Apropos - 'in-fra-structure cha cha cha'

[link|http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/07/19/infrastructure/index.html?source=newsletter| Salon].

The scourge of E. coli conservatism

I never thought I'd see the day when it would be considered good news that a part of New York City was paralyzed, only one person died and there doesn't seem to be any asbestos floating around in the air as a result. ([link|http://www.mail.com/newsarticle.aspx?catId=1&articleId=1142755| Or maybe not].) The problem is that it is actually very bad news and not just because of the death but because it is a sign of the rapidly decaying infrastructure that has been ignored during the conservative era in favor of free-market religion and the wonder-working powers of tax cuts.

Wednesday, in New York, a pipe installed in 1924 finally gave way and ended up killing someone. Imagine that. They built things to last in those days, but I doubt anyone ever dreamed that they would have to last for nearly a century.

Rick Perlstein has been writing about what he calls "E. coli conservatism" for a while over at his blog [link|http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/blog/rick_perlstein| the Big Con], where, among other things, he's chronicling the increasing incidence of ... sinkholes. That's right, these days it's quite common to be driving or walking along a street in Anytown USA and be suddenly sucked into the ground because of the neglected infrastructure of our towns and cities. You can read about it in local papers every day. Wednesday he wrote:

We've warned here [link|http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/sinking_feeling_chapter_tk_through_tk_pattern_recognition| again] and [link|http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/sinking_feeling_chapter_xxxiii_through_liv_week_sinkholes| again] about the decrepitude of our underground infrastructure, about what happens when a nation consecrates itself to no higher domestic goal than the cutting of taxes. New York had a Republican mayor, in fact, who now spends his days boasting that he cut taxes 23 times. Cut spending, too, he's proud to say.

This is the legacy of the past 25 years of neglect. We shouldn't be relieved when we see a huge cloud of smoke and dust and find that it isn't "terrorism." It's a warning as important as a magenta terror alert or the rumblings of Michael Chertoff's gut. There is a price to pay for this free lunch the conservatives have been selling for the past 30 years and the bill is coming due.

Watch your step.

-- Digby

Post #289,532 by Ashton 7/20/07 6:39:24 PM Reply	Apropos - 'in-fra-structure cha cha cha' [link\|http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/07/19/infrastructure/index.html?source=newsletter\| Salon]. The scourge of E. coli conservatism I never thought I'd see the day when it would be considered good news that a part of New York City was paralyzed, only one person died and there doesn't seem to be any asbestos floating around in the air as a result. ([link\|http://www.mail.com/newsarticle.aspx?catId=1&articleId=1142755\| Or maybe not].) The problem is that it is actually very bad news and not just because of the death but because it is a sign of the rapidly decaying infrastructure that has been ignored during the conservative era in favor of free-market religion and the wonder-working powers of tax cuts. Wednesday, in New York, a pipe installed in 1924 finally gave way and ended up killing someone. Imagine that. They built things to last in those days, but I doubt anyone ever dreamed that they would have to last for nearly a century. Rick Perlstein has been writing about what he calls "E. coli conservatism" for a while over at his blog [link\|http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/blog/rick_perlstein\| the Big Con], where, among other things, he's chronicling the increasing incidence of ... sinkholes. That's right, these days it's quite common to be driving or walking along a street in Anytown USA and be suddenly sucked into the ground because of the neglected infrastructure of our towns and cities. You can read about it in local papers every day. Wednesday he wrote: We've warned here [link\|http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/sinking_feeling_chapter_tk_through_tk_pattern_recognition\| again] and [link\|http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/sinking_feeling_chapter_xxxiii_through_liv_week_sinkholes\| again] about the decrepitude of our underground infrastructure, about what happens when a nation consecrates itself to no higher domestic goal than the cutting of taxes. New York had a Republican mayor, in fact, who now spends his days boasting that he cut taxes 23 times. Cut spending, too, he's proud to say. This is the legacy of the past 25 years of neglect. We shouldn't be relieved when we see a huge cloud of smoke and dust and find that it isn't "terrorism." It's a warning as important as a magenta terror alert or the rumblings of Michael Chertoff's gut. There is a price to pay for this free lunch the conservatives have been selling for the past 30 years and the bill is coming due. Watch your step. -- Digby Ooohh.. let's cut ALL the taxes; make it completely Darwinian - gotcher Glocks? Car gun, bedroom gun, walking-around gun, backup-gun? Don't need no steenkin infernalstructure. The President's Analyst
Post #289,533 by bepatient 7/20/07 7:14:33 PM Reply	Well lets see for 50 of the 60 years since WW2, NYC has been run by Democrats. 16 of the last 30. It seems to me that they might be kneejerking just a bit. Too much of today's music is fashionable crap dressed as artistry._{Adrian Belew}
Post #289,689 by drewk 7/23/07 8:12:29 PM Reply	Math much? 50 of the 60 years since WW2, NYC has been run by Democrats. Meaning it's been "not Democrats" for 10 of the last 60. (Probably meaning Republicans, but I don't want to assume.) 16 of the last 30 Meaning 14 of the last 30. So New York has been run by someone other than Democrats for 10 of the last 60 years, including 14 of the last 30. Okay. === Kip Hawley is still an idiot. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #289,716 by bepatient 7/24/07 6:55:06 AM Reply	Oops, typoed list is [link\|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_New_York_City\|http://en.wikipedia...._of_New_York_City] Since Laguardia it weighs D. In the last few years they had Juli...and Bloom...who has defected from the R. Too much of today's music is fashionable crap dressed as artistry._{Adrian Belew}
Post #289,541 by a6l6e6x 7/20/07 9:19:54 PM Reply	They're only following the rule. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Someone at Con Edison will now work up a Excel spreadsheet on the cost benefit analysis of checking and replacing 105 miles of pipe vs. paying for sporadic death, injury and damage. While the pipe in question was 83 years old, some of the pipe is over 100 years old. The last pipe explosion was at Gramercy Park on 1989 with 3 people killed. You do the math. Alex Nobody has a more sacred obligation to obey the law than those who make the law. -- Sophocles (496? - 406 BCE)
Post #289,553 by Ashton 7/21/07 1:27:52 AM Reply	re pipes: 'We^h^h They will all go together when they go'

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