It's because Americans continue to look the other way when our treasury and our children’s' futures are stolen to pay for immoral elective wars.

What does funding for one have to do with the other?  Look, I'm not trying to say that the war was a good idea, or argue about how it should be handled now.  But transportation funding has not been gutted for the war - it just doesn't work that way.

Hey, I hope the protest went well and was peaceful and you were able to respect that most of the people there were focused on the tragedy of the bridge.  But look into the funding issues, and I think you'll be surprised.  Try http://captaincapitalism.blogspot.com/ for a local economist's point of view.

by Wulf (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 3:23:35 PM

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of it, and we've borrowed billions from China and other countries to continue paying for the wars and tax cuts for those that don't need them. Our national debt is closing in on $9 trillion. We've actually been out of pie for a long time.

You don't see the connection between really bad policies, military spending and how it affects domestic spending because you don't want to. You are in denial. But it will catch up with you and everyone else fairly soon.

When you are ready to learn, start visiting some new sites to broaden your perspective:

http://www.elunah.com/US%20Budget%202007.jpg

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/home/3.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/4/2341/71736

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 3:47:19 PM

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Kathlyn, of course you are correct.  And I'm particularly glad that YOU see.  You wrote a good article here and you identified something that an awful lot of people don't see or are unwilling to see.  In any event, by writing this article you have answered your own question, for because of what you wrote, some people who didn't see before, might take another look now.  So thanks.  Good job.  Just about every state in the union is financially near or in the red.  And a lot of this red showed up after Bush came to power.  Some of our infrastructure is supported by state and some by national funding.  What you see here with this bridge is only the beginning.  A lot more people will come to see later what they are unwilling to see now.  Sooner would be better than later.

by Mark A. Goldman (81 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 243 comments) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 4:06:40 PM

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It is like waiting for the scales to fall from their eyes!

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 4:40:05 PM

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 Kathlyn, under the Bush administration non-defense discretionary spending has grown at the <a href="http://www.independent.org/newsroom/news_detail.asp?newsID=31">fastest pace in 30 years</a>.  That’s a pace of 25.3% <b>before</b> we even account for the military spending and the tax cuts.  Considering the 80% increase in education spending and the new Medicare prescription drug entitlement of 2003, I think it’s dishonest to say that “schools and health… deteriorate”.  It undermines the good points you are making about civil rights, and about the unnecessary, immoral war in Iraq.

That bridge did not collapse because we’re spending money on Iraq – the lack of attention to infrastructure has been <b>decades</b> in the making, it’s been <b>bipartisan</b>, and it’s happened at the local, state, and federal levels.  Furthermore, as you yourself pointed out, the war is being fought on <b>irresponsibly borrowed money</b> – not on money that was somehow stolen out of the domestic transportation coffers.  The fact is that transportation spending – like the government in general – has grown under this administration.

There are enough reasons for us to be upset about the war, without having to fool ourselves into falsely blaming every bad thing on the war.

by Wulf (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 7:00:25 PM

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I don't know how we can match the massive megaphone that the administration and corporate media have to get through to the majority of the country's population, who don’t comprehend the horrible mismanagement of our collective money, or national priorities.

How do we help them see? We can keep using the internet, and social networking to expand the number of people who abandon corporate media for alternative information sources. As more people become internet savvy, the greater the possibility that they will hear from a friend or family member about a good progressive web site.

I don’t know. It is difficult to match the massive megaphone of corporate media. Keep trying to expand the number of people you know who go to progressive web sites, and contribute ideas.

by John R Moffett (89 articles, 18 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 697 comments [14 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 5:42:09 PM

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at stake. I like the way you stated that.

Things are not all bad. As I mentioned there were some new people out, and they heard about the gathering somewhere and felt strongly enough to show up.

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 8:38:08 PM

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You are making a great argument. It is the same one we have been trying to make (unsuccessfully) about wasted tax dollars in Africa. War, greed and corruption are ravenous mouths devouring the good will of the American people...and I do believe that the people of this country possess good will and "malice towards none."

Keep doing what you are doing.

by Georgianne Nienaber (153 articles, 47 quicklinks, 13 diaries, 350 comments [3 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 6:40:01 PM

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As a former "outstater," I am glad you said that.  And it takes guts to do what you do because you have less anonymity in smaller towns.

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 8:45:01 PM

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Thanks...but you know, the good people of Crow Wing County have been very supportive of me. Our Federal officials have turned tail and run, though!

...and the money continues to be funneled down the rabbit hole.

The White Queen: “Can you do addition? What's one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?”

Alice: “I don't know. I lost count.” 

Through the Looking Glass: Lewis Carroll

by Georgianne Nienaber (153 articles, 47 quicklinks, 13 diaries, 350 comments [3 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 10:27:47 PM

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Unfortunately, it's not the "good people" like the ones who helped rescue people from the fallen bridge who are running the country.

The ones in the White House talk a good game, but in actuality they hate everyone who is not "them."

I say "out with all of them," and soon is not soon enough.  Besides the WH residents, there's congressmen.  Every single one of them who didn't think for himself or allowed themselves to be bullied by Bush into voting for unread, Constitution-breaking legislation does not deserve to be there.

Too bad it always the same-old, same-old.  Congress is bad, that is --  except for their congressman.  I will be more than happy to vote out Boxer and Feinstein.  I'd be especially happy to say nay to Pelosi, except I don't live in her district. 

by Sandy Sand (198 articles, 0 quicklinks, 227 diaries, 1548 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Aug 5, 2007 at 12:43:54 PM

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Far kinder than I would be if that had happened in my community. The linked poem from Jeff McCallum says it very well:

Will the silence work as it does

for Katrina

for Halliburton

for Black Stone

for the loss of habeas corpus

for children dying of malnutrition

a bride collapsing

in a neighbourhood

a block

a mile

a galaxy removed from our hearing

Here's some more poetry:

The eight-lane bridge was built in 1967. State transportation officials were warned as early as 1990 that the bridge was "structurally deficient," meaning it was in need of major repair or even replacement. It received the same designation after a federal inspection in 2005, but state engineers say it was not slated to be replaced until 2020.

A state inspection last year discovered numerous deficiencies with the bridge, but transportation officials elected to make frequent inspections rather than badly needed repairs.

The "perfecta" as they call it in NY horse racing parlance. They knew it was in bad shape but it took them until 2005 to take the bold act of "frequenet inspections." This is what the "leaders" and government functionaries think of the people who pay them. Hey , lets just check it a lot. That way we won't go over budget.

I'm sure Gov. Pwaltney didn't even know of the decision. He wouldn't have cared if he had. Just another member of "the money party," Republican wing.

He's not responsible, no way.

"Pawlenty campaigned on a pledge not to raise taxes to balance the state's budget deficit, requiring visa expiration dates on driver's licenses, a 24 hour waiting period on abortions, implementing a conceal-carry gun law, and changing the state's education requirements. Pawlenty prevailed over both challengers at the polls. Analyses afterward indicated that his largest gains since the September poll were among voters in the suburbs of Minneapolis-St.Paul."

And this one, he's not responsible, nor are the Republicans & Democrats who happily supported his tax cuts for no particular reason other than total greed.

You see, nobody is responsible because if they were, the horror of looking at these fools in office would silmply be too much to bear.

That's enough now, move along...today is not the day.

by Michael Collins (130 articles, 20 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 485 comments [42 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 6:41:20 PM

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As people look into how this could have happened, we're seeing that citizens have indeed been put at risk in order to avoid raising new taxes. 

A friend wrote about that aspect on Silenced Majority today, and there are a couple pictures of the "mean people" standing in the rain just to make their  points on the wrong day.

Thanks for the kind words. It didn't really rattle me but it was a strong reminder of how naive many people are and how they resist hearing the awful truth, as you pointed out.

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 8:19:04 PM

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Near as I can tell, this chart is fairly objective and speaks for itself: Federal spending pie.

Links to it have appeared here before, but I don't we can reflect on it too often.

by Daniel Geery (26 articles, 95 quicklinks, 126 diaries, 912 comments [27 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 7:23:49 PM

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Thanks, Daniel.

Half a trillion spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far.

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 9:06:46 PM

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Thanks for the fine article!

JUST STOP BUYING STUFF, NOW!
You americans are like children; as long as you have some candy then everything is fine.
There is a secret to changing a govt. just stop buying stuff. don’t buy gas or anything you can live without. do this 2 days each week and you will see such a god-awful scramble of the pols. that you will wonder how you got so much power. But, the catch is; you will have to sacrifice some comfort, and kids don't like to do that.  It is your only choice!
But it is YOU that must change!! If you continue to expect bush/cheney to change then you will continue in your child-like bewilderment. YOU must change, NOW!
Here’s another secret kids; you don’t need a leader or a consolidator or an organizer to stop buying stuff. JUST STOP, NOW!! the situation is dire kids. Just stop buying. stop expecting bush/cheney to change; YOU MUST CHANGE, NOW! if it is not too late.
Pelosi/ Reid and the rest of the dems are not your friend. They are part of the murderous bush/cheney gang. This is serious kids, better get some adult help and STOP BUYING!

by joed (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 49 comments) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 7:40:26 PM

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I know of individuals and groups calling for general strikes, too, beginning on September 11, but as John mentioned above, it's hard to be heard with the mainstream media megaphone blasting away and corrupting peoples' awareness with entertainment news.

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 8:52:48 PM

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Sorry to hear that.  i guess your right; there is nothing we can do and besides ...

by joed (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 49 comments) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 8:59:43 PM

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and will continue. The problem is -- it's always the SAME people!

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 9:11:55 PM

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you americans are in a very serious situation and you seem to think you have untill next week to act.  well, you don't.  your politicians are representing the corporations and nothing will change that except extreme measures.  a vote for hillary or obama etc is a vote for the corporations.  The canadian dollar is equal to yours now.  the canadian dollar has not gained, it is your dollar that has lost.  your country is no longer viable. it can only kill and destroy now.  doesn't that mean anything to you people.  your only altenative is to put your comfort and your safety on the line.  Sacrifice.  STOP BUYING.  working within the system will only create a stronger system.  STOP!  it is probably already too late but you must try now.

by joed (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 49 comments) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 10:02:52 PM

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For what it is worth, I think YOU were right.

I think she was trying to intimidate you off your agenda and she was using "today is not the day" as a tactic to censor you. You weren't invading a private funeral service. The bridge collapse was public and has policy implications. It has to have - unless further potential bridge collapse are irrelevant.

There seems to be a lot of people in America that are tired of conflict and that want to see bipartisanship even if it is superficial phoney bipartisanship that can only come at the sacrifice of absolute bedrock priniciple.  

But that sentiment actually serves the extremists (like Bush and Cheney) because extremists will not compromise. Politics has to be like warfare without bloodshed sometimes because politics depends in part on what other people do and other people are willing to MAKE the stakes that high.

Those who want to take the politics out of things are essentially asking for activists to surrender even their right to oppose peacefully.

Bush and Cheney are willing to use bloodshed as part of politics and to set aside the rule of law to do it - this was demonstrated in the invasion of Iraq.

Politics in the USA is not nearly fierce enough yet. It needs to get fiercer still or the Constitution and the rule of law won't be worth a damn.

Those who encourage "a getting along", or time outs, or no politics zones, without also making upholding the rule of law and demanding that promises and oaths made be kept are actually encouraging degeneration and abrogating the responsibilities of citizenship. They are wreckers in effect not builders. Some times compromise and half measures are just plain wrong because the stakes have been raised by others so far that only extreme opposition can be effective opposition.

Bush and Cheney are playing games of life and death and real people are being killed. And Democratic representatives that have taken personal oaths and think impeachable offenses have occurred are arguing that impeachment should not be pursued because it can't work and is to divisive.

That sort of vote counting, personal oath evading, stand for nothing "representative" almost makes the likes of Cheney (or terrorists) look honorable in standing for the wrong things.

by Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 23 diaries, 1308 comments) on Saturday, Aug 4, 2007 at 11:29:42 PM

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I murdered and robbed that guy -- but see he was in a bad section of town and if I didn't do some other mugger would have, so it wouldn't have done any good not to -- so don't blame me....

Gee whiz Mom, everybody does that.

*** NEWS FLASH ***

Many Republicans jump off the roof! Democrats vow to follow the trend!

[Well, one can dream, can't one?]

by Blue Pilgrim (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 997 comments) on Sunday, Aug 5, 2007 at 12:01:53 AM

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Passivity and political correctness enabled the right-wing to get a chokehold on our government, legal system, and media. And just look what bad things they are doing with our money. But we're not supposed to say anything

indecorous.

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Aug 5, 2007 at 11:19:52 AM

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Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that youve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows youve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that its now or never
Everybody knows that its me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when youve done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black joes still pickin cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that its moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But theres gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that youre in trouble
Everybody knows what youve been through
From the bloody cross on top of calvary
To the beach of malibu
Everybody knows its coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows

L. Cohen 

by Mark Sashine (72 articles, 19 quicklinks, 269 diaries, 4101 comments [131 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Aug 5, 2007 at 8:30:26 AM

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IMO.

 Thanks.

by Kathlyn Stone (46 articles, 227 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 690 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Aug 6, 2007 at 7:37:57 AM

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