Tag: infrastructure

by A Siegel America's infrastructure is in a near-failing state. The most comprehensive look, by the American Society for Civil Engineers, assesses (across all key...

And here's the pitch: Just as we spend a lot of money every year to repair our roads and bridges, so we also need to...

This piece is appearing in newspapers in my red congressional district (VA-06). ******************* The recent election in the United States showed a divide between rural areas,...

We all saw the headlines last week, as the tallest dam in the United States threatened to breach catastrophically.  Nearly a quarter of a...

During the debate over building the Silver Line, in addition to pushing for an underground/"tunnel" option for the Tysons portion of the line, many...

Let me begin with the end.  

So the end result of the long campaign against government is that we've taken a disastrously wrong turn. America is now on the unlit, unpaved road to nowhere.

That is the conclusion of America Goes Dark, Paul Krugman's column this morning.  I am aware that it is covered as part of bobswern's diary.  My focus will be somewhat different, hence I do not consider this diary duplicative.

For Krugman, the imagery of going dark is both literal and figurative.  Literally, cities like Colorado Spring are turning out their streetlights in a desperate attempt to save money.   Figuratively, we are watching as budgets for schools are being slashed, programs eliminated, teachers discharged (and the passage of the measure that is bringing the House back into session will only partially ameliorate the damage to schools).  

I am a teacher, and for me the imagery is not figurative, either in what will happen inside school or what happens to our commons, our infrastructure.  So I wish to react.