{"id":102396,"date":"2021-04-03T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-03T16:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=102396"},"modified":"2021-04-03T11:46:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-03T16:46:22","slug":"a-further-look-atinfrastructure-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=102396","title":{"rendered":"A Further Look at\u2026\u201cInfrastructure Week\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- RSR AD 1 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"7759247395\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=102396\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=102396\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-102397 size-medium\" style=\"margin-right: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IW-2-trillion-by-2025-1024x512-1-800x440-300x165.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"165\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IW-2-trillion-by-2025-1024x512-1-800x440-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IW-2-trillion-by-2025-1024x512-1-800x440-768x422.png 768w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IW-2-trillion-by-2025-1024x512-1-800x440.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\u201cLiberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right \u2026 and a desire to know.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2014 John Adams, 1765<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By M. L. Warmath<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A thousand pardons, you&#8217;ll! Monday\u2019s column got washed out in that flood of work that always seems to come in right before any holiday and usually means \u201csomebody\u201d has to work over the holidays. Since I last wrote, I\u2019ve done and returned 60+ thousand words \u2013 I\u2019m a legal and technical translator \u2013 and have six more files for about the same amount, due starting Tuesday, so that all put a brake on any other writing. I\u2019m aware that doesn\u2019t sound like much of a life but it\u2019s what I do.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve given some more thought about what I want to write here. I started with giving a rundown of the top stories in our government and links to where to read more. As I said then, it\u2019s not super exciting but it is factual and keeping up with what the government does is important. (I also don\u2019t deal well in trendy stuff, unfortunately.)<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>What I can do now that you all know where to look for government policy (he he) is to prattle about how I see some of the programs that are being implemented and I\u2019ll still leave you ways to find out more about them. So, without further ado let\u2019s take a look at the long-awaited \u201cinfrastructure week\u201d which is no longer two weeks away but will probably last for some years and if we are lucky, it will actually be perennial.<\/p>\n<p>Infrastructure\u2019s important; let me count the ways.<\/p>\n<p>While Connecticut may run on a certain donut that doesn\u2019t start with a \u201cK\u201d, a modern economy runs on its infrastructure. We don\u2019t live in isolated hamlets with 50 souls where everyone has six acres of bottomland, a kitchen garden, a few chickens, maybe a sheep or a cow, a pig and\/or a horse, and knows everybody else. We don\u2019t spin wool or flax we traded apples for with a neighbor to make our own clothes and few if any of us do a week\u2019s laundry by hand.<\/p>\n<p>In short, this is neither the 17th century nor are we wandering in the Wilderness receiving Manna (never mind pennies) from Heaven or other divine support. We depend on the \u201cretail economy\u201d in our everyday lives. We make, sell and\/or buy stuff we need or want (or think we need or want). That stuff gets to a store or warehouse or gas station near you by road, rail, boat or air, even if that store is online. If you don\u2019t work at home, you usually go to work by car or public transport or bike or scooter or on foot, by road or by rail. (People in Alaska or the Yukon or American Samoa, for example, also have other transport means.) If you work in the hospitality and tourism sector, your customers need the same roads, or even planes, to come to you. We need a drinking and household water supply system, and a power supply grid to provide light and heat or A\/C depending on where you live, and, one way or another, to run all the equipment and gadgets we use just to get around and make things to sell and text each other and watch TV or stream films and even work online as freelancers or influencers.<\/p>\n<p>I bet a whole bunch of you have worked in a sector relating to infrastructure at one point. Anyone in construction, metalworking, mining, urban planning, Amtrak, etc. is part of it, even software developers. And if you are a businessperson, you know you\u2019d like your shop to be in a pleasant, secure pedestrian zone with regular electric tram service or your factory to have access to reliable transportation structures for shipping. Nobody opens a business in Saint Glinglin1, Nowhereland. If you have kids in school, you not only want them to go to good schools nearby, but you may need the bus drivers that take them, and maybe some of their teachers, there on the safest roads possible. You may do your banking and taxes online, and since COVID-19 even pastors and rabbis and imams and priests use Zoom.<\/p>\n<p>Whether roads, rail, airports, port and river navigation systems, dams, power grids, power plants and carrier systems, water supply systems, sewage and waste treatment systems, telecom systems, safety and security networks \u2013 everything that makes up \u201cinfrastructure\u201d is so essential that when it is faulty it affects everything else. Dilapidated or outdated infrastructure can give rise to incidents that range from being merely annoying, to being costly for businesses, to being outright deadly.<\/p>\n<p>Poorly-maintained or lighted roads are a significant factor in some accidents. Hospital patients and others on ventilators or who need dialysis or other life-saving medical equipment are at dire risk in a power outage. Neglected railway systems lead to tragic and fiery crashes. Lead pipes and asbestos need to be removed and replaced and there\u2019s still way too much of that out there. And when the mismanaged power grid in Texas failed over several days in a winter storm a few weeks ago, as many as 200 people, including children, died of exposure to the cold. Some of them froze to death in their beds.<\/p>\n<p>When I think about how important infrastructure is, I am mind-blown. We take it for granted so often until we get regular flats from potholes or can\u2019t get a bus because the network doesn\u2019t get out to where we live, or when the Internet goes off repeatedly because the broadband is outdated and can\u2019t handle the demand any more. Make your own list \u2013 make a game of it. Look at your property taxes as well; what do they pay for? What does your sales tax pay for? How much of your income or business tax is used for what purposes? You may think you can\u2019t find out. But give it a try \u2013 you may be surprised at what you, or people you care about, actually get. And if you think your taxes are ill-spent, tell the right people and insist on it, but tell them what you want it spent on, too.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve all heard about President Biden\u2019s infrastructure plan, and how it will create jobs and restart the economy. It will create jobs as new structures and upgrades get underway, and it will create longer-term jobs to maintain them. It will help local shopkeepers and teachers and firefighters and hospitals. And it will offer pathways to good and environmentally sustainable employment and retraining for many people of all ages. We shouldn\u2019t just sit back and wait on it though; we need to make sure we work at our level, in whatever way we can, to see that it gets done, and that we give credit when credit is due. You get better service when you acknowledge good service.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen some estimates of the number of jobs created and so have you. But if you haven\u2019t seen the entire plan, here it is: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/03\/31\/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan\/\">https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/03\/31\/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s just an overview, not an itemized sheet.<\/p>\n<p>Is that going to add to the deficit? Yes, for a while; we\u2019re still in the middle of an economy that has been seriously harmed by this pandemic and we\u2019re not out of the woods yet. But in the end, when businesses get back up and running and jobs are created and the cash flow goes back to a more \u201cnormal\u201d situation, whatever that will be, it will level back out. It always does.<\/p>\n<p>Look at similar situations over history; investing in the economy through infrastructure programs leads to a stronger economy. But the private and state sectors have to contribute. It can\u2019t all be for Washington to do. Federal programs need to be backed with state, local and private-sector investments to make sure that there is not only an economic turnaround but that the economy and all of these programs are maintained (insofar as required), updated and upgraded to make sure the progress forward continues indefinitely and the jobs and benefits created are made perennial. That means corporations as well. They aren\u2019t going to like it, but they make buck off of infrastructure and they need to pay their fair (and reasonable) share of taxes for it in return, just as we all do. And I\u2019m saying that as a freelance businessperson paying a sizeable chunk of my turnover in various taxes. I know what I get back, and I know how my taxes help others, too, and that matters most to me.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the American Jobs plan \u2013 President Biden\u2019s infrastructure plan &#8211; announced last week is only \u201cpart one\u201d. We will be hearing part two in the coming weeks, with more on healthcare and child care.<\/p>\n<p>I believe this kind of infrastructure policy is a good thing, and it\u2019s long overdue. I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s perfect and I\u2019m not saying I won\u2019t be firing off letters to my Senators or even to Washington to give my opinion \u2013 positive or negative, and deciding who to vote for based on overall results and oversight. But this kind of plan is the backbone of so much more that needs to be done in this country in terms of justice and equity. It won\u2019t be perfect; nothing is. But it\u2019s a good start and we can deal with imperfect if we pitch in and try participate in making it even better.<\/p>\n<p>I used to live in France, and in France there\u2019s a kind of a joke about \u201cY\u2019a qu\u2019a\u201d (pronounced \u201cyahkah\u201d) people \u2013 you know, the ones who say \u201cthe government\u2019s just gotta\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I always told \u201cY\u2019a qu\u2019as\u201d that maybe they could go and do the job themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Elected leaders \u2013 and I don\u2019t use that word lightly &#8211; are serious and experienced people trying to work with a ton of other people who have more or less experience and who are more or less cooperative, to constructively serve a whole lot of diverse other people who voted them in and another lot who didn\u2019t vote them in and who, these days, seem to be content with criticizing but not necessarily stepping up with real, constructive, applicable solutions.<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t run a country easily when a good third or more of it appears to be mostly fueled by orneriness. And that\u2019s all I\u2019m going to say about that.<\/p>\n<p>Moving right along: even if Tax Day has been postponed till May 17th, I thought this short article (link below \u2013 for information purposes only) would be interesting if you wanted to know what your federal taxes are actually spent on. It\u2019s not mainly on infrastructure, or even on education, for that matter \u2013 far from it. As this overview points out, about 19% of federal income tax goes to what are called \u201cother expenses\u201d. Of that portion about 12% goes to \u201cremaining\u201d expenses that \u201cinclude scientific and medical research, transportation and infrastructure spending, education, non-security international spending and all other categories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We could do with some reprioritizing of budget lines, IMHO.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/turbotax.intuit.com\/tax-tips\/general\/how-are-federal-taxes-spent\/L6kinGuUt\">https:\/\/turbotax.intuit.com\/tax-tips\/general\/how-are-federal-taxes-spent\/L6kinGuUt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s it for now. Depending on how I get through my current work projects I\u2019ll see you next week. In the meantime, I hope the above will be helpful. There will be a quiz.<\/p>\n<p>Happy Easter to those who celebrate!<\/p>\n<p>(1 Waves at Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois and French peeps.)<\/p>\n<p>MLW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cLiberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right \u2026 and a desire to know.\u201d \u2014 John Adams, 1765 By M. L. Warmath A thousand pardons, you&#8217;ll! Monday\u2019s column got washed out in that flood of work that always seems to come in right before any holiday and usually [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22247,18030],"tags":[26124],"class_list":["post-102396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political-columns","category-world-news","tag-a-further-look-atinfrastructure-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102396"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}