Slouching Towards Rome

[prole]

US Shuns Some Big Public Works Projects

David Porter And Michael Rubinkam, Associated Press

 

NEWARK, N.J. – New Jersey's governor wants to kill a $9 billion-plus train tunnel to New York City because of runaway costs. Six thousand miles away, Hawaii's outgoing governor is having second thoughts about a proposed $5.5 billion rail line in Honolulu.

 

In many of the 48 states in between, infrastructure projects are languishing on the drawing board, awaiting the right mix of creative financing, political arm-twisting and timing to move forward. And a struggling economy and a surge of political candidates opposed to big spending could make it a long wait.

 

Has the nation that built the Hoover Dam, brought electricity to the rural South and engineered the interstate highway system lost its appetite for big public works projects? At a time when other countries are pouring money into steel and concrete, is the U.S. unwilling to think long-term?

 

"My sense is things have changed," said Andrew Goetz, a University of Denver professor and an expert on transportation policy. "People now tend to see any project as a waste of money, and that's just wrong."

 

"I call it the Bridge to Nowhere syndrome," he added. "High-profile projects get publicized and they become a symbol for any infrastructure project that's out there, and even the ones that are justified get tarnished by the same charge."

 

The so-called Bridge to Nowhere would have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to connect one Alaskan town to an island of 50 residents. It figured in the 2008 presidential election when then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was criticized for initially backing the plan, which was eventually scrapped.

 

The other cautionary tale of the past few years is Boston's Big Dig, the highway and tunnel project that was originally envisioned at less than $3 billion and wound up costing nearly $15 billion.

 

The Big Dig has made it far easier for motorists to get to and from Boston's airport, and it eliminated a noisy and unsightly elevated highway that cast a shadow over some of the city's neighborhoods. But construction was plagued by years of delays, corruption and shoddy workmanship that resulted in the death of a motorist in a ceiling collapse.

 

A report this month by the Treasury Department and the Council of Economic Advisers paints a picture of a country dissatisfied with the state of America's aging infrastructure and in favor of improvements, but not necessarily eager to commit the dollars to fix it.

 

Standing in New York's Penn Station on Thursday in front of a sign touting the proposed tunnel, commuter Bill Mischell of Plainsboro, N.J., gave voice to those conclusions.

 

"You could make the argument that it will make New Jersey a better place to live, but you also have to weigh it impartially against the huge cost," Mischell said. "The state's in pretty significant financial trouble, and the money's got to come from somewhere."

 

Infrastructure spending in the U.S. stands at 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product_ half what it was in 1960 — compared with approximately 9 percent in China and 5 percent for Europe, according to the government report.

 

"During recessions it is common for state and local governments to cut back on capital projects — such as building schools, roads and parks — in order to meet balanced budget requirements," the report concluded. "However, the need for improved and expanded infrastructure is just as great during a downturn as it is during a boom."

 

The American Society of Civil Engineers calculates that the U.S. would need to spend an additional $1.1 trillion over the next five years to restore roads, bridges, dams, levees and other infrastructure to good condition. In its latest report card, the engineering society gave the nation's public works a "D" grade.

 

"Somehow we believe if we ignore it, it will go away," said Blaine Leonard, the society's president. "And it won't. We have to stop hitting the snooze button on this problem."

 

He said now is a good time to spend money on infrastructure because construction companies in this weak economy are hungry for work and the costs are relatively low as a result.

 

Major infrastructure projects of the past benefited from strong leadership, notably the interstate highway system pushed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s, he said. Today, though, "there isn't any high-level leadership about infrastructure," so there's no agreement about priorities, Leonard said.

 

CG/LA Infrastructure LLC, a Washington consulting firm, recently put together a list of the worthiest 100 large infrastructure projects in North America, totaling about $400 billion. Among the suggestions: a next-generation air traffic control system; high-speed rail linking Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago; a pair of highway projects in Texas; and the tunnel that New Jersey's governor has threatened to scuttle.

 

To be sure, there are large-scale projects under way, notably in California, where a combination of federal dollars and voter-approved bonds and local tax increases are funding improvements, from highway widening to the $6.2 billion renovation of the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland. And this week, Arizona and Nevada hailed the opening of a $240 million bridge that bypasses Hoover Dam.

 

However, many projects recently completed or in the pipeline secured funding before the economy went into a slide. Some of them might not be approved today.

 

In New Jersey, construction on a rail tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City — the largest transportation project under way in the U.S. — began in 2009 under then-Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat. It is projected to double train capacity at peak times as well as provide 6,000 construction jobs immediately and up to 40,000 jobs after its completion in 2018. About $6 billion of the cost is being covered by the federal government and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

 

Earlier this month, Republican Gov. Chris Christie announced he was pulling the plug because the cost had escalated from $5 billion in 2005 to more than $9 billion by the federal government's estimate, and as much as $14 billion by Christie's reckoning.

 

"I simply cannot put the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey on what would be a never-ending hook," he said.

 

Christie later agreed to reconsider. The two-week review period expires Friday.

 

In Hawaii, Republican Gov. Linda Lingle announced recently that she wouldn't sign off on a federally subsidized rail line until an updated economic study is conducted. And that may not be completed before she leaves office in less than two months. That means the project's fate could be in her successor's hands.

 

In Seattle, new Mayor Mike McGinn is threatening to hold up construction of a massive highway tunnel to replace the waterfront's dilapidated, earthquake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct because he fears city taxpayers will be on the hook if costs spiral beyond the $4.2 billion price tag.

 

"The issue of the overall cost of the tunnel has been a concern to voters since before the recession, and I think the severity of the state's and the city's fiscal situation is causing people to take a harder look at ... an expensive and risky project," McGinn said.

 

In Wisconsin, Ohio and California, Republican candidates for governor have vowed they won't endorse high-speed rail projects, despite the promise of billions of dollars from Washington.

 

Other countries are spending heavily on job-creating infrastructure. Projects include Algeria's $11.2 billion east-west highway; a planned $10 billion bridge linking the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra; and China's $60 billion Yangtze River diversion project.

 

Australia plans to spend $38 billion to relieve traffic congestion in Melbourne, while Britain is preparing for a $45 billion high-speed rail link between London and the West Midlands. Japan is building a $70 billion highway from Tokyo to Osaka, scheduled for completion in 2020.

 

In the U.S., it often takes a catastrophe to give infrastructure improvements more urgency. The Minneapolis bridge collapse in 2007 that killed 13 people prompted reviews of aging bridges around the country.

 

"Unfortunately, our attention span is short," Leonard said. "You would think the Minneapolis bridge collapse would have sent repercussions throughout the system that would have resulted in a transportation funding bill, but it didn't. Even bridge funding bills didn't get through Congress."

 

Consultant Norman Anderson of CG/LA Infrastructure said the federal government's recent emphasis on smaller, "shovel-ready" projects to stimulate the economy is misguided and shows a lack of vision.

 

"You don't do 'shovel-ready.' That is idiotic and extremely uninformed," he said in an e-mail. "You do projects now because they produce value for an economy 20 to 30 years into the future, as well as producing immediate jobs."

[sobo]

A report this month by the Treasury Department and the Council of Economic Advisers paints a picture of a country dissatisfied with the state of America's aging infrastructure and in favor of improvements, but not necessarily eager to commit the dollars to fix it.

This is typically the case. I run into this repeatedly in my profession. Short-sighted "visonaries"...

 

The American Society of Civil Engineers calculates that the U.S. would need to spend an additional $1.1 trillion over the next five years to restore roads, bridges, dams, levees and other infrastructure to good condition. In its latest report card, the engineering society gave the nation's public works a "D" grade.

 

"Somehow we believe if we ignore it, it will go away," said Blaine Leonard, the society's president. "And it won't. We have to stop hitting the snooze button on this problem."

 

He said now is a good time to spend money on infrastructure because construction companies in this weak economy are hungry for work and the costs are relatively low as a result.

 

Major infrastructure projects of the past benefited from strong leadership, notably the interstate highway system pushed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s, he said. Today, though, "there isn't any high-level leadership about infrastructure," so there's no agreement about priorities, Leonard said.

My professional society, the ASCE, has been crying this same tune for at least two decades. Nobody listens until someone gets killed.

 

In the U.S., it often takes a catastrophe to give infrastructure improvements more urgency. The Minneapolis bridge collapse in 2007 that killed 13 people prompted reviews of aging bridges around the country.

And even then, nothing happens.

 

"Unfortunately, our attention span is short," Leonard said. "You would think the Minneapolis bridge collapse would have sent repercussions throughout the system that would have resulted in a transportation funding bill, but it didn't. Even bridge funding bills didn't get through Congress."

 

Consultant Norman Anderson of CG/LA Infrastructure said the federal government's recent emphasis on smaller, "shovel-ready" projects to stimulate the economy is misguided and shows a lack of vision.

 

"You don't do 'shovel-ready.' That is idiotic and extremely uninformed," he said in an e-mail. "You do projects now because they produce value for an economy 20 to 30 years into the future, as well as producing immediate jobs."

Couldn't agree more with this assessment.

 

We are indeed, and have been for many years, slouching towards Rome...

[ivan]

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

 

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

 

[ivan]

We are indeed, and have been for many years, slouching towards Rome...

that's only natural, given we were rome from the start, no? mere molecules of water marking the passing of waves, we are!

[j_b]

I am afraid that until pitchfork time little will happen. Democrats have let the fake populists control the discourse and it is a discourse of austerity opposed to any public spending that isn't war related.

[j_b]

What about that gas line explosion in California that killed half dozen people and burned several city blocks. The pipes are 80 years old and have long been identified as a liability. In fact, the utility got paid to rejuvenate the infrastructure but it spent the money on who knows what, perhaps outrageous CEO compensations.

[ivan]

I am afraid that until pitchfork time little will happen. Democrats have let the fake populists control the discourse and it is a discourse of austerity opposed to any public spending that isn't war related.

that's about the size of it.

[prole]

Democrats have let the fake populists control the discourse and it is a discourse of austerity opposed to any public spending that isn't war related.

 

I'm not sure if populism can be "fake", only manipulated and misguided. There have been some interesting trends as the Beck segment below makes clear. Megaphone size aside (and that's admittedly a big aside), liberals' continued suckling at the teat of capitalist ideology and subsequent inability to take advantage of its ongoing terminal crisis (as far as the middle class is concerned) have virtually guaranteed the Right's capture of global narratives and political momentum. Keynesianism back in the day was a compromise amongst capitalist factions necessitated by the spectre of working class radicalism. Lacking the fear that real alternative posed, is it any surprise that Krugman, et.al. are virtual voices in the wilderness? Keynes' capitalism with a human face is an anachronism, time to let it go.

[prole]

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKeS9LrJR6w

[ZimZam]

[JayB]

-Suspend Davis-Bacon and the cost of every federally funded or assisted public-infrastructure project will drop significantly.

 

-States that are facing staggering pension shortfalls can't afford to tack massive cost overruns onto the public tab as well.

 

-Big public infrastructure projects that are susceptible to cost-overruns, or unreformed public sector compensation. You may choose one.

 

-Infrastructure projects that will generate enough traffic to finance toll revenue that exceeds the cost of the infrastructure will always be viable. Commercially. Probably not politically - at least in Washington.

[prole]

 

American businessmen are now openly touting China's model of authoritarian capitalism. Min. 0:43, great stuff!

 

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ggaummmvIY

 

 

[j_b]

Democrats have let the fake populists control the discourse and it is a discourse of austerity opposed to any public spending that isn't war related.

 

I'm not sure if populism can be "fake", only manipulated and misguided. There have been some interesting trends as the Beck segment below makes clear. Megaphone size aside (and that's admittedly a big aside), liberals' continued suckling at the teat of capitalist ideology and subsequent inability to take advantage of its ongoing terminal crisis (as far as the middle class is concerned) have virtually guaranteed the Right's capture of global narratives and political momentum. Keynesianism back in the day was a compromise amongst capitalist factions necessitated by the spectre of working class radicalism. Lacking the fear that real alternative posed, is it any surprise that Krugman, et.al. are virtual voices in the wilderness? Keynes' capitalism with a human face is an anachronism, time to let it go.

 

Indeed, Krugman is in the wilderness because people are mostly apathetic, but they won't be so forever, which is the reason why demagogues like Beck try to remain credible by pointing the finger at the crooks.

[prole]

-Suspend Davis-Bacon and the cost of every federally funded or assisted public-infrastructure project will drop significantly.

 

So would shipping in contract labor from Bangladesh on container ships, housing them on-site in said containers under armed guard, refusing to pay them under phony contract violations, and deporting them if they complain. You know, like you guys did in Abu Dhabi!

 

 

[JayB]

That's one alternative. Another would be awarding the contract to the company that can do the best job for the lowest price with workers that are legally qualified to work in the US.

 

That might be a contractor that uses union workers, it might not. It doesn't really matter if your objective is to build or maintain public infrastructure as efficiently as possible.

 

It evidently matters quite a bit if your main objective is to distribute pork to a favored constituency, actually building or repairing stuff is a distant second. That's why the folks in NJ are getting a half-built tunnel.

 

No biggie - if you're a Keynesian it doesn't really matter whether the tunnel gets built or not.

[prole]

That's one alternative. Another would be awarding the contract to the company that can do the best job for the lowest price with workers that are legally qualified to work in the US.

 

Well shit, in that case ship in contract labor from Bangladesh Detroit, Las Vegas, and Stockton on container ships trains, house them on-site in said containers train cars under armed guard, refuse to pay them under phony contract violations, and deport fire them if they complain. You know, like you guys did in Abu Dhabi! Lowest price guaranteed!

[JayB]

That's a neat idea, but quite unnecessary since there's literally millions of unemployed construction workers around the country that would travel here of their own accord and make their own arrangements for housing if they were offered the opportunity to work for whoever offered the low-bid.

 

Much better to employee the fewest people, at the greatest expense, building or repairing the least infrastructure. A + B + C.

 

That, and a few billion dollars gets you a half-built tunnel.

[prole]

"Now that we got that whole "prevailing wage" thing out of the way, let's move on to some other inefficiencies that are keeping infrastructure from getting built. Health and Safety, first aid kits, fire extinguishers, orange vests, training and all that shit? Cuts into the bottom line. It's out. Building codes, whoo boy don't get me started! Too stringent. Things would go alot smoother (sorry, efficiently) without all that paperwork and some bureaucrat looking over our shoulders. Hey, I give my word, but if the shit does hit the fan, the state or the dead and injured or whoever can find another developer. It's a free market, er, country. Inefficiencies are everywhere, brah!"

[prole]

That's a neat idea, but quite unnecessary since there's literally millions of unemployed construction workers around the country that would travel here of their own accord and make their own arrangements for housing if they were offered the opportunity to work for whoever offered the low-est-bid.

 

You've got to be kidding! What planet are you on? Oh, you're not on a planet. You're doodling on the cocktail napkin again.

[prole]

 

That's right folks, things aren't happening in this country because your wages are too high!

 

[ivan]

how high was the rent in rome again?

[ivan]

That's right folks, things aren't happening in this country because your wages are too high!

 

no wonder them japanese folks lead the league in suicides!

[j_b]

slaves don't pay rent. what a deal!

[JayB]

"Now that we got that whole "prevailing wage" thing out of the way, let's move on to some other inefficiencies that are keeping infrastructure from getting built. Health and Safety, first aid kits, fire extinguishers, orange vests, training and all that shit? Cuts into the bottom line. It's out. Building codes, whoo boy don't get me started! Too stringent. Things would go alot smoother (sorry, efficiently) without all that paperwork and some bureaucrat looking over our shoulders. Hey, I give my word, but if the shit does hit the fan, the state or the dead and injured or whoever can find another developer. It's a free market, er, country. Inefficiencies are everywhere, brah!"

 

Actually - they'd be subject to all of the same health, safety, and engineering standards. The only difference would be that it would cost the public less money to build the same bridge.

 

There are god knows how many government contracts fulfilled by non-union companies that submit low bids all of the time that manage to do so without shipping in freighterloads of impoverished thirld-worlders. Ditto for the vast majority of all production activity that occurs in the US in non-union environments.

 

 

[prole]

There are god knows how many government contracts fulfilled by non-union companies that submit low bids all of the time that manage to do so without shipping in freighterloads of impoverished thirld-worlders. Ditto for the vast majority of all production activity that occurs in the US in non-union environments.

 

You see where all that's gotten us, so uh...yay?