A funny thing happened after Congress passed President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Some of the many many many Republicans who voted against it took credit for it. My working theory on the reason why is that Republicans are a bunch of lying slimy sleazy lying gaslighting bastards.
Senator Tommy Yes-He-Really-Is-That-Stupid Tuberville crowed over Alabama receiving $1.4 billion for broadband to rural communities. The stupid-ass Republican governor, Kay Ivey, also celebrated getting the funds. Alabama, if you want to thank someone for this, don’t thank your Senator who thinks the three branches of government are the House, Senate, and Waffle House or Kay Ivey. Thank President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer. Truth.
Senator Jon Cornyn from Texas, the one who doesn’t look like Mr. Haney and Grandpa Munster had a baby that lets orange carnival barkers insult his wife, also rejoiced about what Texas was getting from the bill he didn’t support. He was downright giddy his state was getting over $3.3 billion from the legislation for broadband. Texans, use that broadband to look up how Cornyn voted… and then use it to research if Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer.
Isn’t it nice that you can call legislation “absurd” and a “fiasco” and still be able to take credit for it? That’s what South Carolina’s Nancy Mace did. The House member even hosted a press conference celebrating Charleston getting $26 million for a bus hub featuring electric buses. Wait. Aren’t these goons also against stuff like electric buses? Someone should primary Nancy Mace on the argument she supports socialistic electric buses.
The law passed in 2021 despite 30 Senate Republicans and 200 House Republicans voting against it. For their part, 19 Republican Senators and 13 House Republicans did vote for it.
Nicole Malliotakis, a House Republican from New York, voted for the bill after claiming she “weakened” Democrats’ hand with it. She also said, “I voted against AOC and the squad tonight,” because she claimed to weaken the bill enough to destroy Build Back Better. But, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC) and the rest of the Squad voted against the infrastructure bill because they wanted more social programs inserted into it, like Build Back Better, which passed about a week later.
Marjorie Taylor Greene voted against the bill and claimed it was “Joe Biden’s Communist takeover of America via so-called infrastructure.”
Remember that as we rebuild the bridge in Baltimore that collapsed after a ship ran into it Monday morning.
MAGA doesn’t do infrastructure. They believe stuff like building bridges, literally and metaphorically, are communist takeovers. They believe infrastructure is socialism, like fire and police departments.
Donald Trump promised an infrastructure bill and even declared one week of his presidential (sic) administration as Infrastructure Week, but the only legislative accomplishment he achieved was giving himself a tax cut. He also failed in his promise of repealing Obamacare and replacing it with “something better.” Also, we’re still waiting on Mexico to pay for Trump’s border wall.
Apparently, Make America Great Again doesn’t mean rebuilding roads and bridges. Make America Great Again only means racism with potholes.
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I read that since 1989, I think it was, 500 bridges of the type the Baltimore bridge was have failed and fallen in the USA alone. There is obviously a design problem. How many more if these bridges are stiĺ standing around the world? Isn’t it time to replace them? Before more people are killed? They’re probably all in Red States, right?
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I’m a bridge engineer, Rawgod. Here are some details about the statistic you cited. Fortunately very few of the failures have been huge suspension bridges like the Key. And they’re not due to inherent design flaws, but in many cases are down to deferred maintenance. And you’re correct; deferred maintenance is a greater problem in red states as they tend to have a lower tax revenue and less inclination to increase funding for critical needs. They’d rather build high school football stadiums.
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Thank you for the info. Glad to hear there is no design flaw, but what is it that needs so much maintenance?
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Rawgod, structural steel bridges need “coatings” commonly called paint by laymen. Coatings cannot be applied simply as new coats over existing. The existing needs to be shot-blasted down to white metal. Often the existing coatings are lead-based, which presents its own concerns. Then any corrosion is addressed. New plates may be bolted and welded into place to reinforce weakened beams. Then primer and two coats of specialized coatings are applied. Each step must be done within a pressurized “containment”, a huge, sealed, tent-like structure, to prevent environmental contamination beyond. Each application of coating needs to be inspected in situ for thickness and integrity. Each step requires very specific temperature and humidity limits, so in most parts of the country the work isn’t feasible year-round. Some of our biggest structures have full-time ongoing recoating going on as the climate permits.
Meanwhile, concrete piers and abutments often have corrosion on internal reinforcement. The concrete needs to be sounded or other scanning methods may be applied, to identify the location and limits of deteriorated concrete, which is then hammered away. Exposed rebar is shot-blasted, sometimes replaced, and then epoxy paint is applied, followed by placement of new concrete. A single four lane single-span bridge can require months for such repairs, with associated traffic disruptions.
Meanwhile, bridges over water with submerged piers have their own foundation issues as outlined in the article I sent you.
We have over 600,000 bridges of different types in this country. One estimate is that as many as 25% are deficient to some degree. You can imagine the mammoth effort that will be required for decades to address those, while others are added to the list. It’s not a good picture.
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Clay, about a dozen years ago, Democrat Ray LaHood and Republican Ed Rendell had the backing of labor and the US Chamber to seek money for infrastructure in a very unique bipartisan push. Both said the maintenance, improvements and new structures would create jobs and help stabilize structures. They only got some funding to the Highway Trust Fund. This stuff is needed. At the time Rendell, who was the governor of PA, said there are 2,000 bridges just in PA that need help. Keith
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Clearly state governments weren’t listening very well. But that’s nothing new. I’m from CA and while the state does a decent job of keeping the main highways up the city I live in most of the side streets need repairs desperately. The potholes are deep and many. Some places have been patched so many times now they are like gravel roads. That’s the difference between state and local government in a blue state.
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Beth, I agree! I’m in Sacramento County and our roads are just awful, with potholes so big you can practically swim in them when it rains. And those are some of the main/most traveled roads needed for commuting! The lesser roads are even worse, and I’m thankful that I don’t drive much anymore. With the amount of gas taxes we pay, you’d think we’d have the most perfect roads in the United States!
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“Donald Trump promised an infrastructure bill and even declared one week of his presidential (sic) administration as Infrastructure Week, but the only legislative accomplishment he achieved was giving himself a tax cut.”
As I recall, Q45* declared many (I lost count) “Infrastructure Weeks” during his (sic) “Presidency”.😉
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
⚠️ONLY THE
⚠️ VOTERS CAN
⚠️ SAVE US
⚠️ NOW!!!!!
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
🇺🇸November 5th, 2024.
🇺🇸Save the Date.
🇺🇸Save the Country.
🇺🇸Susan B_A from
🇺🇸 Resistanceville
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
🌊(We Need A
🌊( Blue Wave
🌊( that is
🌊TOO BIG TO RIG
🌊TOO REAL TO STEAL
🌊*Glenn Kirshner
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Note that this article was published on 23 May 2019. I don’t recall (I told you I lost count!), how many more “Infrastructure Weeks” were declared after that.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/23/politics/donald-trump-infrastructure-week?cid=ios_app
This article was published on 16 November 2020. There probably (?) weren’t any more “Infrastructure Weeks” declared during the rest of his Lame Duck (sic) “Presidency”.
(He was too busy complaining about how he “won”, and the election was “stolen”, and making the plans for January 6.)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/what-did-all-those-infrastructure-weeks-add-up-to
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
⚠️ONLY THE
⚠️ VOTERS CAN
⚠️ SAVE US
⚠️ NOW!!!!!
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
🇺🇸November 5th, 2024.
🇺🇸Save the Date.
🇺🇸Save the Country.
🇺🇸Susan B_A from
🇺🇸 Resistanceville
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
🌊(We Need A
🌊( Blue Wave
🌊( that is
🌊TOO BIG TO RIG
🌊TOO REAL TO STEAL
M🌊*Glenn Kirshner
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I Think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is a Insane
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