If there was a serious adversary at the gates that caused all of this chaos we would come up with the money. I've seen an elderly couple die from abuse and being ignored as a result of Hurricane Sandy. They are just the tip of an iceberg. Will we be a serious nation and society or will we just lose our way to chauvinism and provincial simplicities?
REH. December 8, 2012 The Cracks in the Nation’s Foundation Across the coasts of New York and New Jersey, hundreds of millions of gallons of raw and partially treated sewage are spilling into waterways and the ocean. The immediate cause is equipment damage from Hurricane Sandy, but as Michael Schwirtz recently <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/nyregion/sewage-flows-after-hurricane-sandy-exposing-flaws-in-system.html?ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all> reported in The Times, aging plants like one in Nassau County on Long Island were leaking long before the storm, flooding neighborhood streets with sewage during downpours. There are thousands of faltering sewage plants like these across the country, staffed by operators who dread rainy days. Civil engineers in every state are monitoring ominous cracks in roads and bridges that carry freight and school buses. And millions of transit commuters are awaiting new equipment and long-deferred maintenance on systems that are reliable only when the sun is shining. The need for investment in public works, never more urgent, has become a casualty of Washington’s ideological wars. Republicans were once reliable partners in this kind of necessary spending. But since President Obama spent about 12 percent of the 2009 stimulus on transportation, energy and other infrastructure programs, Republicans have made it a policy to demonize these kinds of investments. When the president asked recently for a modest $50 billion for transportation improvements in the “fiscal cliff” talks, Republicans literally laughed out loud. <http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/2012/12/a-difficult-lift-for-shuster.php> There will be no stimulus in any deal, said Representative Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, the incoming chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Obviously the economy needs another boost, in part because the austerity being demanded by Republicans is likely to slow down growth. Big government construction projects put people to work, and those new jobs have enormous ripple effects — <http://www.economy.com/dismal/article_free.asp?cid=224641> $1.44 in benefits for every government dollar spent on public works. An infrastructure bank for energy and water projects, started with $10 billion in government seed money, could leverage hundreds of billions in private investments. But the biggest reason to spend money on these projects is that they are desperately needed in every city and state. Around the country, there are 70,000 structurally deficient bridges; one of them, in southern New Jersey, <http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2012/11/train_derailment_prompts_evacu.html> collapsed under a train last week, sending tank cars full of flammable gas into a creek. There are 4,000 dams in need of repair, and the electrical grid in this supposedly advanced country ranks 32nd in the world in reliability, behind Slovenia’s. Those Republicans who deride this investment as worthless stimulus might want to explain to freezing homeowners why it is too expensive to bury fragile power lines. The president’s $50 billion proposal for highways, rail, mass transit and aviation, hard as it will be to achieve, is only a slim down payment on the real job. (He proposed the same package last year as part of the American Jobs Act, which Republicans ignored.) Most estimates put the cost of basic repairs at more than $2 trillion, and that does not even include long-range upgrades to the electrical grid, storm protection and mass transit. Around the country, ridership on transit has grown significantly since the 1990s, but federal investments have fallen far short. <http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/2010cpr/pdfs/cp2010.pdf> The Transportation Department says that if $18 billion were spent every year — 40 percent more than is being spent now — transit systems might get to a state of good repair by 2028. But that does not include spending to improve service or keep up with growth, or to protect systems like New York’s from storm damage. (The city’s subway system needs $4.8 billion just to recover from Hurricane Sandy.) The NextGen satellite program desperately needed to replace the nation’s clogged air traffic control system will cost at least $30 billion, but much of that money is likely to be cut by the automatic sequester of spending put in place by Republicans last year. This investment will ultimately save the airline industry vast amounts now lost to delays and excess fuel consumption, but like so many other important projects, it is being eroded in the blind ideological rush to cut everything. As bridges fall, subway riders are stranded and flight delays pile up, the cost of this shortsightedness will continue to mount. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arthur Cordell Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2012 9:24 PM To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: [Futurework] FW: Bits Daily Update: Experts Are Skeptical About a Renaissance of U.S. Manufacturing From: NYTimes.com [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, December 07, 2012 11:15 AM Subject: Bits Daily Update: Experts Are Skeptical About a Renaissance of U.S. Manufacturing If you have trouble reading this e-mail, please click here <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACJI2ZAaeUipVPqk2ZhhTB0q6aqudB0sPikf7KR9fdW3NPnGW1QplUxK+ohTQI4SrBYmQrDEfi8r9&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACHCpQxp3Fo5Z&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> The New York Times <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACKQh1JEPAsZdJEeYgVC1dbD6SXlUFcK21PBJQ7hjiSldHXf2ddofDHP9tKfHAfAYqUJzhTEwqtoPmrbr3ffh/hngHaiEolrQgA==&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> Technology | <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACG+iXiIGaiV2d8lHem3PLLJrxUC4vdHRgXq00GeW36kRkaZjaWII+sofNugy3ZDK/wIDLFGhIZ9u&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> Business Day | <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACKQh1JEPAsZdJEeYgVC1dbD6SXlUFcK21FSlGxLzLN2lRtjWGf7jGIS7hFwjej88u2vFQLi90dGBerTQZ5bfqRGRpmNpYgj6yh826DLdkMr/AgMsUaEhn24=&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> Personal Tech <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=YFuu/A194QEKjxV/ugpm0k9anQA2MM49uGjfpwFXqTNtwqwGZ31I+fg6e6CnwRvZl32AtuE5QMIGtt4xn1ujaYYhIgEInWrm&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> Friday, December 7, 2012 For the latest updates, go to <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACG+iXiIGaiV2QSkP++TJHGXtUAcZX98zebJFa/JdjcawunJtZIT1fBd5F7vVusAlsA==&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> nytimes.com/bits » Daily Report <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=YFuu/A194QEKjxV/ugpm0k9anQA2MM49IhNWGFarU5G4vJSzOhBgRkaCg1tMG/GmzIfpFiI11IUHgEEeogAe+nqL9rNMoJpgwkG9npxVlRtI3NtTK6Lr/BSjtEtmmhy9rLVj7q1Pc61Q3V8TVj4rt6PSvoGGTXtNt7w8NbQDMxvy4F7tzBqnEeFWKTRx8gfk2O/PH2kPRUs=&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> Experts Are Skeptical About a Renaissance of U.S. Manufacturing | Apple plans to join a small but growing number of companies that are bringing some manufacturing jobs back to the United States, drawn by the growing economic and political advantages of producing in their home market, report <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KVBjmEgFdYACPLKh239P3pgumqrnQdLD4pH+ykfX3VtzThh+FfPaZtpUrBeOrTBWLNCVQHAYSCK6I1RnAV0jf7O8/Buis63XogEPt5p3n4GBi+UGADt5ph4QQsgDIjkyjmt8TxfRODAGCh+6YpVRsJcCluD6CI7RWIGxedGp5dUDw==&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> Catherine Rampbell and Nick Wingfield in Friday's New York Times. But some experts remain skeptical that the move will inspire a broader renaissance in American manufacturing. On Thursday, Apple's chief executive, Timothy D. Cook <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=vzewYO/FHLTwPZVO2nH9zd3pqc9G7QpdPk3reFpveyN4LX2H7iMYPKsKmghXRLWIjVgRdLdXtm6q+/y1JPs8T0RHg65D6vPYbpJvdmfj1ZltjZl8VyPPs4XWYCorCQUXwJCR5d5yIFvtUAcZX98zebJFa/JdjcawunJtZIT1fBd5F7vVusAlsA==&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> , who built its efficient Asian manufacturing network, said the company would invest $100 million in producing some of its Mac computers in the United States, beyond the assembly work it already does in the United States. He provided little detail about how the money would be spent or what kinds of workers might benefit. "I find it hard to see how the supply chains that drive manufacturing are going to move back here," Andre Sharon <http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=4z5Q7LhI+KUK28t4lt/CPY627bBRgzPGcsPZVIMHRQbJK+gFibm+GVVkPm3sJd1H&campaign_id=688&instance_id=23427&segment_id=42055&user_id=5f5a69e70bdbc8fbc53066c386be797f> , a professor at Boston University and director of the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation, told The Times. "So much of the know-how has been lost to Asia, and there's no compelling reason for it to return. It's great when a company says they want to create American jobs - but it only really helps the country if those are jobs that belong here, if it starts a chain reaction or is part of a bigger economic shift." Over the last few years, companies across various industries, including electronics, automotive and medical devices, have announced that they are "reshoring" jobs after decades of shipping them abroad. Lower energy costs in America, rising wages in developing countries like China and Brazil, quality control issues and the desire to keep the supply chain close to the gigantic American consumer base have all factored into these decisions. Even so, the impact on the American job market has been modest so far. Much of the work brought back has been high-value-added, automated production that requires few actual workers, which is part of the reason America's higher wages are not scaring off companies. American manufacturing has been growing in the last two years, but the sector still has two million fewer jobs than it had when the recession began in December 2007. Worldwide manufacturing appears to be growing much faster, even for many of the American-owned companies that are expanding at home. General Electric, for example, has hired American workers to build water heaters, refrigerators, dishwashers and high-efficiency topload washers, but continues to add more jobs overseas as well. Apple has not announced plans to move the complex, faster-growing portions of its product lines. Macs now represent a relatively small part of Apple's business, accounting for less than 20 percent of its nearly $36 billion in revenue in its most recent quarter. The company's iPad and iPhone products, which amount to nearly 70 percent of its sales, will continue to be made in low-cost centers of manufacturing like China, mostly on contract with outside companies like Foxconn.
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