Earlier this morning, I was reading through a recent short analysis (*) of the state
of the building materials industry while having my morning tea; the
following paragraph jumped out for a couple of reasons:
"Investors
appeared to be disappointed that of the $787 billion spending bill
passed by Congress, a meager $27 billion will go directly to fund
construction projects. Too, much of those outlays will likely be
pushed out a year or more from now. In the near term, nothing will
likely be done beyond filling some potholes. In fact, the stimulus
package seems more geared to hiring, or retaining, civil servants
rather than construction workers."
So I guess when it comes to even fixing the roads, we're still on our own - just in a lot poorer place to make a start.
Apparently, "shovel-ready" (remember that?) has gone down the memory hole. The goal of the "government stimulus" is to.... stimulate the government.....
(*) - Sorry, no link; as far as I know this is available only on paper, and if there is an electronic version somewhere it's certainly behind a subscribers-only curtain.
As I said, many towns are forced to find funds via taxes to make roads passable and culverts able to drain the rain. In Vermont shovel ready is an oxymoron as there are so called green plaintiffs that stall every project.
Posted by: Karen Kerin | April 10, 2009 at 01:25 PM
Why not let the roads and bridges go? Eventually, the bridges will fail and the roads will become impassable. When these things happen, the tourists will stop coming, people will stop moving here and Vermont might someday return to wilderness.
I know that saying these things might upset a few folks who frequent this website. Too bad. Business growth in this state NEEDS to fail. Montpelier needs to go bankrupt. This is the only way to change the culture in this state. The wrong people are being elected and making bad decisions.
Well, I can dream can't I?
Posted by: Brattleboro_conservative | April 11, 2009 at 02:52 PM
Vermonters shouldn't feel bad the number 2 tax burden state can't afford to fix their roads either.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/09/hawaii.volunteers.repair/index.html
Posted by: GreggB | April 12, 2009 at 10:25 AM
8 days to fix a bridge, and it's free. Government estimate one year and $4 million.
Talk about shovel ready.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/09/hawaii.volunteers.repair/index.html#cnnSTCText
Posted by: T. Shea | April 13, 2009 at 02:10 PM