The risk of investing in infrastructure in Iraq instead of New York

via Andrew Sullivan and the Daily Dish comes this frightening reality;



This map from 1993, shows percentage bridge structure deficiency per county. Red indicates at least 32% of the county's bridges are structurally deficient. Yes New York is entirely red. This is all the more relevant today in light of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Additionally with Rep. Vito Fossella's war in Iraq it is not a large stretch to say that we are investing daily in rebuilding the infrastructure of Iraq at the cost of neglecting the same needs here at home. We are spending upwards of $200 million a day in Iraq that could be and should be put into local communities across this country. We would not have to close fire houses because of budget cuts. We could fully fund the needs of our VA hospitals and outpatient clinics in Brooklyn and Staten Island. All this selfishly is being denied because Rep. Vito Fossella wants to make a point and give President Bush a few more years to somehow pull progress out of some magical hat of his.

This makes Rep. Vito Fossella's recent efforts to cut all funding to the Department of Transportation absolutely reprehensible. It is irresponsible of Fossella to attempt to block funds to programs such as the Department of Transportaion's Bridge Inventory Database or their efforts to get states to inspect the 750 bridges across the country with designs similar to the one in Minneapolis.

h/t to Daily Gotham