America’s sexy infrastructure is in trouble, reports John Oliver. Okay, I may have misled you a bit. Our crumbling, dangerously outdated infrastructure is far from sexy – but boy howdy is it frightening! The dire condition of America’s time ravaged infrastructure is great for thrill-seekers, but not for those who loathe “Hold your breath” bridges, jarring potholes, dysfunctional power grids, and potential floods from fifty plus year-old dams. To add to your discomfort, not only are there a dire lack of inspectors to keep an eye on it all, in some states – there are none. That is living life on the edge, thrill-seekers!
If what John Oliver says is true, and “We aren’t just flirting with disaster, we’re rounding third base and asking if disaster has any condoms,” we have to ask ourselves why. I’ll tell you why, it’s politicians, the root of all evil. John compares the problem to LEGOS. They are fun to build, and fun to demolish. They are no fun at all, to watch and maintain. No beaming politician gets to cut the ribbon on a dam inspection. There are no flash-bulbs popping when engineers inspect a bridge, else politicians would take a smiling interest.
Can we agree that Congress has been less than cooperative, and disinclined to work with President Obama? Get a shovel. You’ll need it to fill in pot holes. Oh, and pick up some sand bags while you’re at it. You see, funding for The U.S. Highway Trust Fund, to maintain infrastructure at its current lousy level, will run out in May – if Congress cannot agree on a funding strategy. Our decrepit infrastructure is in the hands of Boehner and the good ol’ boys…And gals.
Infrastructure has been funded with a gas tax, which hasn’t seen a raise since 1993. Callers to an hour-long CSPAN problem-solving forum, (only) voiced concern should gas prices rise, one spoke for many. ” What I wanna say is war on coal, war on gas, war on diesel, I agree with all of the previous callers…Hello” what? okay.”
President Obama would like to fund repairs via closing corporate loop-holes overseas. Some of John Boehner’s best friends and contributors reside in loop-holes. Obviously Obama’s idea is not an option.
Not to worry.
In 2013, Boehner was “committed to finding funding, so we can begin to repair America’s aging infrastructure.” In 2014, He was still “committed.” In 2015, with insolvency around the corner, Boehner again dedicated himself to finding a long-term solution for the problem – or being forcibly committed, whichever came first. After three years of deliberation, certainly the muse will hit Boehner before midnight on May 31st.
John Oliver is holding John Boehner to account. After chasing Boehner through the virtual world, he located the reclusive speaker on VINE, where he held the Tan Man to account. “Mr.Speaker how would you raise revenue for the U.S. Highway Trust Fund?” Asked John Oliver. Leave it to our British import to lay it out for the Speaker, saying, “The lack of political urgency is insane. You cannot tell me you’re not interested.” John points the obvious out to the oblivious, saying, ” Every summer people flock to see our infrastructure, threatened by terrorists or aliens… BUT We should care just as much about the passage of time!
This is where the blockbuster movie, posted yesterday, and seen on this clip comes in. “Infrastructure” where it is a miracle if nothing disastrous happens before we get this silly s*** straightened out.