Republican Party War Against Infrastructure And Growth

I suppose if a major bridge collapses-- 63,522 of them are obsolete or in need of crucial structural repair-- the Republicans will snap to and stop obstructing the transportation bill. Short of that… they'll give the president some crumbs to avoid a fuss in the media. The average additional cost of vehicle maintenance to motorists due to sub-par road conditions is around $440/year across the country. Here in L.A. it's $832 and it's $782 in San Francisco, $700 in Milwaukee, $625 in Seattle… And it's not just in blue areas where people are feeling the pain the GOP is inflicting on the nation again. In Tulsa the average annual additional cost/motorist is $784 and it's just $2 less in Oklahoma. In Colorado Springs they may think they can pray for better roads but the average additional cost per motorist is $589 and it's $601 in Metro Birmingham, Alabama. The congressmen from Tulsa (Jim Bridenstine), Oklahoma City (James Lankford), Colorado Springs (Doug Lamborn), and the Birmingham 'burbs (Spencer Bachus) all have something in common besides being over-the-top right wing extremists. They all oppose spending money on fixing the roads, bridges and transportation infrastructure.

In Tulsa the 11th Street Bridge over the Arkansas River-- completed in 1916-- is so structurally unsound that it was locked in 2008 so that not even pedestrians can walk across it. It was replaced by the I-244 bridges but those are no longer safe either and the westbound bridge was demolished in 2011. The new $41 million modern bridges are right alongside the Cyrus Avery Bridge, which is falling apart. It's supposed to open to traffic in 2015.

If Bridenstine was to vote to shut down funding for it, he might not be able to show his face in Tulsa again-- ever-- but he would be reelected, since the DCCC isn't even running anyone against him in November. Bridenstine's crackpot allies at Heritage Action (DeMint's crazy outfit) and Club For Growth have both come out against even the Republican pale compromise of a bill Obama has agreed to. They are threatening Republicans who vote for it, calling the legislation "a bailout."

In an attempt to compromise with the less insane right-wing Republican anarchists, Obama, who had requested $302 billion for 4 years worth of infrastructure and maintenance, has agreed to the niggardly House GOP offer of $10 billion through May.

“With surface transportation funding running out and hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk later this summer, the administration supports House passage of H.R. 5021,” the White House said in a statement. “This legislation would provide for continuity of funding for the Highway Trust Fund during the height of the summer construction season and keep Americans at work repairing the Nation's crumbling roads, bridges, and transit systems.”

The White House lamented that lawmakers have largely ignored Obama’s transportation proposal, which relies mostly on using $150 billion from closing corporate tax loopholes to close a shortfall in federal infrastructure funding that is predicted to be $16 billion per year.

“Congress should work to pass a long-term authorization bill well before the expiration date set forth in H.R. 5021,” the White House said before referencing Obama’s proposal.

The traditional source for transportation funding has been revenue that is collected from the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax. The tax has been stagnant since 1993, however, and has struggled to keep pace with infrastructure expenses as cars have become more fuel efficient.

The federal government’s current transportation funding level is about $50 billion per year, but the gas tax only brings in approximately $34 billion annually.

Lawmakers are considering using revenue from other areas of the federal budget like pension changes and custom fees to pay for a temporary extension of the current transportation funding level.

The White House said that Obama’s proposal, which would increase the annual funding level to about $75 billion per year, is “fully paid for through existing revenues and by reforming business taxes to help create jobs and spur investment while eliminating loopholes that reward companies for moving profits overseas.”

The White House reminded congressional Republicans that "A high quality transportation network is vital to a top performing economy. Investments by previous generations of Americans-- from the Erie Canal in 1807, to the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, to the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s and 1960s-- were instrumental in putting the country on a path for sustained economic growth, productivity increases, an unrivaled national market for good and services, and international competitiveness. But today, current estimates indicate that America’s transportation infrastructure is not keeping pace with demands or the needs of our growing economy, for today or for future generations. A well-performing transportation network keeps jobs in America, allows businesses to expand, and lowers prices on household goods to American families. It allows businesses to manage their inventories and transport goods more cheaply and efficiently as well as access a variety of suppliers and markets for their products, making it more cost-effective for manufacturers to keep production in or move production to the United States. American families benefit too: as consumers, from lower priced goods; and as workers, by gaining better access to jobs. The economic benefits of smart infrastructure investment are long-term competitiveness, productivity, innovation, lower prices, and higher incomes, while infrastructure investment also creates many thousands of American jobs in the near-term."

•  Today there are more than 4 million miles of road, 600,000 bridges, and 3,000 transit providers in the U.S. And yet, over the past 20 years, total federal, state, and local investment in transportation has fallen as a share of GDP-- while population, congestion, and maintenance backlogs have increased.

•  The U.S. lags behind many of its overseas competitors in transportation infrastructure investment. In the most recent World Economic Forum rankings, the U.S. had in less than a decade fallen from 7th to 18th overall in the quality of our roads.

•  65 percent of America’s major roads are rated in less than good condition, one in four bridges require significant repair or cannot handle today’s traffic, and forty five percent of Americans lack access to transit.


The costs of inadequate infrastructure investment are exhibited all around us. Americans spend 5.5 billion hours in traffic each year, costing families more than $120 billion in extra fuel and lost time. American businesses pay $27 billion a year in extra freight transportation costs, increasing shipping delays and raising prices on everyday products. Underinvestment impacts safety too. There were 32,000 traffic fatalities last year alone and roadway conditions are a significant factor in approximately one-third of traffic fatalities. Such fatalities occur disproportionately in rural America, in part because of inadequate road conditions.

UPDATE: Truncated Highway Trust Fund Bill Passes

The House, despite the demented threats from Heritage and Club for Growth, just passed the bill 367-55. Bridenstine voted no and so did the knucklehead from Oklahoma City, James Lankford, who's now running for the U.S. Senate.