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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> RE: OT:Not to

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RE: OT:Not to - 8/3/2007 8:55:45 PM

mikemike

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Don Phillips (Transportation journalist, wrote for the Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune, has a regular column in "Trains" magazine) mentioned several times in his column that the whole Interstate system was designed for a life of 25-30 years and when you remember that most of it was built in the 1960s .. 'nuff said. I've read somewhere that the American Society of Civil Engineers reckons there are 70000 bridges that need repairs or overhauls and that it would cost about 1000 billion (10^12) dollars to get the Interstate system back to specs. "Deferred maintenance" on the infrastructure has always been a popular way of saving money. I guess all those glorious tax cuts of past years will come back to haunt the U.S. taxpayers real soon now.

BTW, in 1995 I spent three weeks in St. Pete on holidays. You could see the Sunshine Skyway from my apartment. A glorious sight! We drove several times across it, on the way to Sarasota, and one time we stopped at the bridge for a pit stop and a closer look. I'm glad whoever was responsible for having the bridge built went for such an impressive design. I've always thought those cable-stayed girder bridges are aesthetically the most elegant bridge designs.

quote:

ORIGINAL: pbear

Public Works Project build by the lowest bidder.

This reminds me of what an Apollo astronaut is said to have answered when someone asked him how it felt to sit in the capsule just before liftoff - "How would you feel sitting on top of a million parts, every single one of which was the lowest bid?"

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Post #: 31

RE: OT:Not to - 8/3/2007 9:28:12 PM

Apollo11

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Joined: 6/7/2001
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Hi all,

quote:

ORIGINAL: mikemike

This reminds me of what an Apollo astronaut is said to have answered when someone asked him how it felt to sit in the capsule just before liftoff - "How would you feel sitting on top of a million parts, every single one of which was the lowest bid?"

I love this one!!!

Leo "Apollo11"

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P: UV, WitP, WitP-AE

(in reply to mikemike)

Post #: 32

RE: OT:Not to - 8/3/2007 10:42:22 PM

anarchyintheuk

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Joined: 5/5/2004
From: Dallas
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quote:

ORIGINAL: mikemike

I guess all those glorious tax cuts of past years will come back to haunt the U.S. taxpayers real soon now.

Do you honestly believe that any of that money would have been spent on something like bridge maintenance? or anything useful for that matter?

(in reply to mikemike)

Post #: 33

RE: OT:Not to - 8/3/2007 11:21:36 PM

grumpyman

Posts: 105
Joined: 6/26/2007
From: Chicago, IL
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quote:

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

quote:

ORIGINAL: mikemike

I guess all those glorious tax cuts of past years will come back to haunt the U.S. taxpayers real soon now.

Do you honestly believe that any of that money would have been spent on something like bridge maintenance? or anything useful for that matter?

mmmm? Well let's see. To pay for Reagan's first tax cut the DOT was cut by 10.5%. You know the DOT, they do things like pay for highway maintance and silly stuff like that.
And what happened in the next budget? Let's see, ah yes, cut again.
Does that mean I am blaming the problem on tax cuts. If I were honest I would have to say I am qualified enough to know. Do I honestly believe that the money would have been spent on something like bridge maintenance? The budgets would say yes. Cut enough to make a difference? Here again I am not qualified enough to know.

(in reply to anarchyintheuk)

Post #: 34

RE: OT:Not to - 8/3/2007 11:25:48 PM

ChezDaJez

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Joined: 11/12/2004
From: Chehalis, WA
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quote:

Do you honestly believe that any of that money would have been spent on something like bridge maintenance? or anything useful for that matter?

No. Politicians the world over will always try to find ways of funding their pet projects even if it means robbing other, more important projects.

Chez

_____________________________

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(in reply to anarchyintheuk)

Post #: 35

RE: OT:Not to - 8/4/2007 12:01:54 AM

Yamato hugger

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Well before this gets into a who's who of politics. 90% of the states (Minnesota) fuel taxes are paid in the metro area. 50% of the funds generated are spent here. Not saying the other 40% shouldnt be spent in "out state" areas, but they build things out there just to "use up" that money rather than giving it back to the state to be re-allocated to where its really needed.

(in reply to ChezDaJez)

Post #: 36

RE: OT:Not to - 8/4/2007 12:05:37 AM

anarchyintheuk

Posts: 3921
Joined: 5/5/2004
From: Dallas
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quote:

ORIGINAL: grumpyman

quote:

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

quote:

ORIGINAL: mikemike

I guess all those glorious tax cuts of past years will come back to haunt the U.S. taxpayers real soon now.

Do you honestly believe that any of that money would have been spent on something like bridge maintenance? or anything useful for that matter?

mmmm? Well let's see. To pay for Reagan's first tax cut the DOT was cut by 10.5%. You know the DOT, they do things like pay for highway maintance and silly stuff like that.
And what happened in the next budget? Let's see, ah yes, cut again.
Does that mean I am blaming the problem on tax cuts. If I were honest I would have to say I am qualified enough to know. Do I honestly believe that the money would have been spent on something like bridge maintenance? The budgets would say yes. Cut enough to make a difference? Here again I am not qualified enough to know.

Interesting, I've never seen congressional notes that linked the two cuts. A DOT cut of 10.5% that occured 20+ years ago led to a bridge collapse yesterday. Thanx for the cause and effect. Any evidence to suggest that the 10.5% was going to be spent on that bridge or any other bridge? or that any of the sums spent in 80s would have made a difference in 2007?

If you weren't blaming the cuts or considered yourself qualified to know, why did you mention them?

(in reply to grumpyman)

Post #: 37

RE: OT:Not to - 8/4/2007 12:22:17 AM

grumpyman

Posts: 105
Joined: 6/26/2007
From: Chicago, IL
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

quote:

ORIGINAL: grumpyman

quote:

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

quote:

ORIGINAL: mikemike

I guess all those glorious tax cuts of past years will come back to haunt the U.S. taxpayers real soon now.

Do you honestly believe that any of that money would have been spent on something like bridge maintenance? or anything useful for that matter?

mmmm? Well let's see. To pay for Reagan's first tax cut the DOT was cut by 10.5%. You know the DOT, they do things like pay for highway maintance and silly stuff like that.
And what happened in the next budget? Let's see, ah yes, cut again.
Does that mean I am blaming the problem on tax cuts. If I were honest I would have to say I am qualified enough to know. Do I honestly believe that the money would have been spent on something like bridge maintenance? The budgets would say yes. Cut enough to make a difference? Here again I am not qualified enough to know.

Interesting, I've never seen congressional notes that linked the two cuts. A DOT cut of 10.5% that occured 20+ years ago led to a bridge collapse yesterday. Thanx for the cause and effect. Any evidence to suggest that the 10.5% was going to be spent on that bridge or any other bridge? or that any of the sums spent in 80s would have made a difference in 2007?

If you weren't blaming the cuts or considered yourself qualified to know, why did you mention them?

You asked if any of the tax cut money would have gone to bridge maintenance. That is why I mentioned it. I also mentioned that I am not qualified to know if it made a difference. Revenues for roads and bridges also also come from other sources. And where exactly did I state a cause and effect? I didn't. I do suspect that money for infrastructure has been lacking. I mentioned those 2 budgets because they were the only two that that where negative, but budgets after that that did not make up for those cuts.

(in reply to anarchyintheuk)

Post #: 38

RE: OT:Not to - 8/4/2007 12:38:23 AM

anarchyintheuk

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Joined: 5/5/2004
From: Dallas
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As Ron Burgundy would say, "agree to disagree". Happy hour is calling. Have a good weekend.

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Post #: 39

RE: OT:Not to - 8/4/2007 12:39:43 AM

grumpyman

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Joined: 6/26/2007
From: Chicago, IL
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

As Ron Burgundy would say, "agree to disagree". Happy hour is calling. Have a good weekend.

(in reply to anarchyintheuk)

Post #: 40

RE: OT:Not to - 8/4/2007 12:59:44 AM

Charbroiled

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Joined: 10/15/2004
From: Oregon
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Don't know how it is in other states, but here in Oregon, ODOT is replacing and repairing bridges a lot. My company does the survey work for these projects. At the moment, there are so many project out to bid that we are unable to bid on more then 20% of them. It's nice because we can pick and choose our projects, but I still hate to pass up on other good projects.

(in reply to grumpyman)

Post #: 41