More Than Infrastructure is Falling Apart in America

If you search what is falling apart in America all you get is hundreds of references to the Infrastructure is falling apart.  I know the infrastructure is falling apart and it has been falling apart for decades.  It is estimated to take 3.6 trillion dollars to repair America’s infrastructure.  The President’s 2019 Budget gives a prominent place to infrastructure policy.  It proposes $100 billion matching funds to state and local governments, as well as $50 billion in funding to rural infrastructure and 50 billion in other infrastructure funding. The Administration plan revolves around a $1.5 trillion spending goal and only $200 billion would come from the Federal Funding.  I am concerned about the $100 billion in matching funds from the States where will it come from. Many states are near bankrupting. Where is the Federal money coming from? All of this on top of the fact that politicians spend less in real cost than they did 15 years ago for infrastructure.

My concern is will it come from Social Security Funds.  The very people who are barely surviving and do not use the infrastructure as much. President Trump, whom I support, has mentioned the booming cost of Social Security and pensions must be brought under control before the problem can really be addressed. The President has suggested higher fuel taxes. It has not been raised since 1993. President Trump has proposed Private Partnership. I think that is a good idea.  Private corporation spend their money to build and repair infrastructure and charge a toll until the project is paid for.  The government regulates the toll charge.

The problem with the Private Partnerships along with state and local participation is the Democrats want the Federal Government to have control over these projects when it comes to bidding, construction and after the construction is finished.  I guess it makes it easier for them to steal funds for their pet projects. They claim they want to make sure the environment is protected.  I also want to note Obama’s stimulus plan failed miserably.  He claims the shovel ready jobs were not shovel ready as he thought and got a big laugh out of it.


We have 15,500 hazardous dams and 2170 are rated as dangerous and must be repaired immediately.  A whopping 45 billion dollars is needed just to repair the dams. There are 67,500 bridges with structural defects. There are 200,00 bridges over fifty years old. Many of the water pipes have been in use for more than 100 years and due to leakage two trillion gallons of water is wasted each year.  The problem cannot be ignored for 50 more years like Washington politicians have done since the 60’s.

Franklin Roosevelt spend a large sum of money for infrastructure in the 1930’ and no large sum of money was spent again until 1950’s and 1960’s for interstate highway systems.  That infrastructure has outlived its life expectancy and we are still using them today.  Also note it was the Republican Administration’s that really tried to address the issue under Eisenhower, Reagan and Trump, but could not get support from the Democrats.

The Democrats are determined not to give the President anything to boast about before mid-term elections.  Politics over country as usual. Democrats claim private partnership would only be interested in funding projects that could produce a toll and they are against that.  I believe something is better than nothing.  Private partnership would certainly help.  Democrat’s do not like the idea because Trump proposed it. Many countries have been doing this type of financing for years.

Robert Farris a former Federal Highway Administration head claims that when the Federal Government participates in any transportation project the cost automatically goes up at least 30%.  He is talking billions of dollars a year wasted because of Washington’s involvement.  One cost increase is the Federal Government requires Union wages to be paid and that alone increases the cost by 22%.  Obama had a law past that any large projects had to hire only Union employees. Nixon had a law passed that requires extensive environmental reviews which has delayed project up to ten to fifteen years. This causes the original cost to be void and the construction cost increases at least 10 percent.  Local bike trails and running trails come out of the Transportation Fund instead of States budgets and cost 2% of the infrastructure budget.  The FHWA and DOT duplicate work at a cost of about 400 million dollars a year.

Who is really responsible for the infrastructure problems today?  It is the politicians for they pass the buck to another Administration for they know the American people do not like to spend money. Therefore, they ignore the problem while they are in office.  The American people do not like to see their money wasted by politician’s but, they are willing to pay when the money is used in a way that benefits them, without waste. The politicians get a D minus for their approach to the infrastructure problems and our present infrastructure is rated at D minus, the same as it got in 2013, by experts.

I think the only solution is to get Private Partnerships involved as President Trump proposed. All projects will not be suited for private partnerships, but many will. Airports should charge a usage tax to the people using the airport outbound.  This would help offset building and maintenance of airports.  The delay now will be Congress has already passed a two-year budget and any additions would take about two years to get approved.  I wish the President would have veto the first budget and if it meant shutting the government down then shut it down. The way I see it we are about $1.4 trillion short in funds needed and funds available.

Tomorrow or in a few days I will comment on how I think our societal problems are contributing to America falling apart.

PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS ONLY MY THOUGHTS AND I RESPECT YOUR THOUGHTS.  I DO NOT PROFESS TO HAVE THE SOLUTIONS. I DO KNOW IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE REPUBLICANS CONTROL THE HOUSE AND SENATE IF PRESIDENT TRUMP CONTINUES TO MAKE PROGRESS – DO NOT FORGET TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER.

Does a middle class still exist in the U.S.A.?

 After World War II the American middle class grew. The recession of 2008 struck America and the middle class started its decline. As the number of people in the middle class shrunk the number of people living in poverty grew. “Outsourcing” became the norm for corporate America.

I remember talking with a Southwestern Bell Telephone service man in my office one day. He was talking about the jobs that were being lost in the telephone company to outsourcing. He told me at one time there were information operators working in the Texas City area and now their jobs had been sent to India. I could not believe it. He picked up the phone and dial information and handed me the phone. He instructed me to ask for someone’s number and when they give it to you ask them where they are physically located.  At first the person did not want to tell me her location, but then she reluctantly said India. Out sourcing was a large factor that contributed to the decline of the middle class. Technology has made it cheaper and as fast to route a local call to India where labor is cheaper.

The nations economy grew, but the average Americans income shrank.  The rich stayed rich, the poor stayed poor and the middle class started to disappear. A man name Milton Friedman, an economist, was most responsible for this and he never held an elected office. Friedman believed corporations should have only one goal and that was make a profit for their shareholders. President Reagan bought in to his lower taxes and less regulation theory. Friedman was against the government controlling anything related to the economy.

Perhaps the problem originated by a man that had opposite views of Friedman and he was John Maynard Keynes. President Roosevelt bought into Keynes ideas and the “New Deal” was born. Keynes believed the government should borrow money and put people to work in public service building roads and bridges. His theory was put people to work earning money and they will be less cautious with their money and retail sales will increase and the economy as a whole will increase. Keynes supported the idea of lower interest rates so people who had money in savings accounts in banks would move them to more risky investment paying better dividends. Keynes ideas seem good following the depression, but the problem, which is common with government programs, the programs never end they just grow larger. Politicians seem to always take everything either not far enough or too far.

The “New Deal” in my opinion was a contributor to today's “Welfare State”.  Anytime a government program is not working politicians do not really seek solutions to the problems because it is easier for them to throw more tax payers money into the failed program. Other peoples money is always the politicians solution to problems.

I do not think their has ever been a government program where politicians looked at the long term effects before making it a policy or set dates to terminate programs once they no longer served a purpose. If they have it meant nothing because they will simply extent the program when it ends.  

I blame the government for the depression and the current recession.  Both involved the government limiting bank loans which reduced the supply of money, which reduced economic expansion. I have a problem with income inequality being what it is today, but the government made income inequality possible. Only the super rich had access to money.

I support government regulations to a point. But, as I said earlier politicians always carry everything too far or not far enough. They want to try and make everyone happy in order to win the next election. We need term limits.

Friedman opposed all government regulations when it came to the market place (I support some). He opposed the F.D.A. (their regulations have gone too far). He opposed farm subsidies (I do now). He opposed holding corporations responsible for any adverse effect they had on communities (they should be responsible for the damage they create). He opposed National Parks (I support National Parks, but concede the Federal Government owns too much land). He opposed the military draft (I support the draft). He opposed privatizing the postal service (I support privatizing the postal service). He opposed government monopoly on public education (I am not in favor of taxes paying for private education, but I do support parents choosing which public school to send their children to and I support the firing of unqualified teachers). He opposed Social Security and favored privatizing the retirement income system ( I am not in favor of that at this time). He opposed welfare (I oppose welfare which does not require people to do government work to earn it. I oppose free handouts, except for physical and mental problem which make working impossible). He opposed the ban on illegal recreation drugs (I support the ban). He opposed state-run companies (I agree with him). He opposed trade tariffs and quotas (I support trade tariffs and quotas).

I do not think the government is the solution to every problem. Unfortunately many Americans have come to believe the government is the solution to every problem. Unions and the government created inflation. What difference does it make how much your pay increases if the cost of living goes higher?  What have we gained? We have done nothing but price ourselves out of the International work force. Every time wages go up prices go up. Should the government fix prices on medicine and medial care – maybe! I do not really understand how I can buy the same medication in the Philippines for ½ or less of what it cost in America. I know inflation is why I pay $100 for a doctors visit in the U.S. and pay $6 in the Philippines. Do not tell me it has anything to do with the quality of care the doctor gives.  ALL my doctors got their degrees from the University of Texas Medical College or University of Alabama in Birmingham, Alabama. They all have licensed to practice medicine in Texas or Alabama and in Germany.

I am against corporation putting profit over everything else. If you investigate every corporate scandal it always leads back to executives putting profit above workers, communities or the country. Greed is celebrated in the corporate world today.

I am for limited government, but I am not for total unlimited government. Corporate greed comes when all restrictions are removed. Environmental destruction, income disparity all come when there are no restrictions. BALANCE is the key and politicians do not know when to stop or how far to go.