Green Tee Readings

Andrew Sullivan links to and quotes from a Popular Mechanics piece about why the focus on shovel ready infrastructure projects is misguided.

I agree with that, and I think that a 90 day requirement for any project to be funded with the monies targeted for infrastructure is insanely, cripplingly short-sighted. I’d much rather have large sums of the money funneled through state aid programs, making sure that unemployment benefits are extended, state health insurances can cover costs, public transit operations aren’t affected, housing aid is continued and increased, food stamp programs are kept going, etc. All of these things should be the focus of the first aid package, and should have been done while the former President was still in office. That he and Congress abdicated any sort of responsibility on this is appalling.

Remember though, the above steps are a measure designed solely as a way to get a little breathing room for states and the federal government to identify areas where infrastructure jobs should be created, time to correctly plan the projects, and time for Congress to deliberate over all of it. This isn’t going to be fixed in a day, or in ninety, and I don’t know why there’s an expectation for it to be done that way.

I can’t be the only one to remember that the Obama campaign did most of its work at a deliberate pace, can I?

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