As I sit housebound by the great blizzard of 2008 which froze my pipes and has me working hours a day shoveling and hauling wood (see pics below). I know that much of the country is suffering under the same conditions. Folks stuck in airports, bus terminals, and Red Cross "warming stations." The endless local news has our Mayor Elect telling us that the $48 million in cuts to road projects is not helping a road cleanup bill from the storm that is running us further into the hole at an estimated $150,000 to $190,000 a day. And guess what? The federal funds don't cover snow emergencies (according to our Mayor Elect).

From Personal

One of the main ideas in Obama's economic stimulus package is to jump start construction projects. Well that cannot happen to soon as the national infrastructure is rapidly crumbling - as we have seen through disaster and tragedy.

The NY Times tells us that the economic slump is forcing states to halt road projects." In fact, some states - such as California - are in such straits that they are halting all construction and infrastructure projects. I am sure the current storm damages across the entire northern tier of the country will add dramatically to the "things not done" list.

Sadly, most of Congress is off on vacation, because Washington DC is having its own test of infrastructure collapse. A 5 1/2 foot water main has broken in Bethesda, MD which has required folks to be rescued by helicopter (See Washington Post footage below).

As a sideline, we learn that main breaks are becoming increasingly frequent in Maryland. In fact, Maryland's Infrastructure Report Card from the American Society of Civil Engineers says the water system needs a $1.7 billion investment.

Of course, Maryland is not alone in its woes. According to Oregon's Report Card, we need $830 million to fix the bridges on Interstate 5 alone. The National Infrastructure Fact Sheet tells a grim and expensive tale of just how badly the nation is falling apart.

One might ask how we got into such dire straits, but most of us already know. We have been told that infrastructure is not politically "sexy" so representatives across the board from local to national level have avoided it at all costs. However, the real problems are part of the same problems - corporatization and diversion of our tax dollars to make up for the free lunch and corporate welfare we are paying an ever larger price for. According to the GAO report released last fall, almost all of the major corporations paid no taxes over the last three years. Wouldn't you like a tax holiday like that? But then this laxity is part of the same "voodoo economics" that got us into the current economic crash.

Ah well, don't mind me. I'm just aching from shoveling snow.