I'm on a highway to hell!
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Great article. Too bad it came through on a Sunday evening when bN is deader than dead.
fuckyou: Great article. Too bad it came through on a Sunday evening when bN is deader than dead.
That's alright it's too long of an article for the weekday bNers anyway.
That's alright it's too long of an article for the weekday bNers anyway.
untrustworthy: That's alright it's too long of an article for the weekday bNers anyway.
Too long? It took me barely a minute to read the whole thing.
On topic, one of the major issues that the US faces is the physical size of the country. Connecting all 48 states with high speed rail would be insanely expensive. Hell, even doing tracks up and down the east and west coasts would be nuts.
Another issue is states. Who pays for it all? Too many interested parties clog up large scale projects. Doing multistate projects would be a logistical nightmare.
Americans like to be independent. We'll never give up our cars. Who wants to take a rail to work unless you live and work in a large city?
Too long? It took me barely a minute to read the whole thing.
On topic, one of the major issues that the US faces is the physical size of the country. Connecting all 48 states with high speed rail would be insanely expensive. Hell, even doing tracks up and down the east and west coasts would be nuts.
Another issue is states. Who pays for it all? Too many interested parties clog up large scale projects. Doing multistate projects would be a logistical nightmare.
Americans like to be independent. We'll never give up our cars. Who wants to take a rail to work unless you live and work in a large city?
I detect high quantities of silicovaginosis in this thread.
yosofine: You broked the server.
On the pot-holed highway to hell
By John Gapper
Published: May 7 2008 19:37 | Last updated: May 7 2008 19:37
Pinn illustration
If anyone doubts the problems of US infrastructure, I suggest he or she take a flight to John F. Kennedy airport (braving the landing delay), ride a taxi on the pot-holed and congested Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and try to make a mobile phone call en route.
That should settle it, particularly for those who have experienced smooth flights, train rides and road travel, and speedy communications networks in, say, Beijing, Paris or Abu Dhabi recently. The gulf in public and private infrastructure is, to put it mildly, alarming for US competitiveness.
You might have expected that investing in US infrastructure would be a hot political topic this year. Well, no. Hillary Clinton spent the final week of her Indiana campaign standing on the back of a pick-up truck arguing for a temporary suspension of the “gas tax”, the fuel duty that pays for highways.
You read correctly. Faced with the emptying of the Highway Trust Fund, established in 1956 as the US entered a period of growth and prosperity, Mrs Clinton suggested cutting its source of funds (which she claimed could be made up by a tax on oil companies). It was more important to give Americans a summer break from $4-per-gallon petrol.
At times I wonder whether the world’s biggest economy has the will to solve its challenges or will end up wandering self-indulgently into the minor economic leagues. I expect it will get serious when the crisis is too blatant to ignore, but it has not done so yet.
Perhaps that is a bit unfair. Some leaders have recognised the problem for economic development, as well as safety. They include Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ed Rendell, governors of California and Pennsylvania, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York. The trio have allied to press for the states and Washington to act.
I think I sensed defensiveness on the part of Mr Rendell, one of Mrs Clinton’s big supporters, when I talked to him on Tuesday about her gas tax proposal (which happily may have backfired on her). He insisted he would have spoken out against her plan if she had not proposed to fill the coffers from oil taxes.
Mr Rendell’s main point was that the US needs all the cash it can get for its transport infrastructure, as well as water and power networks. He took a tour d’horizon of the problem: “Dams are in a horrible condition ... We have no real rail transport, unlike most nations in the world ... Summer delays make flying in America a disaster.”
As it happens, I heard a similar lament from Mr Schwarzenegger at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles last week. He recalled a recent visit to France during which he travelled with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, on the country’s new high-speed train. “I could not believe we were going at 350km an hour,” the erstwhile film action hero marvelled.
There are lots of ways in which infrastructure inadequacy matters to the US but I would focus on two.
First, it imposes a drag on economic growth. The private infrastructure is poor enough – broadband speeds lag behind other countries and mobile coverage is spotty. But much of the public infrastructure is unfit, a fact that was becoming clear even before Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and a Minneapolis bridge collapsed during rush hour last year.
Second, it presents an awful image of the US to investors and other visitors. The state of transport and communications infrastructure is a symbol of a nation’s economic development and the US is starting to look like a third world country. In fact, scratch that. Many developing countries look and feel better.
Of course, they are in a different phase of development. The US invested 10 per cent of its federal non-military budget in infrastructure in the 1950s and 1960s as it built the interstate highway system – at the time, the envy of the world. While US investment has fallen to less than 1 per cent of gross domestic product, China has been matching its double-digit postwar record.
The bigger problem is that, unlike European countries including the UK, the US shows little sign of finding the will or the funding mechanisms to maintain what it has or to build anew. Mr Schwarzenegger spoke enviously of public-private partnerships in both Canada and the UK that have enabled these countries to start redressing their inadequacies.
In the US, the Highway Trust Fund is likely to run out of money next year and the voters’ tolerance for tax rises is strained. They have seen spending overruns and delays on projects such as Boston’s $20bn “big dig” and the “bridge to nowhere” – a dubious Alaskan project to which federal funds were allocated.
Meanwhile, people are finding it hard to accept that if they do not pay for roads and rail links through taxes, they will have to stump up in other ways. Indiana’s politicians ran into a backlash after Macquarie-Cintra, an Australian-Spanish consortium, took control of a state highway and raised the tolls on those using it.
But cutting taxes, balking at tolls and, in the case of California’s public sector unions, opposing public-private partnerships on principle will not get the job done. The bill will have to be met, whether through increases in federal and state spending (in a more lucid moment, Mrs Clinton suggested issuing infrastructure bonds) or higher user fees and tolls.
Americans may not like the sound of that, but they cannot expect the US to maintain the economic dynamism of the late 20th century in the 21st unless they buckle down. Sooner or later, wishful thinking is going to crash into financial reality.
On the pot-holed highway to hell
By John Gapper
Published: May 7 2008 19:37 | Last updated: May 7 2008 19:37
Pinn illustration
If anyone doubts the problems of US infrastructure, I suggest he or she take a flight to John F. Kennedy airport (braving the landing delay), ride a taxi on the pot-holed and congested Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and try to make a mobile phone call en route.
That should settle it, particularly for those who have experienced smooth flights, train rides and road travel, and speedy communications networks in, say, Beijing, Paris or Abu Dhabi recently. The gulf in public and private infrastructure is, to put it mildly, alarming for US competitiveness.
You might have expected that investing in US infrastructure would be a hot political topic this year. Well, no. Hillary Clinton spent the final week of her Indiana campaign standing on the back of a pick-up truck arguing for a temporary suspension of the “gas tax”, the fuel duty that pays for highways.
You read correctly. Faced with the emptying of the Highway Trust Fund, established in 1956 as the US entered a period of growth and prosperity, Mrs Clinton suggested cutting its source of funds (which she claimed could be made up by a tax on oil companies). It was more important to give Americans a summer break from $4-per-gallon petrol.
At times I wonder whether the world’s biggest economy has the will to solve its challenges or will end up wandering self-indulgently into the minor economic leagues. I expect it will get serious when the crisis is too blatant to ignore, but it has not done so yet.
Perhaps that is a bit unfair. Some leaders have recognised the problem for economic development, as well as safety. They include Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ed Rendell, governors of California and Pennsylvania, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York. The trio have allied to press for the states and Washington to act.
I think I sensed defensiveness on the part of Mr Rendell, one of Mrs Clinton’s big supporters, when I talked to him on Tuesday about her gas tax proposal (which happily may have backfired on her). He insisted he would have spoken out against her plan if she had not proposed to fill the coffers from oil taxes.
Mr Rendell’s main point was that the US needs all the cash it can get for its transport infrastructure, as well as water and power networks. He took a tour d’horizon of the problem: “Dams are in a horrible condition ... We have no real rail transport, unlike most nations in the world ... Summer delays make flying in America a disaster.”
As it happens, I heard a similar lament from Mr Schwarzenegger at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles last week. He recalled a recent visit to France during which he travelled with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, on the country’s new high-speed train. “I could not believe we were going at 350km an hour,” the erstwhile film action hero marvelled.
There are lots of ways in which infrastructure inadequacy matters to the US but I would focus on two.
First, it imposes a drag on economic growth. The private infrastructure is poor enough – broadband speeds lag behind other countries and mobile coverage is spotty. But much of the public infrastructure is unfit, a fact that was becoming clear even before Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and a Minneapolis bridge collapsed during rush hour last year.
Second, it presents an awful image of the US to investors and other visitors. The state of transport and communications infrastructure is a symbol of a nation’s economic development and the US is starting to look like a third world country. In fact, scratch that. Many developing countries look and feel better.
Of course, they are in a different phase of development. The US invested 10 per cent of its federal non-military budget in infrastructure in the 1950s and 1960s as it built the interstate highway system – at the time, the envy of the world. While US investment has fallen to less than 1 per cent of gross domestic product, China has been matching its double-digit postwar record.
The bigger problem is that, unlike European countries including the UK, the US shows little sign of finding the will or the funding mechanisms to maintain what it has or to build anew. Mr Schwarzenegger spoke enviously of public-private partnerships in both Canada and the UK that have enabled these countries to start redressing their inadequacies.
In the US, the Highway Trust Fund is likely to run out of money next year and the voters’ tolerance for tax rises is strained. They have seen spending overruns and delays on projects such as Boston’s $20bn “big dig” and the “bridge to nowhere” – a dubious Alaskan project to which federal funds were allocated.
Meanwhile, people are finding it hard to accept that if they do not pay for roads and rail links through taxes, they will have to stump up in other ways. Indiana’s politicians ran into a backlash after Macquarie-Cintra, an Australian-Spanish consortium, took control of a state highway and raised the tolls on those using it.
But cutting taxes, balking at tolls and, in the case of California’s public sector unions, opposing public-private partnerships on principle will not get the job done. The bill will have to be met, whether through increases in federal and state spending (in a more lucid moment, Mrs Clinton suggested issuing infrastructure bonds) or higher user fees and tolls.
Americans may not like the sound of that, but they cannot expect the US to maintain the economic dynamism of the late 20th century in the 21st unless they buckle down. Sooner or later, wishful thinking is going to crash into financial reality.
fuckyou: Too long? It took me barely a minute to read the whole thing.
On topic, one of the major issues that the US faces is the physical size of the country. Connecting all 48 states with high speed rail would be insanely expensive. Hell, even doing tracks up and down the east and west coasts would be nuts.
Another issue is states. Who pays for it all? Too many interested parties clog up large scale projects. Doing multistate projects would be a logistical nightmare.
Americans like to be independent. We'll never give up our cars. Who wants to take a rail to work unless you live and work in a large city?
Install horses.
On topic, one of the major issues that the US faces is the physical size of the country. Connecting all 48 states with high speed rail would be insanely expensive. Hell, even doing tracks up and down the east and west coasts would be nuts.
Another issue is states. Who pays for it all? Too many interested parties clog up large scale projects. Doing multistate projects would be a logistical nightmare.
Americans like to be independent. We'll never give up our cars. Who wants to take a rail to work unless you live and work in a large city?
Install horses.
fuckyou: Great article. Too bad it came through on a Sunday evening when bN is deader than dead.
Maybe I'll submit it tomorrow then.:(
Maybe I'll submit it tomorrow then.:(
If anyone doubts the problems of US infrastructure, I suggest he or she take a flight to John F. Kennedy airport (braving the landing delay), ride a taxi on the pot-holed and congested Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and try to make a mobile phone call en route.
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\If the word "fuck" is a problem, please downvote.
\\fucking nancies
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\If the word "fuck" is a problem, please downvote.
\\fucking nancies
Subby: Maybe I'll submit it tomorrow then.:(
Maybe you should mention it is a dupe but should still be discussed since no one saw it.
Maybe you should mention it is a dupe but should still be discussed since no one saw it.
fuckyou: On topic, one of the major issues that the US faces is the physical size of the country. Connecting all 48 states with high speed rail would be insanely expensive. Hell, even doing tracks up and down the east and west coasts would be nuts.
So true. Each country has different problems and different solutions. High speed trains in the Atlantic corridor might make sense, but try convincing people in Texas (for example) that an investment like that is in their interest.
TFA is right in criticizing the "gas tax" relief. It's smoke and mirrors to distract us from the real problems. Why not just give us government subsidized HBO and call it a day?
So true. Each country has different problems and different solutions. High speed trains in the Atlantic corridor might make sense, but try convincing people in Texas (for example) that an investment like that is in their interest.
TFA is right in criticizing the "gas tax" relief. It's smoke and mirrors to distract us from the real problems. Why not just give us government subsidized HBO and call it a day?
fuckyou: Maybe you should mention it is a dupe but should still be discussed since no one saw it.
Only if I think it'll get though all the political rage poop.
Only if I think it'll get though all the political rage poop.
the loch ness street light: So true. Each country has different problems and different solutions. High speed trains in the Atlantic corridor might make sense, but try convincing people in Texas (for example) that an investment like that is in their interest.
TFA is right in criticizing the "gas tax" relief. It's smoke and mirrors to distract us from the real problems. Why not just give us government subsidized HBO and call it a day?
Hillary = fail
TFA is right in criticizing the "gas tax" relief. It's smoke and mirrors to distract us from the real problems. Why not just give us government subsidized HBO and call it a day?
Hillary = fail
untrustworthy: Install horses.
34094 comments and each and every one is an insightful gem. How do you do it UT?
\inciteful?
34094 comments and each and every one is an insightful gem. How do you do it UT?
\inciteful?
the loch ness street light: 34094 comments and each and every one is an insightful gem. How do you do it UT?
\inciteful?
My sarcasm meter is in the shop.
\inciteful?
My sarcasm meter is in the shop.
subby: Only if I think it'll get though all the political rage poop.
Next time you submit it, use "Hillary = fail" as the headline. That should cut through the crap.
Next time you submit it, use "Hillary = fail" as the headline. That should cut through the crap.
subby: Only if I think it'll get though all the political rage poop.
You know this will turn into a political ragefest if it gets frontpaged again.
the loch ness street light:
TFA is right in criticizing the "gas tax" relief. It's smoke and mirrors to distract us from the real problems. Why not just give us government subsidized HBO and call it a day?
HBO is even more useless than the gas tax relief.
Fuck all the pandering in this country. We need leaders who not only know what needs to be done, but also do it. Instead of wasting money on voters who have a double digit IQ, let's waste it on making this country better. America has the potential to be so much more than it currently is, yet I don't see anyone who can do it. Fuck.
You know this will turn into a political ragefest if it gets frontpaged again.
the loch ness street light:
TFA is right in criticizing the "gas tax" relief. It's smoke and mirrors to distract us from the real problems. Why not just give us government subsidized HBO and call it a day?
HBO is even more useless than the gas tax relief.
Fuck all the pandering in this country. We need leaders who not only know what needs to be done, but also do it. Instead of wasting money on voters who have a double digit IQ, let's waste it on making this country better. America has the potential to be so much more than it currently is, yet I don't see anyone who can do it. Fuck.
OK, finally got the thing to load. I don't trust any election promises. Sometimes you have to vote on who you think has the best interest of the nation in mind rather than the instant rebate.
How do you make a country with voters with double digit IQs better? Educate it. Is that a waste?
How do you make a country with voters with double digit IQs better? Educate it. Is that a waste?
yosofine: OK, finally got the thing to load. I don't trust any election promises. Sometimes you have to vote on who you think has the best interest of the nation in mind rather than the instant rebate.
How do you make a country with voters with double digit IQs better? Educate it. Is that a waste?
That's part of the reason I'm not against jobs going overseas. We don't need so many people who can work in a factory. We need people in innovation fields. That means going out and getting an education first.
How do you make a country with voters with double digit IQs better? Educate it. Is that a waste?
That's part of the reason I'm not against jobs going overseas. We don't need so many people who can work in a factory. We need people in innovation fields. That means going out and getting an education first.
yosofine:
How do you make a country with voters with double digit IQs better? Educate it. Is that a waste?
IQ doesn't change. Your IQ is what it is. It measures your CAPACITY to learn and reason.
If your IQ is 79, it doesn't matter how much we try to educate you, yarn't learnin' nothin'.
How do you make a country with voters with double digit IQs better? Educate it. Is that a waste?
IQ doesn't change. Your IQ is what it is. It measures your CAPACITY to learn and reason.
If your IQ is 79, it doesn't matter how much we try to educate you, yarn't learnin' nothin'.
fuckyou: HBO is even more useless than the gas tax relief.
Fuck... Fuck.
I have to disagree. Free HBO would be more useful than gas tax relief.
Gas tax relief is just shuffling money. If they tax the oil companies, gas prices go up. And the gas tax is coming right back. It's just gone for the summer -- to encourage more driving?!?! -- and then it's back.
HBO on the other hand will keep people at home, out of their cars, and off the road. Demand for gas will fall, and prices may even fall, too. (It could totally happen!) Also, the Hollywood economy will get a boost and many stars may get drug habits that land them in jail, on sex tapes, or dead. We'll stay at home even more to watch their exploits on E! and the YouPorn.
Fuck... Fuck.
I have to disagree. Free HBO would be more useful than gas tax relief.
Gas tax relief is just shuffling money. If they tax the oil companies, gas prices go up. And the gas tax is coming right back. It's just gone for the summer -- to encourage more driving?!?! -- and then it's back.
HBO on the other hand will keep people at home, out of their cars, and off the road. Demand for gas will fall, and prices may even fall, too. (It could totally happen!) Also, the Hollywood economy will get a boost and many stars may get drug habits that land them in jail, on sex tapes, or dead. We'll stay at home even more to watch their exploits on E! and the YouPorn.
untrustworthy: That's part of the reason I'm not against jobs going overseas. We don't need so many people who can work in a factory. We need people in innovation fields. That means going out and getting an education first.
As I said before and am saying again now, some people aren't cut out for anything besides factory work. Some people just aren't that bright, period. You aren't going to turn them into geniuses by educating them, any more than you're going to turn a cripple into a marathon runner by making him go to the gym.
As I said before and am saying again now, some people aren't cut out for anything besides factory work. Some people just aren't that bright, period. You aren't going to turn them into geniuses by educating them, any more than you're going to turn a cripple into a marathon runner by making him go to the gym.
flyingpig: As I said before and am saying again now, some people aren't cut out for anything besides factory work. Some people just aren't that bright, period. You aren't going to turn them into geniuses by educating them, any more than you're going to turn a cripple into a marathon runner by making him go to the gym.
True, but we'll always have some jobs for the ditch diggers. But as it is, people need to stop bitching about the factory that left their small town. Yes, it sucks and I don't applaud American businesses who push for factories to move overseas. But it's becoming inevitable. Time to stop feeling the entitlement for whatever job your daddy had and go out and find what you can do to contribute.
True, but we'll always have some jobs for the ditch diggers. But as it is, people need to stop bitching about the factory that left their small town. Yes, it sucks and I don't applaud American businesses who push for factories to move overseas. But it's becoming inevitable. Time to stop feeling the entitlement for whatever job your daddy had and go out and find what you can do to contribute.
the loch ness street light: I have to disagree. Free HBO would be more useful than gas tax relief.
Gas tax relief is just shuffling money. If they tax the oil companies, gas prices go up. And the gas tax is coming right back. It's just gone for the summer -- to encourage more driving?!?! -- and then it's back.
HBO on the other hand will keep people at home, out of their cars, and off the road. Demand for gas will fall, and prices may even fall, too. (It could totally happen!) Also, the Hollywood economy will get a boost and many stars may get drug habits that land them in jail, on sex tapes, or dead. We'll stay at home even more to watch their exploits on E! and the YouPorn.
Lets encourage people to be lazy. How about we do neither and spend the money for infrastructure on infrastructure? People will gravitate towards less waste when a product becomes more expensive. If they don't, I'm not going to feel sorry for them and I damn well don't want my tax dollars going towards subsidizing their wasteful habits.
I wish people had the ability to see through the bullshit. Sigh.
Gas tax relief is just shuffling money. If they tax the oil companies, gas prices go up. And the gas tax is coming right back. It's just gone for the summer -- to encourage more driving?!?! -- and then it's back.
HBO on the other hand will keep people at home, out of their cars, and off the road. Demand for gas will fall, and prices may even fall, too. (It could totally happen!) Also, the Hollywood economy will get a boost and many stars may get drug habits that land them in jail, on sex tapes, or dead. We'll stay at home even more to watch their exploits on E! and the YouPorn.
Lets encourage people to be lazy. How about we do neither and spend the money for infrastructure on infrastructure? People will gravitate towards less waste when a product becomes more expensive. If they don't, I'm not going to feel sorry for them and I damn well don't want my tax dollars going towards subsidizing their wasteful habits.
I wish people had the ability to see through the bullshit. Sigh.
untrustworthy: True, but we'll always have some jobs for the ditch diggers. But as it is, people need to stop bitching about the factory that left their small town. Yes, it sucks and I don't applaud American businesses who push for factories to move overseas. But it's becoming inevitable. Time to stop feeling the entitlement for whatever job your daddy had and go out and find what you can do to contribute.
I disagree. I believe that we should be protecting American jobs first and foremost. I think we should impose heavy tariffs on companies that outsource their labor, to the point where it is no longer profitable for them to do so. And I think that employers who hire illegal immigrants should get jail time.
I believe in a DOMESTIC free market. Outside the borders of the US, things should be different. We can still trade with other countries, yes, but it should never come at the expense of American jobs.
I disagree. I believe that we should be protecting American jobs first and foremost. I think we should impose heavy tariffs on companies that outsource their labor, to the point where it is no longer profitable for them to do so. And I think that employers who hire illegal immigrants should get jail time.
I believe in a DOMESTIC free market. Outside the borders of the US, things should be different. We can still trade with other countries, yes, but it should never come at the expense of American jobs.
fuckyou: Great article. Too bad it came through on a Sunday evening when bN is deader than dead.
you have bio... and extended bio.
you have bio... and extended bio.
flyingpig: I disagree. I believe that we should be protecting American jobs first and foremost. I think we should impose heavy tariffs on companies that outsource their labor, to the point where it is no longer profitable for them to do so. And I think that employers who hire illegal immigrants should get jail time.
I believe in a DOMESTIC free market. Outside the borders of the US, things should be different. We can still trade with other countries, yes, but it should never come at the expense of American jobs.
I'm not afraid of foreign competition. If we can do it better, then great. But let's not pretend that we can do everything better. We are not an island.
I believe in a DOMESTIC free market. Outside the borders of the US, things should be different. We can still trade with other countries, yes, but it should never come at the expense of American jobs.
I'm not afraid of foreign competition. If we can do it better, then great. But let's not pretend that we can do everything better. We are not an island.
untrustworthy: I'm not afraid of foreign competition. If we can do it better, then great. But let's not pretend that we can do everything better. We are not an island.
So how come all the "Made in China" shit you buy from the store usually falls apart 10 minutes after you bring it home?
Cheaper is not necessarily better.
So how come all the "Made in China" shit you buy from the store usually falls apart 10 minutes after you bring it home?
Cheaper is not necessarily better.
flyingpig: So how come all the "Made in China" shit you buy from the store usually falls apart 10 minutes after you bring it home?
Cheaper is not necessarily better.
I never said it was. That's why I buy quality materials. If the quality is made here, then great. If not, too bad. My car is German because German's make great cars. But I'll buy my produce and meats here because I don't need something that's been on a truck for a week while it gets stale.
Cheaper is not necessarily better.
I never said it was. That's why I buy quality materials. If the quality is made here, then great. If not, too bad. My car is German because German's make great cars. But I'll buy my produce and meats here because I don't need something that's been on a truck for a week while it gets stale.
brazil: you have bio... and extended bio.
The extended one is great. The bio is fucking huge.
flyingpig: I disagree. I believe that we should be protecting American jobs first and foremost. I think we should impose heavy tariffs on companies that outsource their labor, to the point where it is no longer profitable for them to do so. And I think that employers who hire illegal immigrants should get jail time.
I believe in a DOMESTIC free market. Outside the borders of the US, things should be different. We can still trade with other countries, yes, but it should never come at the expense of American jobs.
With all of the trade agreements we're bound by, this would result in a huge economic mess. The US needs to work on staying ahead while outsourcing the cheap stuff. You want physical labor? Build shit. Roads, buildings, ports, I don't care. This country needs enough of it to employ millions of people for the next ten years. There is a certain amount of work that cannot be outsourced. Let's get working on it.
The extended one is great. The bio is fucking huge.
flyingpig: I disagree. I believe that we should be protecting American jobs first and foremost. I think we should impose heavy tariffs on companies that outsource their labor, to the point where it is no longer profitable for them to do so. And I think that employers who hire illegal immigrants should get jail time.
I believe in a DOMESTIC free market. Outside the borders of the US, things should be different. We can still trade with other countries, yes, but it should never come at the expense of American jobs.
With all of the trade agreements we're bound by, this would result in a huge economic mess. The US needs to work on staying ahead while outsourcing the cheap stuff. You want physical labor? Build shit. Roads, buildings, ports, I don't care. This country needs enough of it to employ millions of people for the next ten years. There is a certain amount of work that cannot be outsourced. Let's get working on it.
flyingpig: So how come all the "Made in China" shit you buy from the store usually falls apart 10 minutes after you bring it home?
Cheaper is not necessarily better.
Companies that produce what people need last. Companies that don't end up as notes in government books. The biggest issue here is getting people to make the larger upfront investment in a quality product than multiple investments in a worse product.
Cheaper is not necessarily better.
Companies that produce what people need last. Companies that don't end up as notes in government books. The biggest issue here is getting people to make the larger upfront investment in a quality product than multiple investments in a worse product.
untrustworthy: I never said it was. That's why I buy quality materials. If the quality is made here, then great. If not, too bad. My car is German because German's make great cars. But I'll buy my produce and meats here because I don't need something that's been on a truck for a week while it gets stale.
Fair enough. I try not to buy Chinese because I don't believe in supporting communism and human rights abuses. 'Course, it's pretty much impossible not to.
Fair enough. I try not to buy Chinese because I don't believe in supporting communism and human rights abuses. 'Course, it's pretty much impossible not to.
fuckyou: Too long? It took me barely a minute to read the whole thing.
YOU LIE!
I read that article fast and it took 2:29.136
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Online Stopwatch
YOU LIE!
I read that article fast and it took 2:29.136
[image hidden]
Online Stopwatch
swingingjohnson: YOU LIE!
I read that article fast and it took 2:29.136
Online Stopwatch
Here's my clocked time, including switching tabs twice.
00:01:13 and 390 in the bottom corner.
I read that article fast and it took 2:29.136
Online Stopwatch
Here's my clocked time, including switching tabs twice.
00:01:13 and 390 in the bottom corner.
fuckyou: Here's my clocked time, including switching tabs twice.
00:01:13 and 390 in the bottom corner.
Yeah but, I read ALL the words.
00:01:13 and 390 in the bottom corner.
Yeah but, I read ALL the words.
fuckyou: I did too. I read really quickly, what can I say?
Your mom says you usually cry afterwords.
Your mom says you usually cry afterwords.
untrustworthy: Your mom says you usually cry afterwords.
After reading? Certainly. Long bN threads leave me in tears. Then I masturbate.
After reading? Certainly. Long bN threads leave me in tears. Then I masturbate.
flyingpig: IQ doesn't change. Your IQ is what it is. It measures your CAPACITY to learn and reason.
If your IQ is 79, it doesn't matter how much we try to educate you, yarn't learnin' nothin'.
You are right to a degree but low IQ people can learn some things. Maybe they can't learn rocket science but if we educate people about birth control, about how to be good parents, and about how to get and keep a job of some sort, then the higher IQ people can be innovative and creative. That way, everyone gets improvement.
If your IQ is 79, it doesn't matter how much we try to educate you, yarn't learnin' nothin'.
You are right to a degree but low IQ people can learn some things. Maybe they can't learn rocket science but if we educate people about birth control, about how to be good parents, and about how to get and keep a job of some sort, then the higher IQ people can be innovative and creative. That way, everyone gets improvement.
It's a state by state thing. Some states suck, other states rawk.
yosofine: You are right to a degree but low IQ people can learn some things. Maybe they can't learn rocket science but if we educate people about birth control, about how to be good parents, and about how to get and keep a job of some sort, then the higher IQ people can be innovative and creative. That way, everyone gets improvement.
I also think that there are some very bright people who had the misfortune to be born in less-affluent neighborhoods to families without connections. Despite not getting breaks, these guys might become quite successful, owning their own muffler shop, plumbing company, etc.
Meanwhile, on the "good" side of town a dim bulb goes to the right schools, gets the right internships, and between that and family connections becomes a record company executive, politician, or Paris Hilton.
The problem with our system isn't that we aren't able to turn dim bulbs into engineers. It's that we're allowing dim bulbs to serve as leaders. And poor kids with potential and no family connections are often left to fend for themselves. We often squander the talent we do have.
I also think that there are some very bright people who had the misfortune to be born in less-affluent neighborhoods to families without connections. Despite not getting breaks, these guys might become quite successful, owning their own muffler shop, plumbing company, etc.
Meanwhile, on the "good" side of town a dim bulb goes to the right schools, gets the right internships, and between that and family connections becomes a record company executive, politician, or Paris Hilton.
The problem with our system isn't that we aren't able to turn dim bulbs into engineers. It's that we're allowing dim bulbs to serve as leaders. And poor kids with potential and no family connections are often left to fend for themselves. We often squander the talent we do have.
eastheimer: It's a state by state thing. Some states suck, other states rawk.
It's even closer than state by state. Sometimes it's the "town" kids vs. the "farm" kids, or the "right side of the tracks" vs. "the wrong side of the tracks." Even in this enlightened *sarcastically* age, we have a major difference in opportunities and expectations. Just because someone has a southern drawl accent, wants to major in artistic areas, or comes from the Watts area of Los Angeles doesn't mean they aren't geniuses. Prejudices of many kinds can absolutely kill chances for people to rise to the extent of their abilities.
A friend of mine qualified for a federal grant for college due to a physical disability. She is a gifted artist. She received her high school senior award for art and was showcased at several art shows. When the counselor met with her to award her the grant, he told her she couldn't major in art because it wasn't a hard subject and was frowned upon. She had to major in another subject to get the grant.
It's even closer than state by state. Sometimes it's the "town" kids vs. the "farm" kids, or the "right side of the tracks" vs. "the wrong side of the tracks." Even in this enlightened *sarcastically* age, we have a major difference in opportunities and expectations. Just because someone has a southern drawl accent, wants to major in artistic areas, or comes from the Watts area of Los Angeles doesn't mean they aren't geniuses. Prejudices of many kinds can absolutely kill chances for people to rise to the extent of their abilities.
A friend of mine qualified for a federal grant for college due to a physical disability. She is a gifted artist. She received her high school senior award for art and was showcased at several art shows. When the counselor met with her to award her the grant, he told her she couldn't major in art because it wasn't a hard subject and was frowned upon. She had to major in another subject to get the grant.
yosofine: It's even closer than state by state. Sometimes it's the "town" kids vs. the "farm" kids, or the "right side of the tracks" vs. "the wrong side of the tracks." Even in this enlightened *sarcastically* age, we have a major difference in opportunities and expectations. Just because someone has a southern drawl accent, wants to major in artistic areas, or comes from the Watts area of Los Angeles doesn't mean they aren't geniuses. Prejudices of many kinds can absolutely kill chances for people to rise to the extent of their abilities.
A friend of mine qualified for a federal grant for college due to a physical disability. She is a gifted artist. She received her high school senior award for art and was showcased at several art shows. When the counselor met with her to award her the grant, he told her she couldn't major in art because it wasn't a hard subject and was frowned upon. She had to major in another subject to get the grant.
I was talking about infrastructure you fucking dweeb. That's what this article is about.
The roads suck in NYC. The roads are awesome in Dallas. That kinda thing.
A friend of mine qualified for a federal grant for college due to a physical disability. She is a gifted artist. She received her high school senior award for art and was showcased at several art shows. When the counselor met with her to award her the grant, he told her she couldn't major in art because it wasn't a hard subject and was frowned upon. She had to major in another subject to get the grant.
I was talking about infrastructure you fucking dweeb. That's what this article is about.
The roads suck in NYC. The roads are awesome in Dallas. That kinda thing.
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