AP IMPACT: Bad bridges passed up for stimulus cash

[celticlord]

AP IMPACT: Bad bridges passed up for stimulus cash - Yahoo! News

President Barack Obama urged Congress last winter to pass his $787 billion stimulus package so some of the economic recovery money could be used to rebuild what he called America's "crumbling bridges." Lawmakers said it was a historic chance to chip away at the $65 billion backlog of deficient structures, often neglected until a catastrophe like the Minneapolis bridge that collapsed two years ago this Saturday.

States, however, have other plans. Of the 2,476 bridges scheduled to receive stimulus money so far, nearly half have passed inspections with high marks, according to federal data. Those 1,123 sound bridges received such high inspection ratings that they normally would not qualify for federal bridge money, yet they will share in more than $1.2 billion in stimulus money.

$1.2 billion in "stimulus" will be spent on sound bridges, while thousands of deficient and decaying spans continue to pose threats to drivers across the country.

Another example of how wasteful, ineffective, and farcical this "stimulus" bill has been. Money spent were it is not needed, money denied where it is needed most, and the nation's infrastructure continues to suffer for lack of proper attention.

If this isn't a scandal, it sure as hell ought to be.

 

[Don't Tase Me Bro]

AP IMPACT: Bad bridges passed up for stimulus cash - Yahoo! News


$1.2 billion in "stimulus" will be spent on sound bridges, while thousands of deficient and decaying spans continue to pose threats to drivers across the country.

Another example of how wasteful, ineffective, and farcical this "stimulus" bill has been. Money spent were it is not needed, money denied where it is needed most, and the nation's infrastructure continues to suffer for lack of proper attention.

If this isn't a scandal, it sure as hell ought to be.

I seem to remember when the bridge in St Paul collapsed all of the Democrats running around on tv blaming George Bush because he "wasted" Federal money on tax cuts "for the rich" instead of taking care of our infrastructure.