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Obama's Labor Day Address
No video here: just audio - like his last "Irene is a national catastrophe" videoconference from the vacation. Soundbites include the following (via Bloomberg):
- OBAMA SAYS UNIONS CRUCIAL TO AMERICA'S MIDDLE CLASS
- OBAMA SAYS AMERICA NEEDS 'STRONG LABOR MOVEMENT'
- OBAMA SAYS U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY PROVED 'THE CYNICS' WRONG
- OBAMA SAYS CONGRESS NEEDS TO 'GET ON BOARD' ON ROAD REPAIR WORK
- OBAMA QUOTES 1948 TRUMAN SPEECH PRAISING UNIONS
- OBAMA SAYS HE WILL STAY FOR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
and the kicker:
- OBAMA SAYS ROADS AND BRIDGES NEED REBUILDING IN U.S.
Enjoy America: you are about to have many bore roads and bridges rebuilt.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
September 02, 2011
Presidential Proclamation--Labor Day
Every day, hard-working men and women across America prove that, even in difficult times, our country is still home to the most creative, dynamic, and talented workers in the world. Generations of working people have built this country -- from our highways and skylines, to the goods and services driving us in the 21st century. On Labor Day and throughout the year, we celebrate our Nation's workers, and we commit to supporting their efforts in moving our economy forward.
The right to organize and collectively bargain is a fundamental American value. Since its beginnings in our country, organized labor has raised our living standards and built our middle class. It is the reason we have a minimum wage, weekends away from work to rest and spend time with family, and basic protections in our workplaces. Many Americans today are given opportunities because their parents and grandparents fought for these basic rights and values. The principles upheld by the honorable laborers of generations past and their unions continue to fuel the growth of our economy and a strong middle class.
This year has seen a vigorous fight to protect these rights and values, and on this Labor Day, we reaffirm that collective bargaining is a cornerstone of the American dream. From public employees -- including teachers, firefighters, police, and others who perform public services -- to workers in private industries, these men and women hold the power of our Nation in their hands.
In the last several years, we have pulled our country back from the brink, through a series of tough economic decisions. While we have come far, great challenges still face us. Many Americans are still struggling, and many are unemployed. My Administration is working tirelessly each day to promote policies that get Americans back to work. We will always strive to keep our fundamental promise that, in America, anyone who works hard and acts responsibly can provide a better future for their children. When we come together, there is no limit to what the American workforce can do.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 5, 2011, as Labor Day. I call upon all public officials and people of the United States to observe
this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that acknowledge the tremendous contributions of working Americans and their families.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
BARACK OBAMA
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This guy is such an empty suit....
and how much is gas going to be to drive on those roads?
Let's rebuild the bridge to nowhere, I'm sure its unused pavement has potholes by now.
i'm just curious if ALL 57 States of America will get new roads? Since Obama has not, according to him, visited all 57 States during his race to be elected, just want to be sure all 57 get the attention they deserve.
You should listen carefully to that speech. He said that there would be two States he would not get a chance to go to. He actually claimed there were 59 States.
Libia will become a American state and the North Pole.
Nothing new off course because Santa is already American.
My 6-yr was just claiming that he is the King of the North Pole this evening. He's going to be pissed when he finds out he can only be governor now...
It's the one to Hawaii that he really wants
without more bridges, where do you expect all the trolls they hired to live?
have i missed something, only i thought there were 50 states. i know that DC and prueto rica want statehood and that there have been talk about califania spliting into a northern state and a southern state but that makes only 53, who are the others? somoa , guam? or irak, afhanistan? or the uk which is often described as the 51st state
or is this just an in joke
bewildered in norway
Richard:
Our Dear President actually said it (there are many recordings, in this one !00:37 or so)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2jNmQu0GGw
No, not an IN joke, would that it were, would that it were.
- Ned
ahh
when bush junior came out with his dumbisms i thought it was clever tacktics, like man of tthe people stuff or hey look i'm as dumb as you. and the leftys trying to pull him down were playing into his hands
i don't think that applys in this case
Israel is the 51st state and I wish it were a joke!
A bridge to Canada?.... WHY?!!??.....
Would anyone care to guess whether it will be union or non-union companies who get the contracts from the Infrastructure Bank? Hint: Gibson Guitars.
the cheapest ones.
Hey SD: you assured all of us that Belgium was all OK!
wtf?
- Ned
HAHAHA! I'm pretty sure I never did that :)
We're fucked beyond belief! We're one of the smallest countries in the EU with the biggest pile of crap in our banks which come close tho the US banks in total.
When we go, it will be UNBELIEVEABLY BIG BOOM PATS!
Q: What is orange and sleeps six?
A: A Caltrans truck.
To go right next to the one that's already there from Detroit to Windsor.
No, I'm not kidding.
Asshats all... this bridge has been a barrier to trade and needed for years before President Obama was elected... but don't let those sticky facts get in the way of the Obama hate groupthink... have fun kids... don't forget, school tomorrow!
sorry, i don't fit that cateogry, i'm an asspole....
if the darn bridge is hinding trade, why not privately finace it and make it a toll bridge? now there is an interesting and novel idea....
Hate to break it to you, but nearly every international trade agreement has failed.
Could I propose a Tunnel to Canada.
It Hides your foolishness, Cost more than you estimate and will be a great Tax Grab when you Toll it.
Is this all this Bloke has. ................ Gas from the belly
America .. you are being badly served. Not slightly but seriously... badly served.
If I was in a diner being slowly served by this man, I would ask for my Money back.
You really have to stop rubbing your balls while the commercials are on TV. It makes them aggrivated and does not shorten the ad break.
Pearls to Pigs ... really
hey
that bridge
leeds to one of my favorite places ...
no where...
where nothing
is some thing
"Nowhere man, please listen...
You don't know what you're missin'..." -- The Beatles
Administration's top prioriy for roads and bridges is to build a bridge to Hawaii.
WAIT!!!!
THAT BRIDGE FROM ALASKA TO RUSSIA!!!!
And Russia is paying for it :)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/business/worldbusiness/18iht-pipe.4.5340474.html
I knew I read it somewhere :)
More BABs? Imagine the premiums for all that new paper... FI desk revenue here we go. Maybe we won't have to fire tens of thousands after all.
Thanks Obammer, you da'man!
Priced in gold, the gas prices are likely to drop.
http://pricedingold.com/us-retail-gasoline/
The asphalt is made of oil. This won't be cheap.
And, of course, it must be paid for with other spending cuts. No borrowing. No tax increases.
Want to buy $5 billion of asphalt? Cut $4 billion of Medicaid transfer payments to states. Maybe also $1 billion in blue state military bases. Then let's see if states want those roads fixed.
I think I need ...
How much PER mile are we going to charged to drive over those roads,WE already paid for?
just realizing that now? I mean it was clearly obvious in 08...the dude is totally fkin worthless. He's had his water carried for his entire life by DWLs
Read the transcript of Jimmy Hoffa Jr's remarks prior to Obama's speech and you'll see the groundwork for the coming war.
Exactly.
And it's people like the Obamination, Hoffa and their ilk that cause me to no longer be interested in being "united" with a good portion of my fellow Americans anymore. If they want to wage war on me, fine, but if al-Qaeda goes after them or hits them, don't come crying to me. I'll just tell you to go fuck yourself.
Shouldn't he be looking for his dad? I saw a message for him, they want Hoffa to call his office.
hoffa, jr might get what he wants...cement shoes like his dad...
oh, give me a fucking break. Obama is black, so he had failed in your eyes before he even started.
ironically, his handlers picked him so both ends of the spectrum would end up fighting over the colors and overlook the true darkness
The one thing the Obama presidency has correctly demonstrated is that America is NOT ready for a black president. Too many rednecks, hillbillies, confederate goons and lower brain stem conservatives who are too distracted by his skin color to have credible, productive conversations about the real problems in this country.
Too many conversations about Hitler, Mao, Marx, socialism, communism, death panels, birth certificates, czars, 'he's a terrorist,' etc., etc., etc. America has been confronted with these exact same problems for decades, yet this ridiculous language was never used before. Can you only imagine if Obama had crafted the Patriot Act, and allowed the government to eavesdrop on your conversations? Holy fuck! Or if he had crafted TARP, or the bailout of GM and Chrysler, Freddie, Fannie, the backstop of Bear, etc.? Or if 9/11 happened during his presidency?
While it's a faux pas to outwardly call him a "nigger," the conservatives just equate him to the most loathsome political villians in history, instead. How the hell can we make any progress when a large percentage of the population is too distracted with total nonsense? Comatose conservative goons who haven't removed their asses from their Lazy Boy chairs since the 1970's are suddenly marching through city centers with signs that say "I Want my Country Back!" Back from what? The same place it's been for all of modern history? Most of those conservatives have no understanding of our banking system beyond what Rush and Glenn have told them.
Just look at the debt ceiling debate. The debt ceiling has been raised 77 times since the early 1970's, and 7 times during the Bush administration. Suddenly, this one is a problem. And yet the bond market has absolutely NO ISSUES with our debt whatsoever - historic low rates, in fact. I wonder why the conservatives are suddenly crying about this particular debt ceiling raise? Maybe because it wouldn't look right for the Texas cowboy to drive America into the ditch, while the black Kenyan turns it around? God forbid! Let's say NO to everything, even to the point of national default!
There's a really despicable, ugly underbelly in America and it's confirmed that America is NOT ready for a black president. It's far too much of a distraction and its hindering our ability to move forward.
Sad.
It's far too much of a distraction and its hindering our ability to move forward.
Move forward to what?
The "american dream" spread to all corners of the petri dish or a return to sustainable living?
well said. It was that lecture from Nate Hagens I think, ex editor of the oil drum who pointed out that we are always pumping (pimping?) that the third world should aspire to our footprint. But given this ever shrinking petri dish, we probably have it backwards. Things are going to get a lot more crowded and a lot leaner faster than we know
You sir are the racist, and an ignorant one to boot. Go back to your MSNBC blog or wherever marxists and socalists congregate... Like th DNC!
Ha - ha there really are Obama apologists left and they aren't all huddled in the corner over at HuffPo. Yeah we're all racists, it's that simple; if only those hateful White people had embraced Obama's genius and brilliant policies everything would be fine.
PS Change your name, no Obama supporter is a Libertarian.
Very strong rebuttals from the lower brain stem brigade. It's difficult for you to debate when Rush and Glenn haven't pre-packaged your rebuttal for you, isn't it?
<throws a handful of extra savory Kibbles and Bits>
GO FETCH!
Troll Warning
Denzal Washington or the POTUS from 24 would have been better choices. We wouldn't complain then. But this commie from Chicago has to go. A bridge would have been a better choice than Obama.
Bullshit.
Bottomline is he won the election because he said he was going to be different. He was going to end politics as usual in DC. All he's done is continue politcs as usual in DC and frankly has made it worse.
look, the race card...
ace of spades baby
Nice to see your latent racism finally break out. His incompetence is inconsequential, he must be supported because of color. Things must be slow over at OFA. You should discover this guy named Martin Luther King, Jr. You might find his "Dream" speech intersting. If America wasn't ready, dipshit, how exactly did he get elected?
[quote]
Myth #7: Liberals take the country forward and conservatives take it backward. Behind all these illusions lies a deeper notion: History is moving “forward,” and liberals are on the “right side of history.” But there is no intrinsic forward and backward in the historical process; there are only competing visions of America, none of which is guaranteed to succeed. If history is marching somewhere, we don’t know where. And at any given moment, the cold night of tyranny is just as possible as the clear day of enlightenment. Every step has to be won and defended on the basis of what best serves the interests of the American people. That’s why earlier generations believed that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. And, by the way, wouldn’t it be interesting to know where liberals find the metaphysical foundations on which to rest their notions of “forward” and “backward”? Liberal orthodoxy denies a God-given moral order to the universe. Its secular “progress” is nothing but the fantasy of long-dead German philosophers.
[/quote]
Jeff Bergner has served in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. He is coauthor (with Lisa Spiller) of Branding the Candidate, about political campaigns.
PATHETIC!
Racist is as racist does, Forrest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaqqhuB-M8I
You've got to love the genius of those who want to rebuild the infrastructure of a nation without employing highly skilled construction workers.
Jus a reminder, who were the racists who voted on skin color, not considering real world experience, legislative record, and/or leaderships qualities.
Probably similar in numbers to those who voted for McBush because he wasn't the black candidate.
Or those seduced by Palin because she's the G/MILF next door who, with her sassy soccer mom assertiveness, stirred the loins of repressed Christian convervatives who haven't felt anything south of their belt loops in decades.
Probably pretty similar, I'm guessing.
Troll
Troll Alert
Libertarians fo...
Your Hitleresque cartoon face must be symbolic of something, let me guess...
Obviously, you must believe Obama's giveaways to the financial cartel, increases in militarism, spreading of wars, continuation and expansion of Homeland policing is just peachy-keen,
and therefore that Obama critics can't possibly have any other reason to despise a war criminal and con man other than that he is "black".
Empty Suites are not dangerous. This man should be known as Mr. Total Destruction.
There are like 2 million foreclosed/unoccupied houses in the US. Do those count as empty suites? ;-)
OTOH, now that the 29 year old teleprompter-skipper is off to make his fortune, we can expect the quality of TOTUS to take a nose dive.
- Ned
becoming more and more a labor to address
I thought the $800Bn stimulus was supposed to build roads and bridges? Where the f*ck did that money go, who is accountable, who is accounting for it, where is it?
Silly you. Your attention span is too long!
Most of the States used those funds to shore up their public pension obligations. Hopium, lip-smacking good!
I'd hope that any reasoned person who is not part of TPTB can understand that the suit is empty as far as the plebes go, but is quite stuffed as far as TPTB go. Translation: it's ALWAYS about TPTB, the ALWAYS get what they have paid for!
the new roads and bridges are needed to accomadate military tanks. The old roads are not fortified enough.
Is that really his jobs program? How about another Nobel Peace Prize?
Oh. Did he say Bridges? I thought he said Bitchez
I wonder if is how they will finally hammer through the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor...
No video? Darn I was hoping to see he had changed that shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Worth the repost.
http://youtu.be/SkzV5AIK8iM
Essentially, let's start paving everything just like the Japanese did.
I think he wants something more like a five year plan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WD0WVL-HjE
I think he has been learning from the Chinese
OBAMA SAYS ROADS AND BRIDGES NEED REBUILDING IN U.S.
Building, demolishing and rebuilding will give the impression that USSA is busy, busy, busy rebuilding the future.
It will be like cash for clunkers on steroids, destroy useful goods and replace it with some new taxpayer subsidised crap creating an illusion of progress.
Yes, absolutely! Why stop at roads, let's cement the entire coastline.
http://www.fudotetra.co.jp/english/
And I have just the glow-in-the-dark imported Japanese waste material for the job.
Well past peak oil and creating more debt for roads and bridges.
You could not make this shit up if you tried.
Idiots.
yeah...in iceland they had some roads that were gravel and dirt. Wasn't the economy to pave or maintain. This is just the way shit gonna hafta be.
But Bamster and the rest will fight to the death defending exurbia. The whites who fled there to escape the black undertow are going to have to man up and go back to the cities and displace the crime class
No one in Iceland has tires smaller than 40''
so glad the futures are open.
We passed "shovel ready jobs" already and all we got was a stupid T-shirt.
+ $4 gasoline. Oh, and almost any sandwich you order is about $10.
...made in china
Those roads Oby is talking about will be built by Chinese construction companies. So better start learning Mandarin and hope you can be water boy for Chinese CEO.
I fought against the construction of a taxpayer supported entertainment center in a town that I recently left. During the battle against it I challenged TPTB about the supposed jobs it was going to "create." The construction company was from out of state, and, it turned out, only after forcing them to divulge their numbers, MOST of the workers were from outside of the county. Yeah, I've seen this movie before...
BTW - All the gainers were white. Just thought that you'd like to know, Trav...
nmewn, a not-so-stupid T-shirt ;-)
https://www.bergsportswear.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=2&i...
- Ned
{we're still laughing about Uncle O}
Yeah, Uncle Omar...good on you guys ;-)
I wonder how more illegals are going to come stumbling out of his closet?
Hell, at least with Carter I all he had to worry about was what Billy would do or say...Carter II has friggin illegal aliens popping up all over the place and a wife whose compassion for the people rivals Marie Antionettes...lol.
and at least we had billy beer. Remember the can?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredabercrombie/4153601326/
come to think of it, if he would just scrap the food card and hand out a beer card, he'd gain ten points over night
that said, pretty convinced, like every other subject, that they all give lip service to keeping out the aliens while they serve the corporations that worship at the third world labor bar
I still have a Billy Beer mug, he played his fifteen minutes of fame for everything it was worth...lol.
Yeah, on illegals...I saw BK's post and commented there last night...didn't say what I think it is myself out of respect for him.
To me, it is modern day slavery. Some illegal roofer fall off a roof and the employer (or the illegals mates) will roll him up to the ER and haul ass. No sympathy...just business costs reflected on someone elses books.
Then the kids. I don't know whats worse...illegals callously having them for the sake of citizenship or us allowing them to become citizens knowing the majority are concieved with that in mind.
Now I know my saying this may damage my street cred as a "conservative" whatever that winds up meaning...lol...but thats what I think about the whole sordid mess.
It should be stopped at the border by any means practical.
Unions? That's the plan? We're totally screwed.
http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/08/31/obamas-nlrb-rules-to-push-card-check-micro-unions/
YEs, a union for all the jobless. The country's biggest and meanest union ever created.
Pay for dues off of your WIC card. Elected leader Al Gore. First first point on the agenda is for union members to stop breathing so much CO2 and boycott beef from the cow fart problem.
Have parades and rallies. Smoke dope and wear peace signs. Gorw out your hair and live in the park. The 60's were too fast anyway.
Why not unionize the unemployed so they will have lifelong benifits?
the big O wants congress to hand out lollipop signs to the unemployed *que smiles all round*
Why doesnt someone ask this a$$hole why the fuck Chinese are building the bridge in San Francisco rather than US labor.
that way it will fall down without thermite in the next "false flag" or HAAAARP?
Wouldn't it be more appropriate to ask Ah-nold?
That new MLK memorial statue was made in China.
ya, looks a skosh' oriental and is "too white"
His estate charged the govt. $800k to use his words on the base, and Agelou says the quote makes him sound like a dick.
You can't make this stuff up.
The chinese scultor is best known for making Mao look imposing.
Geez, how could one forget its labour day after that speech. What gets me is that he seems to think one has to be affiliated to a union to be a labourer or worker.
What about small business owners who drive employment without the need for state bailouts burdening future generations for the sake of special interests like unions?
What a wanker.
Not that I'm against "small businesses," but I find all too often that the big corporations use this argument to spread their propaganda. Look around you and let me know what "small businesses" are doing. Lots are just doing the same as the big ones, importing crap from abroad, or providing meaningless services. Yeah, there are SOME businesses that actually make shit, but big business wants to crush these, gobble them up (that's concentration of capital, that's the game).
Quit asking govt to do ANYTHING, and that includes asking it to do NOTHING. Yup, don't engage it, walk away and make it die... then we'll really be free.
Thanks Oblahma... better put in a call to the Plunge Protection Team before you call it a day...
Must have been authored by Jon Lovett. Nothing like a little comic fodder to spruce up the afternoon.
At least the Mexicans who work in construction will get a job....
HOW THE HELL DOES THE SERVICE SECTOR PROFIT FROM THIS?!!!! THIS IS A 8 DECADE OLD THEORY!!!!!!!
OR ARE YOU GOING TO CUT A SECOND MOUNT RUSHMORE, BUILD 10 MORE OBAMA DAM'S FOR LAS VEGAS, WITH WEB DESIGNERS, TAX CONSULTANTS AND LAWYERS?!!!!!
Lobbyists are good at road paving no?
isn't that murder?
you pave them in the road
Self defence open and shut case
If you grind them up enough.
We could finish mount rushmore by doing the backside...
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/80738749/
Priceless!
Wouldn't that be cool :)
Who would want to see their asses?
Canadians!
If building homes, repairing bridges, and hiring young people to sit around as Govt employees was to road to recovery; then why does Egypt, Somila, Kenya etc do it?? You must have real wealth not Govt transfer payments and monetary money creation to generate a higher standard of living. The progressive/union agenda is a joke.
"You must have real wealth not Govt transfer payments"
OK, oh wise one, where is this "wealth" going to come from. HINT: wealth comes from the earth, from the extraction and manipulation of physical resources.
Those who proclaim that the private sector will somehow be able to manage the illusion any better is, well, under an illusion. It's still an illusion, no matter how "efficient" one would manage it...
I went on a backpacking trip last year and found a sign about 20 miles from the middle of nowhere that proclaimed the nearby bridge was built under the America Reinvstment Act or whatever. What a great use of money it was (as I could have easily just stepped across 3 stones and crossed the same creek). More of these plans please to improve our infrastructure!!
If the U.S. 'government' really wanted to reduce the deficit, you'd think they'd stop giving $billions to a prosperous, well armed, country like Israel each year... but no, they give more and more year after year...
... i wonder why that is? Hmmmmmmmm....
You know why that is, because the Israelis run this fucking country. They've got everybody either recruited to the cause of the jewish state, or just bought off. They've also got people so fearful of being pegged an anti-semite that no one will call them on it. WTF!
peg them anti-gentilites
You can include the Imf and the UN also..That should save a few bucks more..
It's IMF, but anyway...
People need to stop viewing these international organizations as somehow foreign to US interests. For crap sakes, they were created in order to leverage US interests, they're tools of the elite. They're used to pry natural resources from other countries, they HELP funnel money to the US (well, perhaps not a net to govt, but a net to TPTB).
To keep them in kibbutzes and the fuck out of Manhattan?
Failed in NYC, failed in Berkley, failed in ______________
Toronto
Obama, do us all a favor on this irony of all Labor Day weekend's - get the hell of the TV and go FUCK yourself with a corncob!
and with Davis-Bacon..all those road jobs....will be union jobs....payback.....its amazing how up front and legal it looks...
DBRA and SCA do not mandate union workers, just prevailing wages that are generally based on union scale. But the workers themselves do not have to be in a union. Obviously this will be signifcantly impacted by where the work is.
Obama can kiss my ass...
I see two words that stand out like a sore thumb: acts responsibly.
What is the impetus for putting those words in there? I think it is telling that they are inserted in a fluff release like this.
It's all focus group tested from now til Nov 2012.
actually if the US is anything like Canada I shockingly agree with POTUS on the road and bridge repair comments. I'm sure government will find a way to mess it up though and enrich a few no bid contractors in the process but roads here need some work for sure. The last 20 years governments became bored with things like rubbish/trash collection and basic infastructure and focused on...I actually have no idea what they've focused on but they've spent a lot of money on something or other.
I'm sure government did find a way to mess it up though and enrich a whole bunch of ... and that was about a $Trillion ago. Fixed it for ya.
- Ned
strikeout not working in the thread, does work in the editor.
"I'm sure government will find a way to mess it up though and enrich a few no bid contractors in the process but roads here need some work for sure."
Where is everyone when it comes time to point out the very same to the "defense" contractors?
"find" isn't the word, as THE mechanism IS to funnel to the coporate lobbyists.
Take yer pick, FORCED to stuff money in the pockets of top CEOs or those of union "leaders" and workers... No money? Pledge your children...
Welcome to the "Civil" Cold War
If he wins reelection watch people start demanding their State Succeed from the Union.
You mean 'secede', and please do.
Will ya'll let us go in peace this time? ;-)
Sure, but you have to pay back all those Fed handouts first.
Just as soon as you pay back the state of Mississippi (and the rest of us) for clear cutting our timber after the first. The Sierra Club is not amused by the banker cabals actions and neither are we. Same for the oil, snowy.
So, the question remains, will you leave us alone this time or is any imagined debt dreamed up by the Fed more important to you than actual people?
Inquiring minds...
The US already seceding from unions.
instead of bailing out Wall Street and extending the militairy machine's budget, this should've been done in 2007. (I.o.w. the money's gone now.)
Potholes, Bitchez!
Exactly !! Or if we really really need it bad then cut something somewhere else and lets do it.. And btw, wtf is toll raods, toll bridges, gas taxes and highway trust funds for? where the fuck does all that money go?
"where the fuck does all that money go?"
http://www.theonion.com/video/in-the-know-should-the-government-stop-dum...
But, seriously... Eventually ALL will be dicovered to be unsustainable. Nowhere in nature do you see it aimlessly hurtling its creatures all over the planet such great distances and with such frequency (yeah, there are migrations that take place, but these aren't on a DAILY basis!). Translation: the paradigm would NEVER hold up in the long-run, be it operated by govt or private business.
Roads are so yesterday.
Better build monorails and orbital elevator.
That's where money is at.
You mock, bu Rob Ford the mayor of Toronto proposed last week to build a monorail in Toronto from downtown to some old former industrial land about 2 or 3 miles east.
Actually I recalled latest USA monorail project, also to middle of nowhere and extraorbitant costs.
The more "hitech" project there is, more you can write off in "research" and "adequate safety measures".
Now, if they would import German engineers to build German railways... ah, the German railways are greatest.
"ah, the German railways are greatest."
I'm thinking that NOT everyone would agree...
That German railways are "great" doesn't equate to them being sustainably relevant. What good will they be when those BMW factories start shutting down?
In my previous town everyone was excited about a new transportation center that was built to handle "express" commuter trains. No one would listen to me asking them why it was so great to fund externalized costs for the businesses that were out of town. That is, why were we wanting to spend money to ship people out of town to work rather than taking that money to help create local businesses? Deer in the headlights...
I'd also advocated for the REDUCTION in all new transportation construction, taking the bulk of any such money and kicking it back to local businesses hiring local people (a commute trip reduction plan on steroids). Would reduce congestion, reduce all sorts of costs (insurance, fuel, environmental etc) and give people more of their time back. I suspect that the transportation industry would look to kill any such proposal, as it would reduce their profits: car sales, insurance, fuel, shipping (all those POVs help defer the cost of roads, thereby enabling reduced costs for shipped products [yeah, trucking pays a shitload of taxes, but I contend that it would pay MORE with less POVs on the road- consider POVs to trucking as junk mail is to the post office]).
I know what I am talking about. Have you seen UK railways? And their costs?
I do agree that you have to build to reach some commercial or other meaningful target.
And sometimes plan things with more conservative approach.
But then again, I haven't seen many governments running sane numbers.
Around 2 or 3 max. One of them is latest member to Eurozone, whose fiscal policy is pretty impressive.
Now decision of joining eurozone is other story, but their budget planning skills are great.
I can already imagine a Mosque located at the top of that orbital elevator. It will become the ultimate Muslim outreach program.