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Old 09-19-2007, 06:42 PM
 
Location: Wiesbaden, Germany
13,815 posts, read 29,313,242 times
Reputation: 4025

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no, the social programs, especially for their out of control immigrant population, is what is destroying them from the inside out.. this is the same for almost every country in western Europe. they also have a huge problem with radical muslims and I just happened to play a key role in the arrest of one of them in Bosnia... The Swedes here should've heard of Maximus (Mirsad Bektasevic (http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003550.html - broken link))

I'm guessing the local Swedes on this board will remain mute on this one though...
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Old 09-19-2007, 06:45 PM
 
Location: wrong planet
5,161 posts, read 11,410,247 times
Reputation: 4336
Default nice try...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greatday View Post
The roads are fine

There are not that many bridges in trouble

The power grids are local for the most part

Most (a vast majority of schools) are fine - just a few old ones in certain areas 0

And yes, it is generous that the Corportations / business are providing jobs. You would be SOL without them

I am afraid this is not true...according to the wall street journal


U.S. Infrastructure Found to Be in Disrepair
Higher Taxes Are Forecast
To Meet Investment Need;
Reconsidering Cities
By THADDEUS HERRICK
May 9, 2007
Airports, roads, rail, bridges and other transit infrastructure are deteriorating across the U.S. because of insufficient investment, according to a report.

Chicago needs $6 billion to bring its subways into good repair, says the report to be released today by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young LLP. Rehabilitation or replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge north of New York City could cost as much as $14.5 billion. And in Atlanta, current rush-hour trips by car could take 75% longer by 2030.

The report, entitled "Infrastructure 2007: A Global Perspective," says the failure to address what the co-authors call an emerging crisis in mobility will undermine the ability of the U.S. to compete internationally. "At some point, the system is going to grind to a halt," says Dale Ann Reiss, global director of real estate at the New York-based Ernst & Young accounting firm and vice chairman of the Urban Land Institute, a land-use think tank in Washington.


More foreboding, the report warns that further inaction will lead to disasters on the magnitude of the levee failures in Hurricane Katrina.

The report underscores the broader disrepair of transit, power and water systems in the U.S. In 2005, the American Society of Civil Engineers graded as "poor" the condition of the nation's transit infrastructure as well as power grids, dams and systems for drinking water and wastewater. The U.S. faces a $1.6 trillion deficit in needed infrastructure spending through 2010 for repairs and maintenance, today's report says.

A lack of political will because of fear of raising taxes is mainly responsible for the shortfall, the report says. It predicts an array of higher taxes but also says help is needed from the private sector and public-private partnerships, which it predicts will help fund, construct, operate and manage transit projects. Investment funds sponsored by global investment banks, private-equity firms and institutional money managers are becoming a rapidly expanding source of capital for everything from toll roads to bridges to tunnels, especially in Europe and the United Kingdom, the report says.

"We have a lot to learn from other parts of the world," says Ms. Reiss, who is to present the study at an Urban Land Institute meeting in Chicago. The U.S. encourages automobile dependency, according to the report, while a number of other countries are pursuing transportation alternatives. The report says there were more than 750 cars per 1,000 people in the U.S. as of 2000, while the number was just over 500 cars per 1,000 in the U.K. No amount of investment will be adequate if driving continues to be the only practical transportation option in the U.S., the report says.


Interstate 10 and 110 in Los Angeles
Meanwhile, Japan has 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) of high-speed rail and is building 300 additional kilometers by 2020, the study says. China is building more than 2,500 kilometers. The U.S. has only 300 kilometers of high-speed rail and none under construction. The cost for the U.S. to catch up: at least $250 billion over the next 20 years.

The study urges leaders and planners to reconsider the way U.S. cities are built, with hub-and-spoke systems to better handle mass transit. It also suggests infill housing and mixed-use development to reduce dependence on cars, especially in Sun Belt cities such as Houston, where the average commuter already drives 39 miles a day.

Some states are taking action. California, for example, passed a $37 billion state public-works bond measure last year, earmarking $20 billion for transport, $10 billion for school construction, $4 billion for levees and $3 billion for affordable housing built near mass transit. As a result, though, about 6% of the state's general-fund tax revenues will be needed to pay debt service, a relatively high level.

Not surprisingly, the greatest action is occurring in emerging economies. Annually, China spends 9% of its gross domestic product on infrastructure, while India spends 3.5%, the report says. While the U.S. doesn't face such massive infrastructure buildup, it still needs to spend more on maintenance. It spends just .93% of its GDP, or $112.9 billion, according to the study.
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Old 09-19-2007, 06:47 PM
 
Location: wrong planet
5,161 posts, read 11,410,247 times
Reputation: 4336
yes, it is generous that the Corportations / business are providing jobs. You would be SOL without them

You really missed your calling as a comedian. I guess the CEO's will manufacture, distribute, sell the companies products and services all by themselves. I am sure if they could, they would, LOL.
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Old 09-19-2007, 06:57 PM
 
Location: Luquillo Puerto Rico & Bellevue, WA
5 posts, read 13,152 times
Reputation: 12
Default Have you voted lately?

A study of history reflects the progression of voting in the USA. There was a time in our nation's history when one had to be a free man, be able to read & write, own land and/or hold a job to vote. Now the uneducated, unemployed, convicted criminals, even while imprisioned, can vote in some states/territories. Wonder who changed the rules? Have you voted lately?
PWehrs
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Old 09-19-2007, 07:12 PM
 
Location: Western North Carolina
8,010 posts, read 10,573,902 times
Reputation: 18821
Default John Edwards WORKED up to where he is

Not that I'm endorsing him (not yet anyway), but just a reminder that John Edwards did in fact work his way up to where he is now. His parents were working class people who worked in the textile mills in North Carolina when John Edwards was growing up. So, he does have a "working class" background, and a knowledge of that life. It's just that he went to school to better himself, studied law, and established himself. He has also been through pain and trials in his life, and keeps going, that says a lot about someones' character. Unlike our current President who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and cannot relate in the slightest to working class people. I do feel that John Edwards is the best Democratic candidate by far ,and I'm just so sorry it's Hillary that is getting all the press. She is totally un-electable.
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Old 09-19-2007, 07:25 PM
 
646 posts, read 1,785,168 times
Reputation: 168
Quote:
Originally Posted by pwehrs View Post
A study of history reflects the progression of voting in the USA. There was a time in our nation's history when one had to be a free man, be able to read & write, own land and/or hold a job to vote. Now the uneducated, unemployed, convicted criminals, even while imprisioned, can vote in some states/territories. Wonder who changed the rules? Have you voted lately?
PWehrs
I think the Declaration of Independence has "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
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Old 09-19-2007, 08:02 PM
 
646 posts, read 1,785,168 times
Reputation: 168
Quote:
Originally Posted by katzenfreund View Post
I'd prefer Sweden or a number of european countries. I LIKE the government to be somewhat involved. Up to what point is the question... but I certainly don't rely on Corporations to "police" or regulate themselves. Those at the top outsource the jobs to India so they can get bigger paychecks and the stockholders bigger profits. They pollute the environment, endanger their workers (meat industry, big agribuisness etc.) and the health of consumers (such as pharmaceutical companies etc., tire companies, car manufact. etc.) Coporate Greed in the US is totally obscene. I don't subscribe to the bible of the almighty $$$$$ and my biggest goal in life is not to amass the biggest amount of $$$$$ possible. Imagine THAT
Katzenfreund, I think you may be on to something here. Many US corporations seem to not be able to use self-constraint or modertation, they simply try to do anything that they can get away with. Unless we had laws such to protect the consumers and the environment, the corporations wouldn't stop at what would be considered a socially sensible strategy. We always have to put in a new law here for anything in order to get corporations to behave, so maybe it's too much to expect that they would right the ship on their own.
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Old 09-19-2007, 08:17 PM
 
3,763 posts, read 12,508,921 times
Reputation: 6853
Welcome to America, where those people who think no one should pay taxes, claim "freedom" and those people who pay taxes think they can argue with them..

You can't.

I agree. Taxes suck. So, how 'bout maintaining your own garbage pickup, your own school system (of course, you probably all home school, so that's already taken care of), your own water supply (thank god you all live on wells and can dig privies)..

yep. No taxes! As long as no one wants to live in populated areas where sheriffs or other law officials are needed - that should be fine.. of course if you do need the sheriff you'd better have $250 cash on you to pay them to drive out and take your statements..

taxes sure do suck. Too bad I'm so busy at my real job, that I don't have time to purify my own water and dig my own privy and educate the neighborhood's children and maintain law and order and treat those wounded in emergency clinics..

if only there were some way that I could pay for all those things at once.. ?? Maybe if all of my neighbors and I (we don't live in the prairie, we live in cities) all chipped in a little bit, just a tiny bit of those costs.. we could afford the services..??

How would I do that ... how could my neighbors and I all pay $500 each and then use it to pay for a number of civic services...?

Well.. to mind boggling to solve today...

Good thing we all hate taxes though! Damn liberals, always trying to make sure that people don't starve and that baby's don't die from malnutrition. For every one that dies, there's more left for the rest of us.. Right?
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