Although some likened President Obama’s expansive vision to President Eisenhower’s historic call for a 42,000-mile Interstate Highway network, there is a vast difference between the two initiatives. The Interstate Highway proposal was backed by a reliable and steady revenue stream in the form of a federal gas tax. The high speed rail goal lacks a financial plan. It is not supported by a dedicated source of revenue that could maintain the program on a self-sustaining basis over a period of years.
View this complete post...Archive for the ‘Republican’ Category
The President’s Unserious Proposal
Monday, January 31st, 2011The Train to Nowhere: Three More Critical Perspectives
Monday, December 13th, 2010Lest you think Washington has begun a new era of fiscal self-restraint, consider this week’s act of political retribution by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Newly elected GOP Governors in Ohio and Wisconsin wanted to kill high-speed rail projects in their states and instead use the money to fix their battered roads. Sorry, guys. Mr. LaHood reclaimed the $1.2 billion and handed it to 13 other states that still want to build these high-speed trains to nowhere.
View this complete post...The Unraveling of the High-Speed Rail Program: A News Analysis
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010The future Republican House leadership is determined to retrieve whatever remains of the unspent and uncommitted stimulus (ARRA) funds. So has stated Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), the prospective House Appropriations Committee chairman, as he introduced a bill (H.R. 6403, the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Rescission Act”) to rescind any unobligated ARRA funds and return them to the U.S. Treasury. Even already obligated ARRA funds may be at risk. Congressional GOP aides are reported to be closely reviewing agency records to identify particular stimulus-funded projects that could still be “reasonably” halted because work on them is only beginning.
View this complete post...A Fresh Look at the Prospects for Transportation in the New Congress
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010Last month we conducted an informal survey among colleagues in the transportation community about the outlook for the federal surface transportation program in the year(s) ahead…One comment from a veteran transportation insider summed up concisely the collective mindset: “There will be nothing ‘transformational’ about the future program,” he opined.
View this complete post...A rail reality check that President Obama should heed
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010Innovation NewsBriefs Vol. 21, No. 28 PRESIDENT OBAMA wants Americans to zip around in high-speed trains, just as many Japanese, French, and Chinese already do. For him, the goal seems almost as much about national pride as job creation or energy savings. “There’s no reason that Europe or China should have the fastest trains,” he has said. […]
View this complete post...What’s NOT to get?
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010Infra repairs = jobs.
Long-term investment will result in generations of improved roads, safer bridges, more efficient transportation systems and so much more.
Update: The Federal High-Speed Rail Program: A Post-Election Reality Check
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s decision to cancel the proposed commuter trans-Hudson rail tunnel (ARC) offers another example of a resolve by the new wave of fiscally conservative governors to rein in spending on public works that, in their judgment, present an unacceptable level of risk and cost. While Christie’s decision was widely condemned as shortsighted by members of the infrastructure lobby, it was supported as fiscally prudent by a majority of New Jersey voters. (By a margin of 51 to 39 percent according to a Rutgers University poll).
View this complete post...Republicans and Infrastructure: Still Together, Despite Disagreements
Thursday, November 4th, 2010REGIONAL PLAN ASSOCIATION/ AMERICA 2050
Infrastructure and transportation is traditionally a bipartisan issue – characterized by equal opportunity “pork.” Under intensely partisan congresses, transportation bills passed in 2005 during the George W. Bush Administration, in 1998 during the Clinton Administration, and in 1991 during the George H.W. Bush Administration. The Surface Transportation Assistance Act even passed in 1982 during Ronald Reagan’s administration and with the president’s support, despite the Gipper’s heavily anti-federal-government stances.
Investments for a Competitive and Healthy Minnesota: A Playbook for Minnesota’s New Governor
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
About 1000 Friends of Minnesota
Minnesota needs a transportation system that is safer, enhances and preserves communities, and saves families and businesses money through greater reliance on public transit, bicycling, and walking, and better maintenance of the infrastructure we already have. Transportation is about much more than getting from A to B. It is not an end, but it should be a means for a community to achieve broader goals of economic development, neighborhood revitalization, and environmental sustainability.
    |
Follow InfrastructureUSA
CATEGORIES
- Accountability (219)
- Aging Infrastructure (752)
- Aviation (130)
- Biking (323)
- Bipartisan (271)
- Bridges (493)
- Broadband (57)
- Buses (160)
- Carbon Tax (22)
- Clean Air (182)
- Climate Change (200)
- Competitiveness (230)
- Congestion (327)
- Dams (77)
- Democrat (123)
- Drinking Water (191)
- Economic Stimulus (276)
- Employment (207)
- Energy (585)
- Environment (615)
- Equity (239)
- Funding (887)
- Global (205)
- Great American Infrastructure (33)
- Green (294)
- Guests on The Infra Blog (274)
- Hazardous Waste (27)
- High Speed Rail (224)
- Highway (785)
- Inland Waterways (204)
- Jobs (251)
- Land Use (98)
- LEED (28)
- Levees (42)
- Local (1,910)
- National (1,525)
- Policy (1,121)
- Pollution (215)
- Private Investment (213)
- Public Opinion (189)
- Public Parks & Recreation (196)
- Public Transportation (1,028)
- Racism (6)
- Rail (502)
- Recession (65)
- Recovery (218)
- Republican (109)
- Roads (1,120)
- Schools (80)
- Seaports (68)
- Smart Grid (98)
- Smart Growth (442)
- Solid Waste (26)
- Sustainability (765)
- Tax (112)
- Technology (397)
- Telecommunications (46)
- Transit (1,333)
- Urban Planning (979)
- Wastewater (180)
- Water Treatment (165)
Show us your infra!
Show us your infra!
Video, stills and tales. Share images of the Infra in your community that demands attention. Post your ideas about national Infra issues. Go ahead. Show Us Your Infra! Upload and instantly share your message.
Polls
Polls
Is the administration moving fast enough on Infra issues? Are Americans prepared to pay more taxes for repairs? Should job creation be the guiding determination? Vote now!
Views
What do the experts think? This is where the nation's public policy organizations, trade associations and think tanks weigh in with analysis on Infra issues. Tell them what you think. Ask questions. Share a different view.
Blog
The Infra Blog offers cutting edge perspective on a broad spectrum of Infra topics. Frequent updates and provocative posts highlight hot button topics -- essential ingredients of a national Infra dialogue.
Dear Friends,
It is encouraging to finally see clear signs of federal action to support a comprehensive US infrastructure investment plan.
Now more than ever, our advocacy is needed to keep stakeholders informed and connected, and to hold politicians to their promises to finally fix our nation’s ailing infrastructure.
We have already engaged nearly 280,000 users, and hoping to add many more as interest continues to grow.
We require your support in order to rise to this occasion, to make the most of this opportunity. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to InfrastructureUSA.org.
Steve Anderson
Managing Director
SteveAnderson@InfrastructureUSA.org
917-940-7125
Home |
Show Us Your Infra! |
Infra Views |
The Infra Blog |
Infra Polls |
About |
Resources |
Contact |
RSS Feed
RSS Feed
© InfrastructureUSA | Terms of Use | Site developed by Andigo New Media
InfrastructureUSA.org is a nonprofit project fiscally sponsored by FJC, a Foundation of Philanthropic Funds.