While US Is Gov Is In Gridlock,The Rest Of the World Is Advancing On

[thoughtone]

source: Daily Kos

Infrastructure advances in the rest-of-the-world will blow your mind.


While we're "debating" torture, access to basic health care and the veracity of climate change, the rest-of-the-world is simply advancing transformational infrastructure like you would not believe.
In Switzerland, the world's longest rail tunnel -- straight through the Alps -- is about to open.

At 57 kilometres, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which will travel through the Alps between the northern portal of Erstfeld and Bodio in the south, will become the longest rail tunnel in the world once complete, stripping the title from Japan’s 53.85 kilometre Seikan Tunnel.​

Meanwhile, the ancient tunnels between New York City and New Jersey -- dating from 1910 and about 4,400 meters long -- are so old -- and damaged from recent hurricanes -- that they risk forced closure -- and economic catastrophe for America's largest city -- at any time.

Losing one of the current tunnels would be a commuting nightmare, but getting financial support for Gateway will be be difficult, said Len Resto, New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers president.]

"The situation gets more dire day by day," Resto said. "You will get delays unacceptable to the riding public and it will become an economic factor. There's only so much that employers will put up with if people can't get to work on time."
​

Italy now boasts Europe's fastest high-speed train -- capable of speeds up to 400 km/h (249 mph) -- that will cut travel times between Rome and Milan -- about the distance between Washington, D.C. and Providence -- to two hours and some change.

The high-speed electric-multiple unit (EMU), which is expected to be put into service on the Rome-Milan corridor by Trenitalia in 2015, is certified for speeds up to 360 km/h but is capable of 400 km/h running.​

(And it's not just the sexy Italians who are leaving us in the infrastructure dust. As George W. Bush wouldn't want me to do: don't forget Poland!) Meanwhile, Amtrak still has no concrete plan -- and no government support -- to bring true high-speed rail to our most densely-populated, north-south corridor. Our "high-speed" Acela train runs slower than most "regional" trains in Europe and Asia.

On a 30-mile stretch of railroad between Westerly and Cranston, R.I., Amtrak’s 150-m.p.h. Acela hits its top speed — for five or 10 minutes. On the crowded New York to Washington corridor, the Acela averages only 80 m.p.h., and a plan to bring it up to the speed of Japanese bullet-trains, which can top 220 m.p.h., will take $150 billion and 26 years, if it ever happens.

Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin, all led by Republican governors, canceled high-speed rail projects and returned federal funds after deeming the projects too expensive and unnecessary.
​

Even as Americans are stuck traveling on the MegaBus, China has agreed to finance construction of a new high-speed line -- through the formerly war-torn Balkan states -- from Belgrade to Budapest -- by 2017.

China has signed an agreement with the governments of Serbia, Hungary and Macedonia for the construction of a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the railway would be complete within the next two years. Feasibility studies are expected to to be carried out by June next year and the project completed by June 2017.

The new 200km/h line will reduce travel times from eight to around two-and-a-half hours between the two capital cities.
​

And that small high-speed line in the Balkans is just the tip of the exciting infrastructure plans China -- in collaboration with Russia and the European Union -- has for connecting Eurasia -- constructing a new "silk road" for the 21st Century. Look at what just arrived in Spain.

The longest rail link in the world and the first direct link between China and Spain is up and running after a train from Yiwu in coastal China completed its maiden journey of 8,111 miles to Madrid. En route it passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France before arriving at the Abroñigal freight terminal in Madrid.

The railway has been dubbed the “21st-century Silk Road” by Li Qiang, the governor of Zhejiang province, where Yiwu is located. Its route is longer than the Trans-Siberian railway and the Orient Express.

The first train was met by the mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, and Spain’s minister of public works, Ana Pastor. It consisted of 30 containers carrying 1,400 tonnes of cargo – mostly toys, stationery and other items for sale over Christmas across Europe.

According to China’s ambassador to Spain, Zhu Banzao, it will return laden with wine, jamón and olive oil in time for the Chinese new year in February.
​

Meanwhile, outside Eurasia, Brazil -- the second-largest economy in the Americas -- is choosing to bypass the United States -- and its tech companies -- in laying the groundwork for its high-tech future.

There's a new wrinkle in Brazil's plan to build a $185 million undersea fiber-optic cable that would connect it to Portugal and help the country avoid surveillance by U.S. intelligence authorities, reports Bloomberg: The cable will be built without the help of any U.S. companies.

While Brazil arguably led the world's outrage over the Edward Snowden disclosures, its ire has mellowed a bit in recent months. But that Brazilian authorities are still talking about a U.S.-free undersea link to Europe only underscores something that may be especially destructive to U.S. tech companies: Once you write foreign policy into fiber-optic cables, it stays that way for a long, long time.
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These developments aren't just cool -- as in fast trains and long distances -- but they herald the end of American economic dominance; they are concrete symbols of our relative decline versus the other great nations -- and regions -- of the world.

All these interlocked developments suggest a geopolitical tectonic shift in Eurasia that the American media simply hasn't begun to grasp. Which doesn't mean that no one notices anything. You can smell the incipient panic in the air in the Washington establishment. The Council on Foreign Relations is already publishing laments about the possibility that the former sole superpower's exceptionalist moment is "unraveling." The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission can only blame the Chinese leadership for being "disloyal," adverse to "reform," and an enemy of the "liberalization" of their own economy.

The usual suspects carp that upstart China is upsetting the "international order," will doom "peace and prosperity" in Asia for all eternity, and may be creating a "new kind of Cold War" in the region. From Washington's perspective, a rising China, of course, remains the major "threat" in Asia, if not the world, even as the Pentagon spends gigantic sums to keep its sprawling global empire of bases intact. Those Washington-based stories about the new China threat in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, however, never mention that China remains encircled by US bases, while lacking a base of its own outside its territory.
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Yes, the rest-of-the-world has problems -- many of which are worse than our own: horrid unemployment in Italy, extreme gun violence in Brazil, horrific absolute poverty in China -- but, and this is crucial, even as they grapple with these challenges, they are still investing in the future -- in long-lasting ways. And, worst of all from the perspective of the United States, they are doing so to the exclusion of our nation: leaving behind our companies, our people, any concern for our relevance.

The United States is being left behind. We will -- absent major change -- never be able to catch up with the infrastructure of Asia and Europe, given current political conditions in this country. And the most tragic part of this decline is that it's being actively promoted by our leaders.

The clock is ticking. The rest-of-the-world is not waiting while the United States "debates" the future. It is building the future.

 

[SPECTRE1]

I am not a big fan of high speed rail just to move people around. We can get more bang for the buck doing other things.

 

[Dannyblueyes]

I am not a big fan of high speed rail just to move people around. We can get more bang for the buck doing other things.

STRONGLY disagree. High speed rail allows people who work in the city to live further out. It lowers the cost of living while creating room for economic expansion.

Take California for instance. The most lucrative tech sector in the country is Silicon Valley. The problem is that it's also one of the most expensive area in the country which means that a lot of talented tech workers are forced to give up before they've barely started. Now imagine there was a train that allowed these workers to live in Fresno and commute to San Jose within an hour or less (it currently takes 2 1/2 hours).

Not only would these workers have a lower cost of living it would also give the tech industry more room to expand. Once enough programmers lived in Fresno the city would be able to launch its own tech industry.

Now imagine what a national bullet train could do.

 

[SPECTRE1]

I am talking about travel between two cities such as LA to San Francisco. A few minor engineering tweaks and you could get something with capacity utilization through the roof.

They have broken ground and spent billions building this crap without consulting me. Now they are committed to building garbage.

Quit copying designs and ideas from the past. Give us infrastructure projects that we can use.

 

[Dannyblueyes]

The ultimate goal of the California Bullet Train is to have a line that runs from LA to SF within 2 hours. They are working on the cities in between first to improve the infrastructure. I think the first section they're planning will go from Bakersfield to Palmdale.

This is important because right now we have more than 2/3 of the state crowded into either Los Angeles or the Bay Area while most of the rest lays barren. The state also relies heavily on agriculture which is about to take a nose dive because of the drought. This rail line will help alternative develop alternative industries.

I don't care if another country thought of it first. The US doesn't need to be bigger and badder than everyone else anymore. There's no shame in a country ripping off an idea so long as it works

 

[thoughtone]

They have broken ground and spent billions building this crap without consulting me.

Didn't the California voters approve a $9 billion in funding for the project in 2008?

 

[Dannyblueyes]

Didn't the California voters approve a $9 billion in funding for the project in 2008?

They did and seven years later not a single foot of track has been built. Now they're talking about solving the drought problem by taking money out of the bullet train fund.

 

[muckraker10021]

Why do RepubliKlans really oppose infrastructure spending?



March 15, 2015

1. Starve the Beast: While Republicans continue to refuse to raise revenue necessary to fund infrastructure spending (traditional Starve the Beast), the latest application - Starve the Beast 2.0 - looks to hold hostage any and all necessary spending for cuts to other, unfavored, government spending. In that sense, you have to understand the crucial (even threatening) need for infrastructure spending as identical to the "debt ceiling." For Republicans, the hundreds of billions to trillions of unmet infrastructure spending represents a massive, annual golden opportunity to extort draconian cuts to social, regulatory, non-defense spending. That is why Republicans also reject deficit-financing for infrastructure spending (at historically low interest rates) or alternative proposals like a private-public infrastructure bank. The goal here is not to invest in the country, but to seize upon any vulnerability to "drown the government in a bathtub."

This is plainly evident, btw. When President Obama proposed increased infrastructure spending in 2011 Republicans opposed it with a plan that would have "paid for the spending with a $40 billion cut in unspent funding for other domestic programs . . . and would block recent clean air rules and make it harder for the administration to issue new rules." In 2014, Eric Cantor explained that "Congress should not be adding new money, but instead streamlining the process for getting current resources to state and local governments." In 2015, Republicans opposed Democrats' proposed additional infrastructure spending by proposing instead to create a "deficit neutral reserve fund," that didn't identify the amount of such fund, or how - or whether - it would be funded. Just yesterday I saw Paul Ryan flatly reject any increased spending for infrastructure, regardless of the fatal Amtrack crash.

2. Privatizing the nation's infrastructure: This is the big kahuna that the press generally feels uncomfortable reporting. Republicans - at the behest of their mega-bank/private equity patrons - really, deeply want to privatize the nation's infrastructure and turn such public resources into privately owned, profit centers. More than anything else, this privatization fetish explains Republicans' efforts to gut and discredit public infrastructure, and it runs the gamut from disastrous instances of privatizing parking meters to plans to privatize the federal highway system.

Indeed, if you listen to Republican proposals for "infrastructure reform," what you hear is: privatization and a longing for private tolls, tolls, tolls. As the Cato Institute explained in Senate testimony, now is the time to go back in time:

The way to do that is to reduce hurdles to entrepreneurship and more private investment. Private infrastructure is not a new or untried idea. Urban transit services in America used to be virtually all private. And before the 20th century, private turnpike companies built thousands of miles of toll roads. The takeover of so much infrastructure by governments in the 20th century was a mistake, and policymakers should focus on correcting that overreach. If the goal is to privatize and monetize public assets, the last thing Republicans are going to do is fund and maintain public confidence in such assets. Rather, when private equity wants to acquire something, the typical playbook is to first make sure that such assets are what is known as "distressed assets" (i.e., cheaper to buy).

3. Private Activity Bonds: This one is a real unreported doozy, and is directly related to both privatization efforts and the Starve the Beast scheme. Known as "Private Activity Bonds," under current law, state and local governments are allowed, effectively, to delegate the ability to issue tax-free bonds to private corporations and investors. As a result, the private investors have the lower borrowing costs associated with government financing and the interest earned on such bonds is tax-free at both the federal and state level. Do you get that? Local governments are financing the efforts to privatize their own public assets and the private equity investors earn tax free profits on their investment. Privatization is not just a golden opportunity, but a tax-payer subsidized, tax-free opportunity - - with no demonstrated public benefit:

What is more, the projects are often structured so companies can avoid paying state sales taxes on new equipment and, at times, avoid local property taxes. While some deals might encourage businesses to invest where they might otherwise not have invested, there are few guarantees that job creation or other economic benefits actually occur.

4. Repeal Labor and Environmental Laws: Finally, Republicans refuse to fund infrastructure spending because the larger goal is to repeal or weaken labor and environmental laws associated with such large scale construction projects. For example, while you may be rightly worried that your commuter bridge is structurally unsound, Republicans are much more concerned with first repealing laws like the Davis-Bacon Act, a 1931 New Deal law which requires payment of the local prevailing wages on all public works projects for laborers and mechanics. Repealing this employment protection law is a much larger Republican priority than repairing any specific bridge or tunnel. As Republican Senator Mike Lee explained the priorities of his "infrastructure proposal":
“The Davis-Bacon Act exemplifies how big government hurts the people it purports to help, gives unfair advantages to favored special interests, and squeezes the middle class,” said Sen. Lee. “It crowds out low-skilled workers in the construction industry, preventing them from getting a fair shot at a job, and funnels taxpayer money to prop up big labor unions, which accrue windfall profits as Davis-Bacon removes the incentive for federal contractors to hire unskilled, non-unionized workers.”
Forcing the American citizens to subsidize labor unions in this way artificially inflates the costs of construction projects to repair and improve our national infrastructure. This is unfair, and unsustainable, and costing taxpayers billions of dollars every year. Senator Lee’s “Davis-Bacon Repeal Act” removes these government-imposed obstacles to economic opportunity facing low-skilled workers and returns wasted taxpayer dollars back into the hands of the American people. Senator Lee will offer the bill as an amendment to legislation that addresses the funding of our nation's highway and transportation systems.

In sum, the question of why we cannot enact needed, common-sense infrastructure spending is truly mystifying . . . so long as we ignore that the Republican party is hyper-partisan, engaged in a destructive Starve the Beast agenda, wants to privatize public infrastructure, promotes an increasing "financialization" of the economy, and is ideologically opposed to labor and environmental laws. Most importantly, all of the above must not be even acknowledged in public reporting on this vital issue. Right?

Read the entire article HERE

 

[thoughtone]

They did and seven years later not a single foot of track has been built. Now they're talking about solving the drought problem by taking money out of the bullet train fund.

So I guess when you don't vote, you don't count!

 

[ORIGINAL NATION]

America is leading in prison, homelessness, black genocide, etc. I do not vote, I just work hard every day trying to build a nation for blacks here in the dirty south. I guess all blacks should be doing that.

 

[thoughtone]

America is leading in prison, homelessness, black genocide, etc. I do not vote, I just work hard every day trying to build a nation for blacks here in the dirty south. I guess all blacks should be doing that.

Black folk have been working hard since we were kidnapped and brought to the "New World".

Black folk never died so they could work hard. Black folk died so their work was recognized as their own!

Slaves couldn't vote. I guess that's what they mean by modern day slavery. Not voting.

 

[SPECTRE1]

First, we have to reform how the government funds itself to avoid turning into Greece or giving China and other creditor nation more power over our affairs. Right now, it makes no rational sense at all.

Second, the funding needs to come from General Revenue and not user fees.

After you fix the funding, develop infrastructure that make rational sense. Bullet trains make no sense at all in comparison to my ideas.

 

[Dannyblueyes]

So I guess when you don't vote, you don't count!

I can't vote because I'm not a citizen yet. Even if I could it seems like more gets accomplished by group action than the political process.

A friend and I are working on an idea called the small sacrifice movement. The plan is to make small changes in our own lives and get other people to commit to the same. If enough people follow we can bring about change regardless of what politicians do.

For instance the banks extort billions of dollars out of our pockets. They take the money in our savings accounts and lend it to companies that work against the community. We use them anyway because there's nowhere else that will handle direct deposits, debit cards, check cashing and so forth. Lately we've been investing in bitcoin and are trying to use it as a means to keep our money out of their hands entirely. It will initially mean higher financial fees and a bit of planning (There's only one bitcoin ATM in all of San Francisco, none in Alameda County), but if we can devise a workable plan and teach it to others then eventually the banks will have to change the way they do business or risk becoming irrelevant.

Similarly, if I can convince enough Californians to stop eating beef there will be more than enough water to go around.

My first plan is to stop the bus line to my house from skipping schedules. Last night the 9:30 didn't show up which left me and about 24 other people stranded for an extra 45 minutes. I've complained multiple times, but nothing ever happens. So now I've printed out a flyer instructing people on how to complain online. I'm taping it to the bus shelter tomorrow night. If enough people complain for long enough the city will have to notice. If they don't then at least there will be an organized group of outraged people committed to doing something about it.

 

[QueEx]

Black folk have been working hard since we were kidnapped and brought to the "New World".

Black folk never died so they could work hard. Black folk died so their work was recognized as their own!

Slaves couldn't vote. I guess that's what they mean by modern day slavery. Not voting.

Damn Boi !!! You came back into the New Year strongly !!!

I endorse that message above!

 

[QueEx]

I can't vote because I'm not a citizen yet. Even if I could it seems like more gets accomplished by group action than the political process.

You should be wary of dismissing fundamental principles -- just to make another point. Acknowledge; and add, clarify, distinguish, build upon, etc.

 

[thoughtone]

First, we have to reform how the government funds itself to avoid turning into Greece or giving China and other creditor nation more power over our affairs. Right now, it makes no rational sense at all.

Second, the funding needs to come from General Revenue and not user fees.

After you fix the funding, develop infrastructure that make rational sense. Bullet trains make no sense at all in comparison to my ideas.

You don't vote. Your opinion doesn't count!

 

[thoughtone]

I can't vote because I'm not a citizen yet. Even if I could it seems like more gets accomplished by group action than the political process.

I guess you're right.

That Occupy Wall Street "group action" really put those banks in their place.

Laugh my fucking ass off!!!!

 

[Dannyblueyes]

I guess you're right.

That Occupy Wall Street "group action" really put those banks in their place.

Laugh my fucking ass off!!!!

I'm not talking about protesting the banks. I'm talking about a way to stop putting our money into them in the first place. So far I have found a company that will pay my direct deposit to my bitcoin wallet. From there I can go to gyft.com and buy gift certificates To buy groceries, coffee, Subway sandwiches and other services. That solves about 20% of the problem. I am also looking for an affordable debit card that will convert bitcoin into USD so that I can pay my bills online with it. That will solve another 50%. Next I need a quick and easy way to convert bitcoin into cash so that I can pay rent and make small transactions. I'm also looking for a way to cash checks, get loans and other perform other financial services without a bank.

There's already a growing network of people that use crypto currencies. Many are not aware of these services. For instance the woman that I saw waiting for her cash at San Francisco's only bitcoin ATM thought it was odd that I'd never used one before and I thought it was odd that she had never heard of Coinbase before. If enough of us work together then we can pool our knowledge and find a viable way to "fire" our banks altogether. Next we condense that plan into a financial strategy that the average person can follow without too much expense or sacrifice.

If this idea takes off it can change the banking industry the same way that Napster changed the music industry.

 

[Dannyblueyes]

You should be wary of dismissing fundamental principles -- just to make another point. Acknowledge; and add, clarify, distinguish, build upon, etc.

My apologies. Allow me to explain.

Voting can work, but it is unrealistic to expect our politicians to do everything for us.

Take the California drought for instance. 80% of the state's water is used for agriculture, mostly to raise livestock. The government is unlikely to impose water restrictions because it will cost votes and anger special interest groups.

On the other hand, a large citizen group can voluntarily quit eating beef and save massive amounts of water by lowering the demand for more cows. There's no votes to lose, no special interest backlash, no organization to attack. Just a bunch of people switching their hamburgers for chicken sandwiches to save some much needed water.

I think there's plenty of cases where a series of small sacrifices can make a big difference. Perhaps we should consider this before we decide who to vote for

 

[SPECTRE1]

California drought is man made due to the aqueduct and reservoir designs.

 

[thoughtone]

I'm not talking about protesting the banks. I'm talking about a way to stop putting our money into them in the first place. So far I have found a company that will pay my direct deposit to my bitcoin wallet. From there I can go to gyft.com and buy gift certificates To buy groceries, coffee, Subway sandwiches and other services. That solves about 20% of the problem. I am also looking for an affordable debit card that will convert bitcoin into USD so that I can pay my bills online with it. That will solve another 50%. Next I need a quick and easy way to convert bitcoin into cash so that I can pay rent and make small transactions. I'm also looking for a way to cash checks, get loans and other perform other financial services without a bank.

There's already a growing network of people that use crypto currencies. Many are not aware of these services. For instance the woman that I saw waiting for her cash at San Francisco's only bitcoin ATM thought it was odd that I'd never used one before and I thought it was odd that she had never heard of Coinbase before. If enough of us work together then we can pool our knowledge and find a viable way to "fire" our banks altogether. Next we condense that plan into a financial strategy that the average person can follow without too much expense or sacrifice.

If this idea takes off it can change the banking industry the same way that Napster changed the music industry.

More libertarian bullshit.

Fucking the country up!

 

[Dannyblueyes]

More libertarian bullshit.

Fucking the country up!

I'm simply ditching an outdated and exploitative finance service and replacing it with something I think will work better. If I'm right then I'll give it good word of mouth advertising.

That's just good 'ol fashioned American capitalism.

 

[thoughtone]

I'm simply ditching an outdated and exploitative finance service and replacing it with something I think will work better. If I'm right then I'll give it good word of mouth advertising.

That's just good 'ol fashioned American capitalism.

I think will work better.

What are your socioeconomic credentials?

First off capitalism is flawed. It took Keynesian Theory and the new Deal to save capitalism from itself. The so called Free Marketeers have been trying to kill the New Deal since the 1970s.

You're just creating a shadow system ripe for exploitation just like the current system.

Just fix the current system. It has worked for 70 years and created the greatest economy the world has ever known.

 

[Dannyblueyes]

What are your socioeconomic credentials?

First off capitalism is flawed. It took Keynesian Theory and the new Deal to save capitalism from itself. The so called Free Marketeers have been trying to kill the New Deal since the 1970s.

You're just creating a shadow system ripe for exploitation just like the current system.

Just fix the current system. It has worked for 70 years and created the greatest economy the world has ever known.

Capitalism works so long as it is strictly and effectively regulated by a democratic government. The problem is that the free market has thoroughly overrun democracy. It need to be reigned in the same way it was in the early 1900's.

The banking system is so broken and corrupt that even the president won't fix it. This "shadow system" as you call it is mere competition. The banks will either become more honest and responsible in their dealings or be replaced.

This is no different than Uber's entry into the transportation business. Before them the taxi industry was a corrupt gang of price gougers that offered terrible service. Once Uber entered the fray taxi companies were forced to either adapt or perish. As a result De Soto cabs became Flywheel and are about to launch an meterless app service starting in California. This happened despite the fact that Uber notoriously exploits its drivers and customers.

So what are my socioeconomic credentials? Same as the Wright brothers airplane building credentials.