CONTACT CAROLINE
facebook
rss
tumblr
twitter
goodreads
youtube

  • Home
  • Write Away Blog
  • Books
    • Books
    • Trompe l’Oeil
    • Heart Land
    • Gothic Spring
    • Ballet Noir
    • Book Excerpts
  • Video Interviews
  • Press
    • News
    • Print Interviews
    • Plays
    • Ballet Noir in the Press
    • Trompe l’Oeil In The Press
    • Gothic Spring In The Press
    • Heart Land Reviews
  • Contact
  • About
  • Resources
    • Writer Resources
    • Favorite Blogs
    • Favorite Artists



A Bridge Not Far But Too Weak

Aug 14, 2013
by Caroline Miller
"Bull by the Hornes", bridges in crisis, Sheila Bair, US infrastructure
0 Comment

“…as China is building modern infrastructure, we are looking to build our own Great Wall.” So writes Sheila Bair, former chair of the FDIC and author of the best seller, Bull by the Horns.  That our Congress is intent upon walling immigrants out rather than building a transportation and grid structure that would invite tourists and investors in is of concern to her. (“A Bold Plan for Rebuilding Our Roads and Bridges,” by Sheila Bair, Fortune, 7/22/13, pg. 14)

 As she points out, a billion in infrastructure spending would create more than 20,000 good paying jobs and restore 1 in 9 bridges in our country that are deficient. What’s more the means to do so is painless. She suggests we create a National Infrastructure Bank to support projects approved by a team of engineers. The money to pay for those projects would be raised with an energy tax. To do so now, while the cost of government borrowing is low, Bair points out, should give Congress an incentive to act.

 So why does Congress seem paralyzed when compared to our major nation-competitors? We stand 25th among them in reliable infrastructure. One reason, Bair suggests, is that Congress has no wish to divert money from pork belly projects that get representatives reelected in their districts as opposed to serving the national interest.

 When I served in public office, our county bridges were always being repaired. To rebuild would have depleted our local budget and still not have been enough to fix the problem. So maintaining them was the best we could do, hoping that the State and Federal Governments, agencies that benefit most from these interstate thoroughfares, would take action. So for they’ve done little. I guess a lot of people will have to die before anyone pays attention.

collapsed bridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Courtesy of blog.lib.uma.edu)

 

Social Share

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

*
*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

Subscribe to Caroline’s Blog


 

Archives

Categories

YouTube-logo-inline2 To access and subscribe to my videos on YouTube, Click Here and click the Subscribe button.

Banner art “The Receptive” by Charlie White of Charlie White Studio

Web Admin: ThinPATH Systems, Inc
support@tp-sys.com

Subscribe to Caroline's Blog


 

Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Sitemap | Privacy Notice

AUDIO & VIDEO VAULT

View archives of Caroline’s audio and videos interviews.


Copyright © Books by Caroline Miller
Posting....