Biden to tout infrastructure spending in trip to Panama

[unhappycamper]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/15/208702/biden-to-tout-infrastructure-spending.html


Biden to tout infrastructure spending in trip to Panama
By Anita Kumar
McClatchy Washington Bureau
November 15, 2013

Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Panama Monday where he will tout the importance of spending money on infrastructure, such as U.S. ports, to capitalize on the expansion of the Panama Canal.

Biden will meet with President Ricardo Martinelli and tour the Panama Canal expansion project. He will be accompanied by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. and the mayors of Baltimore, Philadelphia and Atlanta, according to a senior administration official.

Biden had been scheduled by to make the trip in September but cancelled the visit to focus on the debate over whether to use military force in Syria.

In recent months, Biden had visited the ports in Baltimore, Savannah and Charleston, and an intermodal freight facility in North Baltimore, Ohio, where he has focused on the administration's push to spend money on infrastructure, such as ports.



unhappycamper comment: Perhaps Biden should look at American infrastructure a little more carefully - we have about $3.6 trillion of infrastructure work that needs to be done:

http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/grades/


America's GPA: D+

Water & Environment

Dams D
Drinking Water D
Hazardous Waste D
Levees D-
Solid Waste B-
Wastewater D

Transportation

Aviation D
Bridges C+
Inland Waterways D-
Ports C
Rail C+
Roads D
Transit D


Water & Environment

Dams D
Drinking Water D
Hazardous Waste D
Levees D-
Solid Waste B-
Wastewater D

Transportation

Aviation D
Bridges C+
Inland Waterways D-
Ports C
Rail C+
Roads D
Transit D

Public Facilities

Public Parks & Recreation C-
Schools D

Energy

Energy D+


Here's an unusual suggestion: Fix it.

[brer cat]

1. We have a lot of disasters just waiting to happen.

The longer we ignore them, the more costly they become to fix. Moreover, we have millions of unemployed workers who need JOBS. WIN-WIN. Why is it so hard to get it done?