A call went out last week from OFA asking what do we the people desire to hear in the SOTU. Given I recently decided to break out on my own, I did not place much importance on the request at the time. However, after hearing of the three GOP planned responses to the SOTU, I decided I should make my desire known. Maybe just maybe the GOP will hear me and stop the wandering the path of obstruction.
It is time for America to progress and we cannot do it as long as the GOP continues to be focused on the destruction of Obama's terms as president. Instead of spending the last five years focused on improving infrastructure in America, they have spent time attacking every GOP think tank idea put forth by President Obama. Enough of the crap. We, the working poor of America, don't have time or money for rich boys' games. I don't have $1B to give to the person creating the perfect bracket. I do have a voice to encourage progress in America that lifts us all.
I use my voice to call for an upgrade to our infrastructures in America. We must update the century old utility infrastructures, the almost a century old transportation infrastructure, and our communications infrastructure. I am all for jobs, business, and raising minimum wage; however, we can have none of those things if our infrastructure is only a century younger than the age of our nation. President Obama has called several times for the updating of our infrastructures only to be stalled by the GOP's opposition to the ACA and its birth control clause. It is a shame we don't have high-speed rail because of a desire by some to keep healthcare unaffordable.
The obvious infrastructure that needs updating is transportation. It could be the Jetsons or just StarTrek but I want high-speed rail in America. I think it would work well for the average working person. I have recently quit my 1.5 hour one way commute job. We need a better way to get to our to our jobs and to ship our products. Trains jumping track, ports are not secure, 18-wheelers overturning, and Johnny hitting a tree after working 16 hours are all reasons to update our transportation infrastructure.
If we are updating transportation then we should also update the utilities infrastructures as well. The sink holes popping up on our highways and streets can be traced to utility systems created closer to 1776 than to 1976. Why Congress has not made updating how we get water and where our waste flows a top priority I don't know. Well, I lie. It is because President Obama has been making a big deal of infrastructure since 2008. It could also be because of the privatization of our public utilities. I am all for business but some things belong to the public. Our power grids, water, and waste should belong to the public. Businesses cut too many corners for the public to be placed in harm's way based on an arbitrary bottom line.
One can find no bigger victims of arbitrary bottom lines than those of us paying up to 9 times the cost of city dwellers to have access to the internet. I have yet to understand why I don't have access to DSL given the fiber was laid two days after Katrina hit my town. We now arrive at the crux of why I am writing about infrastructures being most important for America. All things being me, this posting is about my need to still drive 10 miles into town or endure time at my mother's to have access to the internet. We are Americans. We were able to communicate with a man on the moon in the 60's. God knows I should have access to Facebook without having to pay 9 times what a city dweller pays. There were very few working cell towers left in Mississippi after Katrina's 2005 visit. The land lines were down for months. It is imperative that we update our communications infrastructure to be ahead of the digital innovation. We need a system that sees 100 years into the future with the flexibility for instantaneous updates.
I shall stop myself before I go off on a tech rant on a 1st world level. My point here is simple, update the freaking infrastructures. KXL is not an infrastructure upgrade. We cannot have enterprise based on 18th century interpretations of infrastructure. We must update our infrastructures if we wish to have long term employment. We must use wholly owned American companies or government FTE's to do the work. We should ensure that our nation is no longer vulnerable to the whims of terrorists or nature. If the GOP wishes to keep its 2010 promise of jobs then it is time for the GOP to get on board with President Obama.
The Prez has a plan for infrastructure
The Prez thinks about infrastructure
Links:
There is some validity here. Some most is bunk.
Worth the read if you are looking for numbers. Read the comments
Propaganda for privatization
Aging workforce in utility industry
More on utility
I know it is long but worth skimming at the least
You know and I know we pay too much for internet
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/opinion/how-the-us-got-broadband-right.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/17/us/as-worries-over-the-power-grid-rise-a-drill-will-simulate-a-knockout-blow.html?_r=0
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/americas-third-world-energy-grid-101868.html#.UuaMd3Tnb4g
It is time for America to progress and we cannot do it as long as the GOP continues to be focused on the destruction of Obama's terms as president. Instead of spending the last five years focused on improving infrastructure in America, they have spent time attacking every GOP think tank idea put forth by President Obama. Enough of the crap. We, the working poor of America, don't have time or money for rich boys' games. I don't have $1B to give to the person creating the perfect bracket. I do have a voice to encourage progress in America that lifts us all.
I use my voice to call for an upgrade to our infrastructures in America. We must update the century old utility infrastructures, the almost a century old transportation infrastructure, and our communications infrastructure. I am all for jobs, business, and raising minimum wage; however, we can have none of those things if our infrastructure is only a century younger than the age of our nation. President Obama has called several times for the updating of our infrastructures only to be stalled by the GOP's opposition to the ACA and its birth control clause. It is a shame we don't have high-speed rail because of a desire by some to keep healthcare unaffordable.
The obvious infrastructure that needs updating is transportation. It could be the Jetsons or just StarTrek but I want high-speed rail in America. I think it would work well for the average working person. I have recently quit my 1.5 hour one way commute job. We need a better way to get to our to our jobs and to ship our products. Trains jumping track, ports are not secure, 18-wheelers overturning, and Johnny hitting a tree after working 16 hours are all reasons to update our transportation infrastructure.
If we are updating transportation then we should also update the utilities infrastructures as well. The sink holes popping up on our highways and streets can be traced to utility systems created closer to 1776 than to 1976. Why Congress has not made updating how we get water and where our waste flows a top priority I don't know. Well, I lie. It is because President Obama has been making a big deal of infrastructure since 2008. It could also be because of the privatization of our public utilities. I am all for business but some things belong to the public. Our power grids, water, and waste should belong to the public. Businesses cut too many corners for the public to be placed in harm's way based on an arbitrary bottom line.
One can find no bigger victims of arbitrary bottom lines than those of us paying up to 9 times the cost of city dwellers to have access to the internet. I have yet to understand why I don't have access to DSL given the fiber was laid two days after Katrina hit my town. We now arrive at the crux of why I am writing about infrastructures being most important for America. All things being me, this posting is about my need to still drive 10 miles into town or endure time at my mother's to have access to the internet. We are Americans. We were able to communicate with a man on the moon in the 60's. God knows I should have access to Facebook without having to pay 9 times what a city dweller pays. There were very few working cell towers left in Mississippi after Katrina's 2005 visit. The land lines were down for months. It is imperative that we update our communications infrastructure to be ahead of the digital innovation. We need a system that sees 100 years into the future with the flexibility for instantaneous updates.
I shall stop myself before I go off on a tech rant on a 1st world level. My point here is simple, update the freaking infrastructures. KXL is not an infrastructure upgrade. We cannot have enterprise based on 18th century interpretations of infrastructure. We must update our infrastructures if we wish to have long term employment. We must use wholly owned American companies or government FTE's to do the work. We should ensure that our nation is no longer vulnerable to the whims of terrorists or nature. If the GOP wishes to keep its 2010 promise of jobs then it is time for the GOP to get on board with President Obama.
The Prez has a plan for infrastructure
The Prez thinks about infrastructure
Links:
There is some validity here. Some most is bunk.
Worth the read if you are looking for numbers. Read the comments
Propaganda for privatization
Aging workforce in utility industry
More on utility
I know it is long but worth skimming at the least
You know and I know we pay too much for internet
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/opinion/how-the-us-got-broadband-right.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/17/us/as-worries-over-the-power-grid-rise-a-drill-will-simulate-a-knockout-blow.html?_r=0
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/americas-third-world-energy-grid-101868.html#.UuaMd3Tnb4g
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