$1 trillion is about the budgeted cost so far of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
$1 trillion is also, according to some estimates, the long term cost of the Joint Strike Fighter. $1.7 trillion between now and 2020 is not that big a deal. If it were a war, there wouldn't be any problem financing it. On Sat, Oct 15, 2011 at 11:53 AM, Fernando Cassia <[email protected]> wrote: > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/gargantuan-large-investment-in-infrastructure-needed-experts-say/2011/10/14/gIQAwHn2kL_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines > > ----- > "The grim prospect of a transit agency already burdened with a system > that has deteriorated after decades of deferred maintenance and yet > will face significant new demand was served up Friday as a microcosm > of the nation’s dilemma. > > The U.S. population is forecast to grow by 100 million — a 30 percent > increase — before the middle of the 21st century. And right now a > nationwide transportation system built in the middle of the 20th > century is falling apart. > > There isn’t enough money to arrest its decline, and the public is > largely oblivious to the need. > > That was the general consensus Friday at a transportation conference > that heard from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood; House > Transportation Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-Fla.) and his > predecessor as chairman, former representative James L. Oberstar > (D-Minn.); and a dozen other experts. > > “Why haven’t we invested?” said Alan Pisarski, a transportation > consultant. “We haven’t made a credible case to the American people.” > > The problem is twofold. Although complaints about traffic congestion > are commonplace, to the average consumer the transportation system > appears to be working reasonably well. And, said several speakers at > the conference hosted by Washington Post Live, the amount of money > needed to restore and expand it is so enormous that few taxpayers can > relate. > > “All of the numbers are so gargantuan large that they’re useless when > you’re trying to communicate with the public,” said Roy Kienitz, > undersecretary for policy at the Department of Transportation. > > The American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated that an > investment of $1.7 trillion is needed between now and 2020 to rebuild > roads, bridges, water lines, sewage systems and dams that > are reaching the ends of their planned life cycles. The Urban > Institute puts the price tag at $2 trillion." > ----- > > FC > -- > "The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers." > Richard Hamming - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamming_code > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
