of the nation, there are so many little things that slip away from the attention of tax paying public. And here is one such that I happened upon via twitter.
Guess what?
Just by eliminating a tax loophole that gives special treatment to corporate jets, for example—at a cost to taxpayers of $3.2 billion over 10 years – Congress could avert cuts that would cost thousands of jobs, hurt millions of disadvantaged students, and force hundreds of thousands of vulnerable families to lose critical nutrition and housing supports this year.
Information nuggets such as this make me wonder why our Politicians find it so difficult to act to avert painful cuts (in $$ that eventually affect middle and lower-income families) by taking a more balanced approach to deficit reduction. Corporations are people too? Not really (but the highest court in this land says otherwise). As CAP notes, “Unless Congress acts, on March 1 automatic and indiscriminate spending cuts will hit key programs, costing our economy more than 1 million jobs and cutting essential services for millions of low- and middle-income families.” That leaves me with this question: Will the politicians be rational for a change and do the right thing for the country? Or, will they continue to squabble and be addicted to doing their habitual partisan battles? Time will tell. Sigh!
House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., will introduce the committee’s multi-year surface transportation reauthorization proposal tomorrow — Thursday, July 7, at 11 a.m. Eastern time. According to Chairman Mica, the bill will not only reauthorize and reform the nation’s federal highway, transit and highway safety programs, but will also make significant improvements to passenger and freight rail programs and maritime transportation policy. “This fiscally responsible, multi-modal initiative would streamline federal programs, cut red tape, better leverage our federal resources, make wise investments in our infrastructure and create needed jobs for Americans,” according to the Chairman. The rollout event is scheduled to last approximately 90 minutes. Live video of the event will also be available at www.transportation.house.gov by clicking the “Live Webcasts” link.
Streetsblog Capitol Hill reports that Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, wants transportation reauthorization bill passed soon in order to avoid the loss of 600,000 jobs in the construction and transit industries. She issued a call to action this morning, pushing for a new bill before the current extension of SAFETEA-LU expires on September 30. Though she had initially pushed for a six-year bill, Boxer made it official that the EPW proposal is for a two-year bill that will only cover current funding levels plus inflation—about $109 billion over the two years.
At today’s press conference, Boxer focused mostly on the urgency of saving 500,000 construction sector jobs and 100,000 transit jobs, citing new Federal Highway Administration stats about the ramifications if Congress passes Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget, with its 30 percent cuts to transportation. Boxer’s aides pulled out charts detailing just how many jobs would be lost in each state (See Chart here), and Boxer pointed to the over 43,000 that her home state of California would shed. Click here to read the rest on Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Note: And I found this interesting nugget on infrastructure spending on the EPW Press Release. It shows we have a long way to go to match the Chinese: According to a report by the Department of the Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisors, the United States currently spends 2 percent of GDP on infrastructure, a 50 percent decline from 1960. Meanwhile, China is spending close to 9 percent of their GDP on infrastructure.
Update Courtesy: ITS America
As the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee continues to work on finalizing its six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill in anticipation of an early July introduction, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has announced plans to introduce the Senate version of the bill during the week of July 11, hold hearings the week of July 18, and is expected to proceed with a Committee mark-up on July 27. The Senate bill, which is rumored to be a two-year bill instead of six, is expected to face a $12 billion funding shortfall which would require the Senate Finance Committee to come up with additional revenues before the legislation could be passed. Committee staff continues to craft the bill in a bipartisan fashion with their most recent work focusing on a freight section. ITS America is working closely with Senate staff to include provisions that would promote greater deployment of ITS.
On the House side, T&I Committee majority staff continues to work on their bill but have provided limited details as to what specific policies and programs will be included. Speculation continues about the time frame for moving a surface transportation bill through the House, with Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA/7) taking heat for not including the reauthorization bill in a June 10 memo to House Republicans outlining key pieces of legislation that will be debated on the House floor this summer. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association obtained the memo and has posted the document on its website here.
Meanwhile Congressman Richard Hanna (R-NY/24), Vice-Chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, joined ITS America’s Congressional Roundtable members for breakfast to discuss ITS and the transportation reauthorization bill. As a businessman who spent nearly three decades in the construction industry before being elected to Congress, Rep. Hanna stressed the need for technology solutions that can help public agencies do ‘more with less’. The Congressman made note of Portland, Oregon as an example of a city that is investing in ITS to help create a more efficient, user-friendly transportation network, while acknowledging the pressure many agencies face to roll out more visible ‘bricks and mortar’ projects. He also said the “argument is building daily” for investing in transportation as a means to create jobs and bring down the nation’s high unemployment rate. Read more about the Congressional Roundtable in the AASHTO Journal.
(Source: Imgur via Reddit.com)
Apart from being grossly offensive and filled with egregiously flawed language, I also noticed that this mobile museum of conservative ideology is held together with a lot of tape. Yeah, I mean there is a lot of tape.. enough to wrap the entire planet.. Would be great to have an interview with the owner and the community that allows parking for this vehicle. Also, I wonder aloud if there is any statute that prohibits operating a vehicle with so many offensive things slapped on it..Oh, well. American politics never gets boring. Thanks, Reddit. I could not have find such artful expressions elsewhere..
(Source: Huffingtonpost; The Washington Monthly)
Let me make this clear upfront that my intention is not to make a political statement with this post. I’m simply trying to find a reason and logic (possibly seek help from others to find these elements in our society). Today’s Huff post had this article
“…On Tuesday morning, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that she wants to redefine exactly what an earmark is. Specifically, she said, transportation projects should not be placed under the umbrella. Advocating for transportation projects for ones district in my mind does not equate to an earmark,” said the Minnesota Republican. “I don’t believe that building roads and bridges and interchanges should be considered an earmark… There’s a big difference between funding a tea pot museum and a bridge over a vital waterway.” The Star-Tribune notes that Bachmann “did solicit some earmarks when she first came to Congress” but “has been outspoken in pushing House Republicans to continue an earmark moratorium enacted last year.” But transportation funds are vital for job creation. And it seems likely that the reality of having a major spigot cut off is a bit frightening to even the self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives on the Hill.
Isn’t that what the White House was trying to accomplish via the Stimulus package – revitalize our nation’s infrastructure with targeted spending? Why did they take so much flak and blame for out of control spending? If such selective exclusions are to be made for one sector (i.e., transportation), why not make it possible for other sectors (i.e., agriculture, education, etc.)? Does this mean Ms. Bachmann would be supportive of building a High-speed rail network, which is identified (and funded) by the White House as an important piece of the nation’s future growth strategy, if it is funded as an earmark? Are Earmarks are bad, unless they’re going to Ms. Bachmann’s district? Cutting spending is good, except for the “legitimate projects that have to be done.”Are we missing something here?
Hmmm… Who knew Germany would improve its relationship so much with the rest of the world after what the country did during World War II. A report released on August 25th by Henley & Partners, a consultancy, shows that Britons have the fewest visa restrictions of the 190-odd countries (and territories) for which data are available.
You maybe have 25 or 35% of the space of any promotional material given over to a health warning. These warnings would be graded depending on the emissions from the vehicle, with the worst gas-guzzlers carrying the most severe warnings. It would have to counter the impression given by some manufacturers that their vehicles are greener.
We are in a four-stage process of addressing the challenge of climate change, as Britain was in a four-stage process meeting the challenge of Adolf Hitler: denial, appeasement, phoney war then total war. I believe we are staggering between appeasement and phoney war at the present time. Our effort is improving, but in dribs and drabs, suggesting that we’ve not entirely convinced ourselves that the threat is real. It is as if we have grasped that the scientific debate has been settled but the hard, practical choices still have to pass through a multitude of sceptical arguments.”
