London Bridge is Falling Down
The real deal fell so often because it had high traffic and low engineering. But that bridge was there for all intents and purposes from Roman times onwards, in various guises. People lived on the bridge, ate on the bridge and ... died there.
People also died on the bridge in Minneapolis.
"Only 4 percent of the United States' high-traffic bridges scored worse than the steel-deck truss bridge in Minneapolis that collapsed into the Mississippi River on Wednesday, according to an analysis of federal records by MSNBC.com." Given how many high-traffic bridges there are around the nation, I'd say that "only" is perhaps the wrong word. Sort of like, "you have a little bit of gangrene, sir, nothing to worry about." What is the magic number -- the 4%? 4227 bridges. That is 4227 bridges are worse that the one that fell. 4227 high-traffic bridges ripe for ... death.
More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the span that collapsed in Minneapolis and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion, The Associated Press reports. The Federal Highway Administration 5 years ago quoted the backlog (in value) of bridge repair to be $55 billion. To keep the nations bridges and tunnels in good repair would cost $75 billion, whereas $60 billion is actually being spent ... $15 billion each year is added to the backlog? And that is JUST for the federally assisted roads and such. The bill for the states is WAY higher.
OK, so we have a problem. Where's the money to come from? Well, I have heard that the Iraq number over the next 10 years will exceed a trillion dollars. Another good reason to leave the Arabs to their own devices and instead just spend extra on keeping the terrorists out of the US. It is not as if we are going to be able to catch all those who are training in other (Iran, Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, a number of 'Stans, etc.) countries anyway. Can't invade them all, so let them have Iraq too. With some of the savings, I'd establish a Border Corps, dedicated to protection of the United States -- not the namby pamby Homeland Security effort out there now, but more like the way Marines are technically "Navy". Give them the Coast Guard and build some vessels, litoral subs, fleets of interdiction aircraft/helos. Draft 19-25 year olds to patrol our border. They need some frikkin discipline anyway. You'd still have change left over for the roads, etc.
Why stop there? Let's bite the bullet, put $2 per gallon tax on gas, stamp out gas guzzlers, end our dependence on Arab oil, snuff Hugo Chavez (and any other putz who would attempt to establish another communist society in our hemisphere) and flat out threaten who ever comes next. Fix our roads, re-establish our train system and squeeze air travel. You wanna fly? You pay. You wanna drive 50 miles each way to work, you pay. Let commercial usage get a tax break on fuel. Imagine how much gas would be saved if we all but eliminated the school run? And let's give tax breaks to all who use solar heating, wind power, private hydro-electricity generation, and no taxes on any insulation products.
Here's another weird idea: PAY people who commute with 4 or more persons in their car in the high occupancy vehicle lane in the mornings and evenings. Sure, they are going to have $5 dollar a gallon gas, but they get a rebate through car pooling. London has proved that congestion charges work, although inefficiently. How about mandatory transponders on cars using the interstate -- and between 7am and 10 am, if you use the interstate system, you get hit with a charge ... say $2 dollars. If you use the interstate without a transponder, it is a $100 on the spot fine for each offense. I'll bet you'd see more people taking the train and moving closer to work. Since all this involves "interstate commerce," the Federal Government could rightfully impose it.
Ughh. And to think that Hillary looks probable.
People also died on the bridge in Minneapolis.
"Only 4 percent of the United States' high-traffic bridges scored worse than the steel-deck truss bridge in Minneapolis that collapsed into the Mississippi River on Wednesday, according to an analysis of federal records by MSNBC.com." Given how many high-traffic bridges there are around the nation, I'd say that "only" is perhaps the wrong word. Sort of like, "you have a little bit of gangrene, sir, nothing to worry about." What is the magic number -- the 4%? 4227 bridges. That is 4227 bridges are worse that the one that fell. 4227 high-traffic bridges ripe for ... death.
More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the span that collapsed in Minneapolis and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion, The Associated Press reports. The Federal Highway Administration 5 years ago quoted the backlog (in value) of bridge repair to be $55 billion. To keep the nations bridges and tunnels in good repair would cost $75 billion, whereas $60 billion is actually being spent ... $15 billion each year is added to the backlog? And that is JUST for the federally assisted roads and such. The bill for the states is WAY higher.
OK, so we have a problem. Where's the money to come from? Well, I have heard that the Iraq number over the next 10 years will exceed a trillion dollars. Another good reason to leave the Arabs to their own devices and instead just spend extra on keeping the terrorists out of the US. It is not as if we are going to be able to catch all those who are training in other (Iran, Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, a number of 'Stans, etc.) countries anyway. Can't invade them all, so let them have Iraq too. With some of the savings, I'd establish a Border Corps, dedicated to protection of the United States -- not the namby pamby Homeland Security effort out there now, but more like the way Marines are technically "Navy". Give them the Coast Guard and build some vessels, litoral subs, fleets of interdiction aircraft/helos. Draft 19-25 year olds to patrol our border. They need some frikkin discipline anyway. You'd still have change left over for the roads, etc.
Why stop there? Let's bite the bullet, put $2 per gallon tax on gas, stamp out gas guzzlers, end our dependence on Arab oil, snuff Hugo Chavez (and any other putz who would attempt to establish another communist society in our hemisphere) and flat out threaten who ever comes next. Fix our roads, re-establish our train system and squeeze air travel. You wanna fly? You pay. You wanna drive 50 miles each way to work, you pay. Let commercial usage get a tax break on fuel. Imagine how much gas would be saved if we all but eliminated the school run? And let's give tax breaks to all who use solar heating, wind power, private hydro-electricity generation, and no taxes on any insulation products.
Here's another weird idea: PAY people who commute with 4 or more persons in their car in the high occupancy vehicle lane in the mornings and evenings. Sure, they are going to have $5 dollar a gallon gas, but they get a rebate through car pooling. London has proved that congestion charges work, although inefficiently. How about mandatory transponders on cars using the interstate -- and between 7am and 10 am, if you use the interstate system, you get hit with a charge ... say $2 dollars. If you use the interstate without a transponder, it is a $100 on the spot fine for each offense. I'll bet you'd see more people taking the train and moving closer to work. Since all this involves "interstate commerce," the Federal Government could rightfully impose it.
Ughh. And to think that Hillary looks probable.
posted by Zaphod at Friday, August 03, 2007
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