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[RustyNails]

So yeah, about that new thread.

Make it happen. This thread is already over cap.

Can you make poligaf a sticky? I always have to search recent websites in browser to find it :\

Anyway, Poligaf 2011 part 2: GOP vs Teaparty vs Obama vs Al Gore

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

I've got a better idea: Since companies aren't using their record hoard of cash to hire people because they know people are afraid to lose a job, let's start taxing the living daylights out of those companies who take jobs out of the country and/or funnel their business through corporate dealings in Ireland/Bermuda.

Why not just tax the companies that are sitting on hoards of money? MAKE EM SPEND THAT MONEY TO HIRE NEW PEOPLE!

 

[empty vessel]

But, it's not included in the language of the bill. It will be submitted to the super-comittee as proposals.

Ah, if that's the case, then well done!

 

[Invisible_Insane]

Can you make poligaf a sticky? I always have to search recent websites in browser to find it :\

Anyway, Poligaf 2011 part 2: GOP vs Teaparty vs Obama vs Al Gore

Google Chrome + Pinned Tabs + Neogaf Live Thread + Neogaf Quick Reply = the ultimate poligaf experience.

Should we make an intermediate sweepstakes thread and clear out of this one until a title can be decided on?

 

[ToxicAdam]

Can you make poligaf a sticky? I always have to search recent websites in browser to find it :\

Anyway, Poligaf 2011 part 2: GOP vs Teaparty vs Obama vs Al Gore

You don't use subscriptions?

 

[TacticalFox88]

Looks like Obama has a huge uphill battle already.

President Obama’s plan to kickstart the economy and put the American people back to work includes investing in the nation’s rapidly deteriorating infrastructure, which, as studies have shown, is in need of as much as $2 trillion in immediate investment just to bring it up to date. In the past, Republicans have agreed that infrastructure improvements are needed, but in the context of economic stimulus and in their effort to remain opposed to anything Obama offers, they have chosen to ignore the nation’s infrastructure and jobs crises.

Unfortunately, that approach doesn’t mean either crisis will go away.
Republican leadership has continually blocked efforts by Obama and Congressional Democrats to invest in infrastructure improvements, and as a result, bridges and roadways in their states are crumbling. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, about 12 percent of the nation’s bridges are considered “structurally deficient,” the same rating given to the Minneapolis bridge that collapsed in 2007, killing 13 people. Roughly another 12 percent are considered “functionally obsolete.”

In four of the five states represented by Republican congressional leadership, the rate of structurally deficient or functionally obsolete bridges outpaces the national average. ThinkProgress compiled a breakdown of the status of roads and bridges in each of those five states and, where applicable, individual congressional districts:

OHIO: 27 percent of the bridges Speaker John Boehner’s home state of Ohio are either “structurally deficient or functionally obsolete,” while one-fourth of its roads are considered poor or mediocre. At the heart of the Midwest, Ohio’s share of the national highway system has 171 highway bridges that are structurally deficient. 10 of those bridges are located in Boehner’s own district. Indeed, Obama singled out the Brent-Spence bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky as “one of the busiest trucking routes in North America.” A recent Cincinnati Enquirer investigation into the bridge noted that it “is one of only 15 major interstate bridges in the country labeled by the federal government as ‘functionally obsolete’ for failure to meet safety or traffic flow standards.”

KENTUCKY: More than one-third (34 percent) of the bridges in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state are structurally deficient or obsolete, including the Brent-Spence Bridge. Of those bridges, 108 are located on the national highway system, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Nearly one in five of Kentucky’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

VIRGINIA: In House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s home state, 26 percent of bridges are considered structurally deficient or obsolete, 104 of which are on the national highway system. Nearly one in four of the state’s roads are considered to be in poor or mediocre condition. In Cantor’s congressional district, 11 national highway bridges are considered deficient.

ARIZONA: In Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl’s home state, 12 percent of the bridges are “structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.” Of those in the national highway system, 25 are structurally deficient. Indeed, a recent report found that the poor rural roads and bridges in Arizona, where 21 percent of roads are considered poor or mediocre, have earned the state the eighth highest rural traffic fatality rate in the nation.

CALIFORNIA: Home to House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, California is perhaps most in need of infrastructure improvement. Thirty percent of its bridges are “structurally deficient or fundamentally obsolete.” Though a well-traveled state, California has a whopping 976 bridges on its national highways that are structurally deficient; 24 of those bridges are in McCarthy’s district. California ranks 19th in the nation for percentage of rural bridges that are structurally deficient, and two-thirds of its major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

Even as roads and bridges in their states fall apart, Republicans remain opposed to Obama’s efforts to invest in improvement projects. When progressives and Democrats pushed for more infrastructure spending in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Republicans demanded a bigger emphasis on tax cuts. When House Democrats passed a jobs bill geared toward infrastructure investment in February 2010, Republicans derailed it in the Senate. And unless the GOP undergoes a radical shift in priorities in the next few months, yet another plan that will help solve both America’s infrastructure and jobs crises will die at the hands of Congressional Republicans.
The result, as statistics from these five states show, is that the country continues to watch its infrastructure crumble while leaders in the Republican Party sit idly by, refusing to do anything about it.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/20...-remain-opposed-to-infrastructure-investment/

 

[balladofwindfishes]

it's sad to say, but we need a huge bridge to collapse killing hundred of people before anyone will wake up. And maybe they won't. Maybe the GOP will jump in screaming "LOOK GOVERNMENT ROADS KILLED HUNDRED OF PEOPLE!" over and over until all the roads are sold to private industry and we pay thousands of dollars to drive cross-country.

What a sad situation we're in, in this country.

 

[TacticalFox88]

I honestly think the GOP *hates* Obama more than they love their own country or the people they were elected to represent

 

[eznark]

it's sad to say, but we need a huge bridge to collapse killing hundred of people before anyone will wake up.

Krugman?

 

[Black Republican]

jindal endorses perry according to twitter news feed

 

[ToxicAdam]

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, about 12 percent of the nation’s bridges are considered “structurally deficient ... Roughly another 12 percent are considered “functionally obsolete.”

In 2006 that number was 26%. Seems like we have done a decent job of improving, but could do better.

I'm surprised the ThinkProgress piece didn't mention that....

 

[Baraka in the White House]

Looks like Obama has a huge uphill battle already.



http://thinkprogress.org/economy/20...-remain-opposed-to-infrastructure-investment/

Sorry son, we just can't afford it. We're broke. The country has no money to spend. Now let's cut some taxes.

 

[Ready Up Already]

it's sad to say, but we need a huge bridge to collapse killing hundred of people before anyone will wake up. And maybe they won't. Maybe the GOP will jump in screaming "LOOK GOVERNMENT ROADS KILLED HUNDRED OF PEOPLE!" over and over until all the roads are sold to private industry and we pay thousands of dollars to drive cross-country.

What a sad situation we're in, in this country.

Already had a bridge collapse, resulting in deaths, because it was in such shitty condition. Yep, we're screwed.

 

[RustyNails]

You don't use subscriptions?

Nope. I don't really like instant notification...I'd like to read up on posts at my own leisure. I'll try what invisible said, but I'm more used to FireFox than Chrome.

But anyway, yeah I think we should wrap this thread up. Either make a intermediary thread as suggested or just finish the business here itself.

 

[HamPster PamPster]

In 2006 that number was 26%. Seems like we have done a great job, but could do better.

I'm surprised the ThinkProgress piece didn't mention that....

Because its wrong?

I get 12.4%, but maybe I'm at the wrong link. That said with the previous stimulus I would have thought there would be a bigger drop

 

[ToxicAdam]

Because its wrong?

I get 12.4%, but maybe I'm at the wrong link. That said with the previous stimulus I would have thought there would be a bigger drop

I edited my comments.. the article I linked added up SD and FO. So, we have improved by a few percentage points over the years.

Nope. I don't really like instant notification...I'd like to read up on posts at my own leisure. I'll try what invisible said, but I'm more used to FireFox than Chrome..

What happens when you click on 'subscriptions' in the Neogaf header? It should show you all the threads you post(ed) in.

 

[maximum360]

The important question though is, how many pages is it?

It shouldn't be more than 9. That would satisfy Herman Cain. Actually, make that 0.9.

 

[jamesinclair]

Maybe its because some bridges have been closed and no longer exist because they were too far gone to repair?

I know theres a new "free" 24 hour ferry between NY and Vermont because they had to demolish a dead bridge.

 

[Invisible_Insane]

Nope. I don't really like instant notification...I'd like to read up on posts at my own leisure. I'll try what invisible said, but I'm more used to FireFox than Chrome.

But anyway, yeah I think we should wrap this thread up. Either make a intermediary thread as suggested or just finish the business here itself.

The scripts are actually available for firefox too, if you have greasemonkey installed, but once firefox lost ubiquity, I had no reason to stick with it.

I'll make an intermediate thread so that someone can properly claim the PoliGaf Sweepstakes.

Intermediate thread is a go.

 

[Skiptastic]

Nope. I don't really like instant notification...I'd like to read up on posts at my own leisure. I'll try what invisible said, but I'm more used to FireFox than Chrome.

Turn your settings to subscribe to every thread you post in and give you "No email notifications". Problem solved.

User CP -> Edit Options -> Default Thread Subscription Mode = "No email notification"

 

[ToxicAdam]

Minnesota bridge collapse blamed on design.

In January, an interim NTSB report pointed to 16 fractured gusset plates on the bridge. The plates were designed at half the thickness to do the job of connecting the structural steel beams.

The safety board chair, Mark Rosenker called that a “critical factor” in the design error, something that would not have been noticed by safety inspectors.

Never waste a tragedy?

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0411/A_bridge_in_Minnesota.html

 

[thefro]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...river-bridge/2011/09/12/gIQA3VkfMK_story.html

An interstate bridge over the Ohio River I used when I worked in Louisville is closed after they found cracks in it. There are only 2 other bridges across from Indiana in the area.

 

[eznark]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...river-bridge/2011/09/12/gIQA3VkfMK_story.html

An interstate bridge over the Ohio River I used when I worked in Louisville is closed after they found cracks in it. There are only 2 other bridges across from Indiana in the area.

My buddy has to cross that bridge. He said they are estimating 4 hour drive times in the evening. Today is his first attempt at crossing it.

 

[Opiate]

The new PoliGaf thread can be found here:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=444564