Sad State

The news out of Minnesota is so sad and tragic. Here in Connecticut we had our own bridge collapse a little over twenty years ago. My thoughts go out to those in Minneapolis affected by this.

Seems to me these tragedies can be traced back to lack of money and should never happen in such an advanced country such as this great one. Its either lack of resources to build it correctly in the first place or money to maintain it or revenue to inspect it.

We have seemingly endless funds to go into other countries, blow up their infrastructure and stick around to help them rebuild it though. We have the money to help them construct or rebuild hospitals and staff them as well. We find the means to train soldiers, firefighters and police officers in those locations too. Of course, we don't have the cash. We merely use a giant Federal Visa Card with no apparent limit on which we never make any move to pay down the principal.

Yet, we don't have the money to make sure our own bridges are safe? Granted, this is not a terribly frequent occurence, but it simply should never happen.

At the same time, we are freezing the hiring of firefighters and police officers? Or worse, laying them off? We are the richest, greatest country in the world and our own civilian's saftey is compromised because of these actions. Now, we can't even count on a bridge not to collapse as we drive home from work? I don't even think about the bridges I cross every day. Nor should I have to. Do you?

So much of our foreign policy, per G.W., is for the safety of the American people, correct? Would it include those American people that die or are under-treated because they have no medical insurance or shitty coverage? Does it encompass those who die when a fucking bridge collapses from under them as they go to pick their kids up at daycare or head to a ballgame?

We continue to vote out politicians who raise taxes. We trump the virtues of those that promise no new ones. Yet, we act incredulous when our $65,000 Lexus plummets off a bridge into the Mississippi river because there was no money to fix it?

Listen. Lowering or freezing taxes doesn't mean that much to the average Joe. $50, $100, $500, $1000, $2000 more a year is not going to change most people's lives. It might be the difference for some but generally, not most. A few percentage points, however, will mean a lot to the CEO of that languishing company who is getting his $55 million parachute package to leave.

I'm an average Joe. Not fearing a goddamn bridge falling out from under me means a lot.

As a nation, where are our priorities? Why can't we get our own house in order? If we're so worried about our own safety then let's collect and spend the money to tighten up the boarders and fix our infrastructure so that we're safe here, not just abroad. I have no problem pitching in my share. Even if my share goes up.

What we don't need is to be spending our tax dollars to blow up other country's bridges in the name of our own safety only to turn around and pay to rebuild or repair them. Yet the safety of our own bridges is disquieting. Based on reports I saw, 13 to 17% of our bridges here are in dire need of repair.

That's roughly three bridges in every 20.

How many different bridges will you drive across this coming year?