A New WPA
Fixing the nation's infrastructure will create jobs, save lives, and keep the economy moving.
One of every four bridges in the country is either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and bringing them up to snuff will cost $140 billion, according to the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials. America's drinking water infrastructure is woefully underfunded; the Congressional Budget Office says we must invest at least $11.6 billion over the next 20 years. Highway congestion costs us $78 billion annually through the 4.2 billion hours and 2.9 billion gallons of gasoline we waste each year, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. The list goes on.
Dave Demerjian finds both presidential candidates wanting in their commitment to infrastructure rehabilitation, although Barack Obama has been more attentive to the issue, and more specific in policy proposals, than John McCain. Demerjian believes both are too timid. He proposes a national infrastructure initiative modeled after the WPA. That seems at least as worthy an investment of taxpayer dollars as the financial industry bailout.
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