35 W Bridge- Appalled!

[sushigirlie]

Wow, i do feel bad for the victims in the bridge collapse. The irony that the city spent so much money to build a new stadium! One would think that that would only be possible after all the people have been cared for.

This state honestly has messed up priorities. I also don't get why people that can work actually get medicare and foodstamps. And then people that ended up being victims on a bridge through no fault of their own are not getting state assistance...

[Minnehahapolitan]

/\isn't ironic at all. Are we to stop all progress and developement and focus all of our communal energy on our bridge system (already one of the top in the nation)? A bridge, under construction, with rush-hour traffic, on a 95 degree day, with the vibrations of a train, after a few years of neglect, collapsed. The River Bridge wasn't in great shape, but if we would have has a billion dollars for bridge work, it would not have been top on the list for work. it is wrong that the victims are not better compensated, but that is no fault of welfare. Why should we make a decision? Pay for both, pay for all four. Our priorities are not backwards, we just can't do it all.

[Wellstone]

Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan

That is very true, I also see more people moving in from completely different regions. Apparently, some of these people are under the mistaken assumption that they can leech off our generous state, and still pay the same taxes they did in Texas/Tennessee/South Dakota. Most newcomers, I feel, live in the suburbs. Especially the Maple Groves, Woodburys and Eden Prairies. In that way, Nick is right. Even those who are Minnesotans trend crimson politically when they live in the suburbs. Minneapolis didn't elect Pawlenty and Molneau, Anoka County did. Land of the Free, and home to Michelle Bachmann. I think that Minnesota is, for the better, a "closed society". You can be born here, but unless you understand our culture, you can't really be from here. That isn't to say that we are unwelcoming, but it is a truism of Minnesota. People who just move here are libel to scoff at our rather socialist traditions. They have built a great state, and now it is being siphoned by transients who are just looking for a prosperous place, they then disregard what made that place. Minnesota was built on union miners, Scandinavian farmers, Minneapolis liberals and even Loring Park gays. Minnesota was not built, my state was not built, on Conservative bubbas from Coon Rapids. They created Kansas and Arkansas.

being in that district, it is a complete embarassment to me that our people can elect a wing nut like michelle bachmann. basically all she is is a right wing religious wacko, a complete radical who has absolutely no clue what she is talking about. quite possibly the worst candidate ever to serve in the US goverment.

what's even more embarassing is the people who fight against the levies for school district 11 which has quickly become one of the worst school districts in the state. i am thankful that when i bought my house, i steered clear of it.

right wingnuts always cry about their taxes when they don't even know where the money goes. they whine about teachers making too much money and most of them don't make dog crap. the dork from the taxpayer league thinks class sizes of 100-200 is OK for the university, therefore it's OK for high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. talk about a complete lack of a clue.

it is no wonder why this state is going to pot, these idiots won't fund anything. a bridge on a major freeway falls down and instead of getting repair and maintenance it gets inspected. good thing they got pictures of all the cracks before the whole f'ing thing came down. meanwhile the stillwater bridge has a rating of something like 2.0 which is 25 times worse than the one that fell. and these jokers think it's too costly to build and maintain safe roads.

you can thank all the knuckleheads who voted for peter hutchinson for giving us this class of losers in the capitol, and tim penny before that. someday these people will understand that a vote for an independent is as good as a vote for a republican because it's taking democratic votes away. i will guarantee that if hutchinson wasn't on the ballot, the 7% that voted for him would not have dreamed of voting pawlenty in.

[Wellstone]

Originally Posted by Downtown

Why the rush to build the bridge by the end of 2008? Yeah, it is an inconvenience, but it hasn't shut down the city or the metro area. I would rather wait longer to make sure we build a quality bridge that will not fall down again.

I wouldn't mind waiting longer to build the bridge or even wait 13 years of 6.5 years so we could set up a specific amount of time to remember the people who died. Maybe the bridge should never be rebuilt. It would punish Minnesotans for electing Pawlenty and Molnau, and would teach Minnesotans a lesson. I am not saying that I want to wait that long to rebuild it, it is just an idea. The bridge can be rebuilt whenever, but the people who died won't be coming back.

i think that's a bit extreme - - i don't want them to rush into a bad design either, but even though traffic has managed to this point, we haven't gone through a winter with this configuration yet. i will tell you that highway 280 has always had a ton of problems every time it is snowy or icy - the bridges near energy park drive end up having black ice and there are pile ups there all the time. i know because my wife has been hit twice. with all the additional traffic that road is carrying and the bottleneck to get onto 94, i will guarantee it will get really ugly this winter. and when you have accidents on 280 where do you route the traffic to then, Snelling avenue? There are no other thoroughfares through that area.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Originally Posted by Wellstone

being in that district, it is a complete embarassment to me that our people can elect a wing nut like michelle bachmann. basically all she is is a right wing religious wacko, a complete radical who has absolutely no clue what she is talking about. quite possibly the worst candidate ever to serve in the US goverment.

what's even more embarassing is the people who fight against the levies for school district 11 which has quickly become one of the worst school districts in the state. i am thankful that when i bought my house, i steered clear of it.

right wingnuts always cry about their taxes when they don't even know where the money goes. they whine about teachers making too much money and most of them don't make dog crap. the dork from the taxpayer league thinks class sizes of 100-200 is OK for the university, therefore it's OK for high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. talk about a complete lack of a clue.

it is no wonder why this state is going to pot, these idiots won't fund anything. a bridge on a major freeway falls down and instead of getting repair and maintenance it gets inspected. good thing they got pictures of all the cracks before the whole f'ing thing came down. meanwhile the stillwater bridge has a rating of something like 2.0 which is 25 times worse than the one that fell. and these jokers think it's too costly to build and maintain safe roads.

you can thank all the knuckleheads who voted for peter hutchinson for giving us this class of losers in the capitol, and tim penny before that. someday these people will understand that a vote for an independent is as good as a vote for a republican because it's taking democratic votes away. i will guarantee that if hutchinson wasn't on the ballot, the 7% that voted for him would not have dreamed of voting pawlenty in.

Totally agree about Independents.
Bachmann is delusional, just delusional. It actually scares me.
It is ironic that all tose new suburbs (where most of the residents chose for their family-friendly surroundings and good schools) vote down school referenda on an alarming scale. Prior Lake only got 30% to vote for the school levy. Oh well, lets see what happens to their property value when their kids' class has 38 students. Oops.
Education is an investment that actually pays into the economy. The best things a state governemnt can invest in (in terms of return on investment) is their state university. Generally, it isn't the suburban voters. It is the exurban voters. They value a few hundred dollars over their childrens' education. What does that say about them? Pathetic.

[Wellstone]

what strikes me as stupid is for the middle to lower income people to take that stance and side with republican candidates. what has a republican ever done to help them? they are getting votes by cutting taxes for the rich, and the mid to low income people fall for the trap without realizing that their tax cut amounts to almost nothing. and without good education, future generations are going to be stuck in dead end, low wage jobs that will just continue the cycle.

even dumber is that the older generation thinks that you can still raise a family on a factory job with a high school education. not when it costs you ten times as much to buy a house, medical costs have skyrocketed, and wages don't keep up with the rate of inflation. good luck trying to raise a family, put your kids in day care, and live off factory wages - no way anyone can afford to do all that and own even a modest house. it's not 1960 anymore.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Good book on this topic
"What's The Matter with Kansas." Johnson County is no different from Scott or Dakota.