Missouri's Sad State of Infrastructure

I've written about Missouri's sad state of infrastructure here before. Our roads and streets and bridges, not just here in Kansas City but statewide.

It seems clear, with Republican-led government, on the state or national level, either one, we--read: they--just don't want to fund the basics like education or, again, infrastructure. Millions and billions for perpetual war in foreign countries but far too little for our own nation.

So along comes this study:

Bridge safety: It'll take More Than 80 Years to Repair the 47,000 Structurally Deficient Bridges in America, Report Finds

Check out these statistics from the article:

More than 47,000 bridges in the United States are in crucial need of repairs, says the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, or ARTBA. The group, which advocates for investment in transportation infrastructure, analyzes data from the Federal Highway Administration and releases an annual Deficient Bridge report.

This year's report, released Monday and based on 2018 data, found:

• There are 616,087 bridges in America
• Of those, 47,052 (nearly 8%) are "structurally deficient" and need urgent repairs
• 235,020 bridges (38%) need some sort of repair
• Americans cross structurally deficient bridges 178 million times a day, including such landmarks as the Brooklyn Bridge and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge over the San Francisco Bay
• The average age of a structurally deficient bridge is 62 years

Now, check out our own state of Missouri’s ranking in all this.

The states with the highest number of compromised bridges are:

Iowa (4,675)
Pennsylvania (3,770)
Oklahoma (2,540)
Illinois (2,273)
Missouri (2,116)

We're one of the worst, one of the top 5 states with bridges in poor repair in the nation.

Meanwhile, this is our current status:

“President Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to upgrade America's crumbling infrastructure. Even though some Democratic leaders have expressed a willingness to work with him on a plan, little progress has been made on the issue.”

We need to demand more, much more from our legislators, in Jefferson City and Washington, both.

We've been in Afghanistan, either blowing things up or building schools for 18 years.

Even Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has pointed this out.

Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma Says the US Wasted Trillions On Warfare Instead of Investing In Infrastructure

What part of that makes sense?

Let's get back to taking care of the important things.

At home.

We can't be strong over there if we're weak over here.

Links:

Falling apart: America's neglected infrastructure - CBS News

Why do Republicans really oppose infrastructure spending?

Three quarters of one trillion dollars, at least, for weapons and killing and attacking other nations--far beyond what any other nation spends, in fact, far beyond what virtually all other nations spend--but we don't take care of the people.

How does anyone think this is sustainable for the nation?

Quote of the day

"War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children." --Former US President Jimmy Carter

The United States of Perpetual Warfare

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes." --Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his last speech before leaving office. To which I reply, "Oops, too late." Link: http://www.h-net.org/~hst306/documents/indust.html

The United States of Perpetual War

"When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty and there is nothing to fear from them then he is always stirring up some wary or other in order that the people may require a leader."    — Plato

We need to get beyond this so our leaders can't manipulate situations and so we don't find ourself in a literal, perpetual state of war, which is where we seem to be right now. 

We're smarter than this. 

Or we should be, anyway. 


Again, enjoy your Sunday.