Senator Blunt Gives Lip Service to Our Infrastructure and the Work It Needs

I saw this, earlier this week, on our own Missouri Senator Roy Blunt's official page:

              Stop right there! There will be no jobs bill.

Senators Blunt, Casey Continue Working To Support Bridges, in Need of Repair in MIssouri and Nationwide

I almost choked.

Not once in the last 7 years has ANY Republican in Congress, in either house, written, proposed or attempted to pass a true, good, strong, helpful jobs/infrastructure bill. Not once. Not one. 

Not one Republican representative, not one bill.

Now, Senator Blunt is trying to rewrite short-term history by saying something different--the opposite, in fact.

Senator Blunt supports infrastructure work like he and his political party show support for our nation's Veterans. Proof? This is from February, last year, 2014:

U.S. Senate Republicans block veterans' 

health bill

And this is from just this last December:

GOP senator blocks veterans' suicide 

prevention bill

The thing is, they don't.

Here's the truth on the infrastructure/jobs bill they could be writing and proposing and that should already, long ago, have been done:

Republicans Have Passed 0 Jobs Bills During Their First 138 Days Running Congress

In their first 138 days in control of Congress, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have passed zero jobs bills. Instead, Republicans passed budgets that would give big tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires.

All the while, our infrastructure is famously/infamously, it's known, is crumbling and needs updating and improving.

On top of that, as if that weren't enough, Americans need the jobs.

On top of that, all that, the economy needs the boost. We all know all this.

But Republicans?

They'll be damned if they'll have this nation have a successful, thriving economy while they're not in the White House. Nation be damned.

Meanwhile, there's this, not coincidentally:

And who can blame us?

But screw you, America, the Republicans are clearly saying. They're going to do their damnedest to make sure there's no such jobs or infrastructure bill--or good economy--unless or until a Republican is back in the White House.

God and heaven forbid.

I would love to have them prove me and this wrong--and as soon as possible.

Don't bet on it.

Senator Blunt Said WHAT???

Last evening, the following was typed onto Missouri Senator Roy Blunt's Facebook page:

Missouri is at the center of our nation’s highway, railway, and waterway transportation networks, which makes infrastructure an integral part of our state’s economy. Infrastructure creates jobs, connects people and communities, and enables us to compete globally. I’ll keep working to ensure that investing in our nation’s infrastructure remains a priority this week during ‪#‎InfrastructureWeek‬ and every week. ‪#‎RebuildRenew‬

I have to tell you, I was stunned.

Thrilled but stunned.

For all these years, no Republican member of Congress since at least 2008 has written or sponsored or proposed any infrastructure or jobs/infrastructure bill.

Not one.

Including, of course, Senator Roy Blunt.

So here, after all this time of we Americans needing jobs and our infrastructure needing work and updates and improvements and the economy---God knows--needing the boost, suddenly there's this statement, this recognition that we need some things done to our nation's highways, railways, waterway transportation networks, our bridges, all that?

Knock me down with a feather.

And call me skeptical, at the same time.

Sure, I hope Senator Blunt puts his legislative work where his mouth--or keyboard--is but I just find it difficult to believe he'll finally, finally do the right thing for the American people and for the nation and do just that---write, propose and at least try to get passed a jobs/infrastructure bill.

There can be no better example of a highway that needs updating and improving than Missouri's own stretch of Interstate 70 from Illinois and St. Louis to the East, through the middle of the state and Columbia, all the way to Kansas City and Kansas to the West. It's outdated, it's narrow, heck, it's even downright dangerous to the point of lethal, repeatedly.

However right and good it is for the nation and people, it seems the last thing Senator Blunt or his Republican Party wants to do is have more Americans working and America with a better economy while this person of the other political party is in the White House, nation be damned.

God, I'd love to be wrong.

So here's hoping. Here's hoping our own Missouri Senator Roy Blunt and all his Republican colleagues finally see the light, as it were, and do what's good and right and needed and necessary for the people and the economy and the infrastructure of the country.

I don't think they will but it could happen.

Again, here's hoping.

What Will It Take to Get Congress to Give Us an Infrastructure Bill?

Yes sir, breaking news on more of America's infrastructure. And ironically, poignantly, it's out of "red state", Republican Texas, no less.

1 dead, 3 injured in bridge collapse on I-35

Not only did a bridge collapse but it was tragic, too:

KVUE in Texas is reporting 1 person is dead and 3 are injured in a bridge collapse in Bell County, Texas.

One person is dead and at least three others are injured after a crash along Interstate 35 near mile marker 286 in Salado, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

DPS said the person who died was in a pickup truck driving under the bridge when it collapsed. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, around 11 a.m. Thursday, an oversized tractor trailer hit a beam of the FM 2484 overpass bridge that was under construction on I-35. The impact caused several beams to become dislodged and fall onto the roadway.

Not only is our infrastructure collapsing, as here, but it killed an American and hurt others.

So I ask you, at what point are our representatives in Congress going to do something to write, propose and pass a good, strong, meaningful infrastructure bill?

I say again--

• Americans need the jobs.
• Our infrastructure famously needs the updating and improving.
• And the economy needs the boost.

It should be a no-brainer.

Senator Roy Blunt?

Will you lead on this, sir?

Screw you, America

What the Republicans did yesterday:

$478B Infrastructure Bill Blocked by Senate GOP

Americans need jobs.

America and Americans need improved, updated infrastructure.

The American economy needs a boost.

You think the Senate Republicans would have any of that?

Oh, hell no.

Republicans don't want you to have better infrastructure, more jobs or any such economic boost.

At least, they don't want you to have any such thing while this president is in the White House or likely, until one of their own is there.

Screw you. It's political party first.  You have to wait, America

The GOP, Their Leadership In Congress and Where We Go From Here

I love this article

GOP leaders staring at cliffs

Boehner, McConnell have big plans and big obstacles.

I'll cut to the chase, so to speak. Of the entire article, this is the part that intrigues and involves me most:

The highway trust fund will become insolvent in May, and federally funded infrastructure projects across America will grind to a halt if nothing is done. Congress will have to work out a new funding mechanism — the gas tax has not been raised since 1993, and fuel-efficient cars have steadily decreased its buying power. Raising the tax is politically difficult, so Boehner, McConnell and the transportation chairmen will have to work out another funding mechanism — or turn to another unpopular general fund bailout, rather than risk a construction shutdown.

This Highway Trust Fund needs so much money it's beyond thought. Our infrastructure needs so much attention. We have so many highways, bridges and airports and so much infrastructure that needs reworking and improving and updating, it's nearly staggering.

Fortunately and rather ironically, we're at a time when, not only do all these things need so much attention but with oil per barrel and per gallon, at the pump, is so low, it would seem it's the perfect time to increase this gas tax so we can fund this infrastructure and so, the country and our commerce.

It used to be government representatives would legislate and act for the betterment and best of the nation, of the country. But as we've seen of particularly the Republican Party in the last few decades at least and especially since our current president was elected, they legislate and put their party first, country be damned.

And that's where we are today.

What should be easy and intelligent legislation for the country and for the people becomes complicated and difficult, if not impossible, for these people. Their biggest fear is that this president would be successful and so, that they might suffer. 

It used to be if the country was successful, that was your goal in government, no matter your position. Not so now. These people are downright fearful that, should President Obama be successful, should the US profit and grow during this time frame, they would be hurt. The last thing they want is to come close to doing anything, anything whatever, that would create a second Franklin Roosevelt. They never forgot the lesson of FDR and the Great Depression. He was successful and what did that get them?  They were out of favor with the voters for at least 40 years.

So screw you, America. The Republican Party must come first. 

If you're still here after all this, once they're finally back in the White House, then they might consider doing something for you. Something for Mr. and Mrs. Working Man and Woman of the nation. 

Like a jobs bill.

Or like the infrastructure needed to make the nation work.

With This New Congressional Year and Session

Contact your Congressional representatives in the new year. Push them, ask for a jobs/infrastructure bill for the nation. Americans need the jobs, our infrastructure, it's widely known, needs to updating and repairs and the economy needs the boost. It's a no-brainer:

Taylor Swift's Holiday Gift to President Obams

When I first saw Taylor Swift's latest video, I just didn't care for it. It's too pop, it's too cute, it's more of just being all about her.

What a fool I was.

Today's news made me realize, it's not about herself at all. It's about President Obama, clearly.

Did you see the latest report on our national economy?

US economy notches its best performance in over a decade

Gross domestic product for the third-quarter leapt a better-than-expected 5%.

The U.S. economy’s third-quarter performance was the strongest the nation has recorded in more than 10 years, as consumers continue to spend more as they feel emboldened by a stronger job market, a stronger housing market and rising stocks.

Gross domestic product for the third-quarter leapt a better-than-expected 5% according to the Commerce Department’s “third” estimate. That growth exceeded the prior quarter’s 4.6% increase. It also was the greatest advance since the third quarter of 2003, according to Bloomberg.

U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday following the data, driving the Dow industrials above 18,000 for the first time.

With this, on top of all the other good news on and about America in these past 6 years, all the Republicans and Right Wingers and Tea Party members and just the haters in general, it makes me think of Taylor Swift's latest.



Haters gonna' hate, Mr. President.

Shake it off.

And this is a failed presidency

Right.

And in case anyone out there isn't aware or convinced of more of the successes of this administration:

Updated! A List of 276 Accomplishments by PresidentObama with Citations!

On Germany and Their Nasty, Ugly Socialism

There is a fantastic article and interview out just now at Alternet:

Why Germany Has It So Much Better Than the U.S

It's all based on author Thomas Geohegan's new book Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?  Renowned fellow author Terrence McNally interviews him.

Just a bit, here, to make point:

December 9, 2014/  The European Union, 27 member nations with a half billion people, has become the largest, wealthiest trading bloc in the world, producing nearly a third of the world's economy -- nearly as large as the US and China combined. Europe has more Fortune 500 companies than either the US, China or Japan.

European nations spend far less than the United States for universal healthcare rated by the World Health Organization as the best in the world, even as U.S. health care is ranked 37th. Europe leads in confronting global climate change with renewable energy technologies, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the process. Europe is twice as energy efficient as the US and their ecological "footprint" (the amount of the earth's capacity that a population consumes) is about half that of the United States for the same standard of living.

Unemployment in the US is widespread and becoming chronic, but when Americans have jobs, we work much longer hours than our peers in Europe. Before the recession, Americans were working 1,804 hours per year versus 1,436 hours for Germans -- the equivalent of nine extra 40-hour weeks per year.

They're better paid, have more money, live better, have more--far more---vacation time,  pay less for education,don't ship jobs overseas, there's less--again, far less--poverty, they have more "green", sustainable energy sources, all while producing more, as a nation.

Great interview. It sounds like a good to great book, possibly an important one. Eye-opening to most Americans. Too many of us, without international travel, don't know what we don't have, of course, nor what, maybe, likely, even, we could, if only for better national priorities. Some things we could maybe have if we had statesmen and stateswomen in our leadership instead of what we have now.
I love this---something the author found:  "...if you don't have much poverty, life is better for everybody. Not just for the poor, but for everybody.

It's what a lot of us have been saying and for a long time. It seems something the Waltons of Walmart and the Koch brothers and their ilk just can't comprehend or accept or agree to.

What's to not want to emulate here, on our part? Heck, on anyone's part?

That is really some ugly Socialism there, isn't it?

I'm sure glad we aren't Socialists and have that ugly stuff here, aren't you?

Why we so desperately need a jobs/infrastructure bill from this Congress

"The global economy is more precarious right now than it's been since 2008. China's growth is slowing precipitously, Europe is on the very of recession or deflation, Japan is barely growing, and the United States cannot maintain sufficient aggregate demand without a larger and more buoyant middle class. Interest rates are rock-bottom. Under these circumstances, you might expect governments to borrow more to stimulate their economies. But Germany in the eurozone, and Republicans in the U.S., are still insisting on austerity." 

--Robert Reich

Instead, there is the desire on the part of one political party, quite frankly, the Republicans, to put their own party and their success ahead of that of the nation, people and economy be damned. 

We all know that. 

Why else would they totally avoid an infrastructure/jobs bill from this or the last Congress when the American people need the jobs? the infrastructure needs the updating and improving and the economy needs the boost? They don't want this president or his political party to gain any "points" or to be perceived as having any success so screw you, America.

Flash from the past

I love that:  "WORLD'S HIGHEST STANDARD OF LIVING"

Funny thing, we still tell ourselves that today.

Why we need a jobs/infrastructure bill from this Congress (guest post)

And we need a jobs/infrastructure bill badly.  And as soon as possible.

From Robert Reich's Facebook page today:

Republicans call any measure that lifts wages or protects workers and the environment a “job killer.” 

This is pure bunk. 

(1) Even if such measures increase business costs, most companies can afford them without reducing payrolls. Corporate profits now account for the largest percentage of the economy on record. 

(2) We need more jobs that pay decent wages, are safe, sustain the environment, and provide a modicum of security. If seeking to achieve this minimum level of decency ends up “killing” some jobs, maybe those aren’t the kind of jobs we ought to try to preserve in the first place. 

(3) Businesses create jobs only when they have enough customers, and lay off workers when they don’t. The real job creators are consumers with enough money in their pockets to buy what businesses have to sell. The real job killers in America are lousy jobs at lousy wages.

(PS: "Inequality for All" is now on Netflix. Watch it and help build the movement).

Write your Congressman about jobs and a jobs bill from Congress, this Congress, today or as soon as possible, please.  For all of us. For America, Americans, American jobs and for a better, healthier US and even world economy. You can find your representative here:

Contact Elected Officials | USA.gov

Thank you in advance.

Someone in this country has to lead on jobs

Republicans in Congress aren't leading and won't lead on jobs. They write, propose and pass zero jobs/infrastructure bills for the nation, this in spite of the worst downturn in the economy since the 1930's, since the Great Depression. So the president will lead, instead.



And yes, they and lots of others will hate him for even this.

Looney.

Welfare ruins nations?

We've heard it repeatedly, right? Welfare--for the people--makes them weaker?

And what countries also aren't outspending the rest of the world for war, bombs and planes, investing so much of their GDP on death and war?

Yeah, them, that's who.

And then there's this, added to it all:

I think it's all important to know.

And repeat.


 

Syria, War and What Our Government Should Be Doing (guest quote)

"While all eyes are on Syria and America’s response, the real economy in which most Americans live is sputtering. More than four years after the recession officially ended, 11.5 million Americans are unemployed, many of them for years. Nearly 7 million have given up looking for work. The share of the population working or seeking a job is nearly the lowest in thirty years. The unemployment rate among high-school dropouts is 11 percent; for blacks, 12.6 percent. And the median wage keeps dropping, adjusted for inflation.

A decent society would put people to work -- even if this required more government spending on roads, bridges, ports, pipes, parks and education. And we can afford it. Deficit hawks in both parties don’t want you to know this but the deficit as a proportion of the total economy is shrinking fast: It’s on track to be only 4 percent by the end of this month, when the fiscal year ends. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts it will be only 3.4 percent in the fiscal year starting October 1. What does this mean? Consider that the average ratio of the deficit to the GDP over the past 30 years has been 3.3 percent. So the deficit is barely a problem at all. (We’re still projected to have large deficits starting 10 years from now because of all the aging boomers needing health care.) 

 A decent society would also lift the minimum wage and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (a wage subsidy) so no family with a full-time worker has to live in poverty." -- Robert Reich, American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator.

 

A "decent society" would have leaders in government who would do the right thing for their country, their own political party be damned, so if/when the nation had the worst economy in 80 years, since the Great Depression, and also had collapsing infrastructure, literally, they'd pass a jobs/infrastructure/projects bill.

That's what a "decent society" would do.

 

Links:  Robert Reich

 

Robert Reich - Wikipedia

 

Robert Reich | Facebook

 

 

Why "wealth distribution" matters

The wealthy are pocketing the benefits of all of our working our tails off, folks.

More here:

A Decade of Flat Wages: The Key Barrier to Shared Prosperity 

Just a few of the findings:

• According to every major data source, the vast majority of U.S. workers—including white-collar and blue-collar workers and those with and without a college degree—have endured more than a decade of wage stagnation. Wage growth has significantly underperformed productivity growth regardless of occupation, gender, race/ethnicity, or education level.
• During the Great Recession and its aftermath (i.e., between 2007 and 2012), wages fell for the entire bottom 70 percent of the wage distribution, despite productivity growth of 7.7 percent.
• Weak wage growth predates the Great Recession. Between 2000 and 2007, the median worker saw wage growth of just 2.6 percent, despite productivity growth of 16.0 percent, while the 20th percentile worker saw wage growth of just 1.0 percent and the 80th percentile worker saw wage growth of just 4.6 percent.
• The weak wage growth over 2000–2007, combined with the wage losses for most workers from 2007 to 2012, mean that between 2000 and 2012, wages were flat or declined for the entire bottom 60 percent of the wage distribution (despite productivity growing by nearly 25 percent over this period).
• Wage growth in the very early part of the 2000–2012 period, between 2000 and 2002, was still being bolstered by momentum from the strong wage growth of the late 1990s. Between 2002 and 2012, wages were stagnant or declined for the entire bottom 70 percent of the wage distribution. In other words, the vast majority of wage earners have already experienced a lost decade, one where real wages were either flat or in decline.
• This lost decade for wages comes on the heels of decades of inadequate wage growth. For virtually the entire period since 1979 (with the one exception being the strong wage growth of the late 1990s), wage growth for most workers has been weak. The median worker saw an increase of just 5.0 percent between 1979 and 2012, despite productivity growth of 74.5 percent—while the 20th percentile worker saw wage erosion of 0.4 percent and the 80th percentile worker saw wage growth of just 17.5 percent.

People on food stamps are the problem?

Some facts and one moral truth:

It's not the poor man that's the problem with our nation or debt or deficits, ladies and gentlemen.

Facts about our country right now

Framing the national economic debate

Economist, columnist Robert Reich gets it right and spells it out for us all:



Links:

Robert Reich

Robert Reich - Wikipedia

Robert Reich | Facebook

Robert Reich | Common Dreams

Robert B. Reich News - The New York Times

Robert Reich: Corporations Are Holding Countries for Ransom

This will be making some Right Wing heads asplode today

The very famously business-friendly Forbes magazine, no less, writes the following:

Economically, Could Obama Be America's Best President?

From the link:

"...Presidents universally take credit when the economy does well (such as Reagan,) and choose to blame other factors when the economy does poorly (such as Carter.) But there was a clear pattern, and link, between policy and financial market performance.

Although we hear almost no one in the Obama administration taking credit for record index highs, they should. Because the President deserves attention for how well this economy has done during his leadership.

The auto rescue plan has worked. American car manufacturers are still dominant and employing millions directly and in supplier companies. Wall Street reform has been painful but it has re-instated faith amongst investors. The markets are far more predictable than they were four years ago, as VIX numbers demonstrate greater faith and less risk.

Even for small investors, such as thoughs limited to their 401(k) or IRA investments, the average annual compound return on stocks under President Obama has been more than 24% since the lows of March, 2009. This is a better result than either Clinton, Reagan or FDR – who were the prior winners in our book.

To which, we have only one thing to say to the Republicans, the Right Wingers, the Neoconservatives and all the haters out there:

Suck it, beeyotches.