I won't have an opportunity to sit on ahay bale for a while. This year's events in our state have prompted me to run for the State Assembly District 97 seat against Rep. Bill Kramer. However, that most definitely does not mean that I will be silent.
I'm currently out an about at events in Waukesha County, Milwaukee, and sometimes Madison (or because of friends I've made this year that are running for office, even elsewhere). I will be going about the district trying to talk to people as we move further into the year. And, I can always be "found" at my campaign's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/margastateassembly.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Saturday, March 12, 2011
The Faces of Wisconsin
The faces of Wisconsin: young, old, families, strollers and walkers, canes and placards; the faces we see every day as we live our lives; the faces we see in the mirror. I saw the faces of Wisconsin today, more than a 100,000 strong: smiling, chanting, earnest, and polite. Eyes met and shared. I stood for a time under a tree at the capitol, just gazing about, drinking in the sense of my state’s people, and for a moment, what it most strongly reminded me of was a winter farm auction back in the 70’s when I was a child: the same faces, the same sense both of purpose and of enjoying being amongst each other.
I’m sure we’ve all heard references to the ‘slobs’ and college students that are ‘the protesters’ at the capital. What I saw was: Wisconsinites, from every walk of life, of every age, from every part of the state; from Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Madison, and LaCrosse – and those were only the people I chatted with.
Over the past days, I’ve seen not just handshakes between ‘politicians’ and the public, but smiles, and laughter, and hugs, shared amongst those needing to be represented and those representing us, as we work together. I’ve seen law enforcement officers put in the most difficult positions, but remaining calm, quiet, and helpful. I’ve seen people kept out of the capitol by those officers, but understanding of the position they’ve been put in, chatting with them, laughing, and even joking together. And, I’m proud: proud of the people in my state; proud of those who represent us who have shared these days and weeks with us; proud of those placed in situations that have called upon the best in them – and giving it; proud to be one of us.
I’m sure we’ve all heard references to the ‘slobs’ and college students that are ‘the protesters’ at the capital. What I saw was: Wisconsinites, from every walk of life, of every age, from every part of the state; from Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Madison, and LaCrosse – and those were only the people I chatted with.
Over the past days, I’ve seen not just handshakes between ‘politicians’ and the public, but smiles, and laughter, and hugs, shared amongst those needing to be represented and those representing us, as we work together. I’ve seen law enforcement officers put in the most difficult positions, but remaining calm, quiet, and helpful. I’ve seen people kept out of the capitol by those officers, but understanding of the position they’ve been put in, chatting with them, laughing, and even joking together. And, I’m proud: proud of the people in my state; proud of those who represent us who have shared these days and weeks with us; proud of those placed in situations that have called upon the best in them – and giving it; proud to be one of us.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Line in the Sand
Tonight without warning 18 Republican Senators voted and Wisconsin's State and Municipal employees no longer have Collective Bargaining.
Tonight, over Representative Barca's objections that not only was it against the rules, but because it violated open meeting requirements, it was illegal, the WI State Senate voted on a modified version of the 'Budget Repair Bill' that had stripped all fiscal items from it, so that a quorum would not be necessary. In doing so, our state's State and Municipal employees rights to bargain collectively have effectively been stripped.
Tomorrow morning, the State Assembly will vote on this measure (10:00 or 11:00). Even as the State Capitol is again currently being occupied by protesters, a rally against this measure has been called for 9:00 AM at the capitol. Like Michael Moore earlier tonight, I would call for any of us that can find a way to make it to be there.
We may not be able to stop the measure, but let us not go whimpering into the night that this GOP controlled legislature is bringing us into. I have heard people ask, "What next?" Ten days ago I would not have believed that our GOP representatives would so blatantly ignore everything we are saying as we throng to the capitol. Ten days ago I would not have believed that our GOP representatives would so blatantly ignore public opinion as revealed by every poll of the people here in the state as well as in the nation. As of tonight, shock and disbelief, as well as a resolute anger, seem to be the emotions many of us share. Tonight, I only half jokingly answer the question "What next?" with: 'Disbanding of the legislature and extending emergency powers to Gov. Walker."
If ever there was a day for any of us to act, tomorrow is it. We must draw a line in the sand, demonstrating that tonight's actions have far over-reached any sense of decency in legislative process. We can either show up at the capitol en masse, demonstrating our outrage, or demonstrate that whatever this GOP-controlled legislature chooses to ram down our throats, we'll 'take it'.
Tonight, over Representative Barca's objections that not only was it against the rules, but because it violated open meeting requirements, it was illegal, the WI State Senate voted on a modified version of the 'Budget Repair Bill' that had stripped all fiscal items from it, so that a quorum would not be necessary. In doing so, our state's State and Municipal employees rights to bargain collectively have effectively been stripped.
Tomorrow morning, the State Assembly will vote on this measure (10:00 or 11:00). Even as the State Capitol is again currently being occupied by protesters, a rally against this measure has been called for 9:00 AM at the capitol. Like Michael Moore earlier tonight, I would call for any of us that can find a way to make it to be there.
We may not be able to stop the measure, but let us not go whimpering into the night that this GOP controlled legislature is bringing us into. I have heard people ask, "What next?" Ten days ago I would not have believed that our GOP representatives would so blatantly ignore everything we are saying as we throng to the capitol. Ten days ago I would not have believed that our GOP representatives would so blatantly ignore public opinion as revealed by every poll of the people here in the state as well as in the nation. As of tonight, shock and disbelief, as well as a resolute anger, seem to be the emotions many of us share. Tonight, I only half jokingly answer the question "What next?" with: 'Disbanding of the legislature and extending emergency powers to Gov. Walker."
If ever there was a day for any of us to act, tomorrow is it. We must draw a line in the sand, demonstrating that tonight's actions have far over-reached any sense of decency in legislative process. We can either show up at the capitol en masse, demonstrating our outrage, or demonstrate that whatever this GOP-controlled legislature chooses to ram down our throats, we'll 'take it'.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Hide a State Senator
Some days make for more whimsical mental images than others. Tonight, I’m finding myself imagining the Senate's sergeant at arms turning over hay bales, checking up in the loft, peeking into grain bins; looking for our erstwhile state Senators. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald apparently said that at some point, if needed, Republicans will use the State Patrol to round up Democrats to bring them to the floor. So, if you see the State Patrol in hot pursuit of a Senator in your area, you might just want to think of some good hiding places for this fugitive being sought. After all, on your behalf, he or she is trying to avoid sitting in reluctant attendance on what amounts to an unprecedented assault on unions in this state.
Senate Bill 11, the bill our scattered Democratic Senators are trying to delay a vote on, would strip most government workers of their collective bargaining rights. Only wages could be bargained for – and then only to the extent that a wage increase would be limited to the cost of living unless approved by referendum. The bill would also repeal the authority of home health care workers, family child care workers, UW Hospitals and Clinics employees, and UW faculty and staff to bargain collectively entirely. Unions would need to be re-certified every year and could only collect union dues on a voluntary basis.
State employees earning middle class incomes might have 6.8 percent to 11 percent of their income just disappear overnight. As a result, a worker earning, for example, $40,000 a year today could see their earnings reduced to somewhere around $36,500 a year if this bill passes without further negotiation.
The argument has been made that state workers’ pension and health insurance contributions are out of line with those of workers in the private sector. However, what gets overlooked in this argument is that benefits constitute a larger proportion of a state worker’s compensation than they do for workers in private industry. We might want to keep in mind that it costs us less as taxpayers to compensate a state worker through benefits than it does for us to compensate that same worker through wages. The cost of benefits is generally lower than it is for wages as compensation.
This bill should be a cause of alarm for all of us. The effect of unions has been to ‘set’ the standard for wages, benefits, and working conditions – a standard that affects the prevailing wage, benefit package, and working conditions for all workers. If our state employees’ unions get eviscerated, the stage gets set for other unions to come under assault next. If this bill passes, it will be a roughly 9% reduction in earnings for state workers now, but a similar reduction will likely be coming to a house near you in the not too distant future.
References
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/source-wis-dem-state-senators-walk-out-blocking-budget-quorum.php
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/JR1SB-11.pdf
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/day-doesnt-go-as-planned-for-state-senate
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_3d93e6aa-363a-11e0-8493-001cc4c002e0.html
Senate Bill 11, the bill our scattered Democratic Senators are trying to delay a vote on, would strip most government workers of their collective bargaining rights. Only wages could be bargained for – and then only to the extent that a wage increase would be limited to the cost of living unless approved by referendum. The bill would also repeal the authority of home health care workers, family child care workers, UW Hospitals and Clinics employees, and UW faculty and staff to bargain collectively entirely. Unions would need to be re-certified every year and could only collect union dues on a voluntary basis.
State employees earning middle class incomes might have 6.8 percent to 11 percent of their income just disappear overnight. As a result, a worker earning, for example, $40,000 a year today could see their earnings reduced to somewhere around $36,500 a year if this bill passes without further negotiation.
The argument has been made that state workers’ pension and health insurance contributions are out of line with those of workers in the private sector. However, what gets overlooked in this argument is that benefits constitute a larger proportion of a state worker’s compensation than they do for workers in private industry. We might want to keep in mind that it costs us less as taxpayers to compensate a state worker through benefits than it does for us to compensate that same worker through wages. The cost of benefits is generally lower than it is for wages as compensation.
This bill should be a cause of alarm for all of us. The effect of unions has been to ‘set’ the standard for wages, benefits, and working conditions – a standard that affects the prevailing wage, benefit package, and working conditions for all workers. If our state employees’ unions get eviscerated, the stage gets set for other unions to come under assault next. If this bill passes, it will be a roughly 9% reduction in earnings for state workers now, but a similar reduction will likely be coming to a house near you in the not too distant future.
References
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/source-wis-dem-state-senators-walk-out-blocking-budget-quorum.php
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/JR1SB-11.pdf
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/day-doesnt-go-as-planned-for-state-senate
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_3d93e6aa-363a-11e0-8493-001cc4c002e0.html
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Jottings from a Reading of an Article
I haven't sat on the hay bale in a while: been too busy in preparing for the cold to come and thinking I couldn't take the time to sit and chew on some alfalfa until I addressed some other issues in my life. But, some moments just speak out of turn...
Had an old friend recommend 'all of us' read and pass on an article that she brought to our attention. Ended up jotting down some things... The article? Bill Moyers: Howard Zinn Taught Us That It's OK If We Face Mission Impossible:
Some jottings that were prompted by it:
As much as I may dislike the idea, the Tea Party, as a cultural concept, did demonstrate Zinn’s sense that it’s the one seemingly random action that can cascade into effective change, but I have to wonder; have wondered for decades: is it only so far? Is the inexorable weight of a glacier’s movement the firm control of plutocracy that finds a securely sustainable balance?
Are even somewhat progressive representatives, those of them truly in power, essentially selling us moves to support plutocracy in the guise of addressing our needs? The Fed just opted to spend over 600 billion over the next nine months to buy US Treasuries, purportedly to stimulate job growth through making more money available for investment. Yet, without either expanding foreign markets for goods and services, or more money in the pockets of consumers, to spur demand for those goods and services, what business in their right mind would hire, instead of invest? So, the money literally created will likely go into the coffers of Wall St.
Another idea that’s kind of been kicking about in my mind for decades: keeping us masses in a state where we don’t overturn the bucket. Zinn points out that those civilizations’ elites that allowed too large a disparity to emerge between the elite and the masses inevitably fell. If one fails to learn from history, one falls prey to it. A sudden shudder down my back: what if this time the elite not only learns from history, but learns to find and maintain the exact balance of how far they can go (including employing mis-communication techniques) while still keeping the masses just either satisfied enough (or scared enough, i.e. ‘Shock Syndrome’ and I think the ‘Great Recession’ qualifies as just such a crisis) to not reach a critical mass?
Yet, Zinn is also right in having us not tie action to an expectation of success. Call it what you will: ‘controlled folly’ or ‘rolling the rock up the hill’; there’s really no choice. Or, there is, but I rather doubt any of us want to experience its consequences.
Had an old friend recommend 'all of us' read and pass on an article that she brought to our attention. Ended up jotting down some things... The article? Bill Moyers: Howard Zinn Taught Us That It's OK If We Face Mission Impossible:
Some jottings that were prompted by it:
As much as I may dislike the idea, the Tea Party, as a cultural concept, did demonstrate Zinn’s sense that it’s the one seemingly random action that can cascade into effective change, but I have to wonder; have wondered for decades: is it only so far? Is the inexorable weight of a glacier’s movement the firm control of plutocracy that finds a securely sustainable balance?
Are even somewhat progressive representatives, those of them truly in power, essentially selling us moves to support plutocracy in the guise of addressing our needs? The Fed just opted to spend over 600 billion over the next nine months to buy US Treasuries, purportedly to stimulate job growth through making more money available for investment. Yet, without either expanding foreign markets for goods and services, or more money in the pockets of consumers, to spur demand for those goods and services, what business in their right mind would hire, instead of invest? So, the money literally created will likely go into the coffers of Wall St.
Another idea that’s kind of been kicking about in my mind for decades: keeping us masses in a state where we don’t overturn the bucket. Zinn points out that those civilizations’ elites that allowed too large a disparity to emerge between the elite and the masses inevitably fell. If one fails to learn from history, one falls prey to it. A sudden shudder down my back: what if this time the elite not only learns from history, but learns to find and maintain the exact balance of how far they can go (including employing mis-communication techniques) while still keeping the masses just either satisfied enough (or scared enough, i.e. ‘Shock Syndrome’ and I think the ‘Great Recession’ qualifies as just such a crisis) to not reach a critical mass?
Yet, Zinn is also right in having us not tie action to an expectation of success. Call it what you will: ‘controlled folly’ or ‘rolling the rock up the hill’; there’s really no choice. Or, there is, but I rather doubt any of us want to experience its consequences.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Our Commutes - Not Made in the USA
For much of my life, especially in the early 80s, buying American was regarded as the ‘patriotic’ thing to do; the thing to do to keep my neighbors employed. I wonder then about the wisdom of continuing to rely upon a resource that we largely have to import – oil, especially when one in five barrels of the oil that we so rely upon comes from countries that the State Department considers to be dangerous or unstable. We might concerned that the primary oil sources of Mexico, the 2nd leading source of our imported oil, will be depleted before the end of this decade.
We may consider buying American, but we’re certainly not driving American. Gasoline, which basically means cars, makes up 45% of our oil consumption. It could be said that our freeways are the arteries along which this gasoline flows, but it is not likely to continue to flow unimpeded. The US military has said that there could be serious oil shortages within the next five years.
I have to wonder then, why are we so adamant about not adopting and investing in mass transit systems, much as we did not so long ago in our interstate highways system, electrical infrastructure and phone systems? Are we so overly fond of our daily commutes, with their congestion and road rage, difficulties in finding parking, and increasing need to multi-task while we drive in order to gain back some of the time we spend on our commutes?
Even our current attempts to relieve congestion are at the cost of massive highway projects that, ironically, in the short term lead to increased congestion while those highways are under construction. And in the long term, it’s only a matter of time before those massive projects allow urban sprawl to creep farther afield and, come right back to our experiencing even more congestion.
My own city, Waukesha, is currently trying to decide what route an over $50 million dollar bypass project should take along the west side of the city. Any of the routes will essentially redefine the area. And I wonder: how many years before the city has crept out beyond those routes and more highway construction will again be needed to reduce congestion? Do any of us really believe that the projects being considered in our communities will lead to a final end to congestion? If we think about it, what do we really expect the areas around our cities to look like 10-15 years from now if we don’t take a different approach?
My own daily ordeal runs along what, from 1890 until shortly before I was born, was both the first and last route run by an electric streetcar in Milwaukee – Wells St on one end and at the other end, what are now separate cities largely only in name: Wauwatosa, Elm Grove, Brookfield, and Waukesha. Back when we were electrifying our rural areas and before we began construction of our interstate system, I could have taken an interurban train.
My own area does have a downtown trolley loop. There is a plan to build roughly a 3-mile long electric streetcar system that would connect the downtown area with much of the mid-town and eastern shore areas, but the funding for that system is still largely up in the air. The Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail system recently received the funding it needs to improve the rail bed and traffic signals along the existing rail along which it would run. And, as most of us know, the high speed train system that would connect Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison has been awarded the funding it would need to be built, but given the opposition to it, may never be built, even though doing so would create over 9,500 permanent jobs, here in Wisconsin.
I find myself wondering: can we demonstrate the foresight and commitment to build the infrastructure required to meet the challenges of our era? Our parent’s and grandparents’ generations did. Will we? Or will we, in just a few short years find ourselves facing oil shortages, increasingly high gasoline costs – and still be years away from having built the infrastructure required to give us alternatives?
References
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/11/peak-oil-production-supply
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/04/oil_quench.html
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/100726/top-7-us-oil-importers
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/oil_market_basics/demand_text.htm
http://www.trainweb.org/twerhs/tmerl.html
http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/44788327.html
http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2009/04/19/milwaukee-streetcar-round-up/
http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2010/05/06/milwaukee-streetcar-takes-key-step-forward/
http://www.transitnow.org/project-status.html
http://dailyreporter.com/blog/2010/09/09/communities-pick-up-transportation-project-awards/
http://www.wispirg.org/issues/transportation/connecting-wisconsin-with-high-speed-rail
We may consider buying American, but we’re certainly not driving American. Gasoline, which basically means cars, makes up 45% of our oil consumption. It could be said that our freeways are the arteries along which this gasoline flows, but it is not likely to continue to flow unimpeded. The US military has said that there could be serious oil shortages within the next five years.
I have to wonder then, why are we so adamant about not adopting and investing in mass transit systems, much as we did not so long ago in our interstate highways system, electrical infrastructure and phone systems? Are we so overly fond of our daily commutes, with their congestion and road rage, difficulties in finding parking, and increasing need to multi-task while we drive in order to gain back some of the time we spend on our commutes?
Even our current attempts to relieve congestion are at the cost of massive highway projects that, ironically, in the short term lead to increased congestion while those highways are under construction. And in the long term, it’s only a matter of time before those massive projects allow urban sprawl to creep farther afield and, come right back to our experiencing even more congestion.
My own city, Waukesha, is currently trying to decide what route an over $50 million dollar bypass project should take along the west side of the city. Any of the routes will essentially redefine the area. And I wonder: how many years before the city has crept out beyond those routes and more highway construction will again be needed to reduce congestion? Do any of us really believe that the projects being considered in our communities will lead to a final end to congestion? If we think about it, what do we really expect the areas around our cities to look like 10-15 years from now if we don’t take a different approach?
My own daily ordeal runs along what, from 1890 until shortly before I was born, was both the first and last route run by an electric streetcar in Milwaukee – Wells St on one end and at the other end, what are now separate cities largely only in name: Wauwatosa, Elm Grove, Brookfield, and Waukesha. Back when we were electrifying our rural areas and before we began construction of our interstate system, I could have taken an interurban train.
My own area does have a downtown trolley loop. There is a plan to build roughly a 3-mile long electric streetcar system that would connect the downtown area with much of the mid-town and eastern shore areas, but the funding for that system is still largely up in the air. The Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail system recently received the funding it needs to improve the rail bed and traffic signals along the existing rail along which it would run. And, as most of us know, the high speed train system that would connect Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison has been awarded the funding it would need to be built, but given the opposition to it, may never be built, even though doing so would create over 9,500 permanent jobs, here in Wisconsin.
I find myself wondering: can we demonstrate the foresight and commitment to build the infrastructure required to meet the challenges of our era? Our parent’s and grandparents’ generations did. Will we? Or will we, in just a few short years find ourselves facing oil shortages, increasingly high gasoline costs – and still be years away from having built the infrastructure required to give us alternatives?
References
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/11/peak-oil-production-supply
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/04/oil_quench.html
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/100726/top-7-us-oil-importers
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/oil_market_basics/demand_text.htm
http://www.trainweb.org/twerhs/tmerl.html
http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/44788327.html
http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2009/04/19/milwaukee-streetcar-round-up/
http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2010/05/06/milwaukee-streetcar-takes-key-step-forward/
http://www.transitnow.org/project-status.html
http://dailyreporter.com/blog/2010/09/09/communities-pick-up-transportation-project-awards/
http://www.wispirg.org/issues/transportation/connecting-wisconsin-with-high-speed-rail
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Red Barns to Road Rage
While I was licking on popsicles in the local grocery, the construction of the interstate system in Wisconsin was well underway. Years before I had a driver’s license, more than three-fourths of the state’s interstate system had been built. Nowadays, as I cross the first section of the interstate to be constructed, back in 1956 (between Goerke’s Corners and CTH-SS in Waukesha County), and continue on to work, I wonder about those days....
Two years before construction was begun on the first stretch of the interstate in Wisconsin, President Eisenhower made it clear that it was important to “protect the vital interest of every citizen in a safe and adequate highway system." The resulting Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, opposed in the Senate by only one Senator from Louisiana, who opposed the gas tax increase included in the bill, ended up costing $114 billion (adjusted for inflation, $425 billion in 2006 dollars) and as we are well aware, maintaining that system has become increasingly difficult.
Not included in that cost, however, was the twinned dynamic of urban sprawl and the decline of our cities, as they sustained losses in tax revenues and experienced increasing stratification. Also not included in that cost was the’ undercutting’ of our mass transit systems. Not included in that cost was the need to engage in a never-ending cycle of easing congestion, only to find ourselves ever more congested as we continue sprawling outward.
For example, a new bypass along the CTH-SS corridor in Waukesha County is being considered as one proposal for connecting I-90 and Hwy 59 along the west side of the city of Waukesha. What we seem not to realize is that for every bypass we build to ease traffic congestion, we eventually increase traffic congestion as more motorists commute to other suburbs and city centers from farther and farther afield.
The senator from Louisiana might not recognize our countryside or our cities, however he would feel right at home resisting funding mass transit systems, especially inner city mass transit systems, with user fees and what could be called, ‘decongestion’ fees, such as an increased gasoline tax and taxes on tire and equipment sales.
President Eisenhower might well bemoan what he would see now. Years before becoming a proponent of the interstate highway system, while on the US Army’s first transcontinental motor convoy, the not yet President Eisenhower “experienced all the woes known to motorists and then some – an endless series of mechanical difficulties, vehicles stuck in the mud or sand; trucks and other equipment crashing through wooden bridges; roads as slippery as ice or dusty or the consistency of ‘gumbo’….”
The irony is, that even as our suburbs blend more and more into each other and the remaining red barns are giving way to named developments, those of us commuting from the suburbs are finding more and more of our day spent dealing with the ‘woes of being motorists,’ with ‘it’s a parking lot’ and road rage replacing mud, sand, wooden bridges, and roads the consistency of ‘gumbo’.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System
http://www.wisconsinhighways.org/interstates.html
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/transportation/a_highway.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406400461.html
http://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/federal-aid-highway-act/
Two years before construction was begun on the first stretch of the interstate in Wisconsin, President Eisenhower made it clear that it was important to “protect the vital interest of every citizen in a safe and adequate highway system." The resulting Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, opposed in the Senate by only one Senator from Louisiana, who opposed the gas tax increase included in the bill, ended up costing $114 billion (adjusted for inflation, $425 billion in 2006 dollars) and as we are well aware, maintaining that system has become increasingly difficult.
Not included in that cost, however, was the twinned dynamic of urban sprawl and the decline of our cities, as they sustained losses in tax revenues and experienced increasing stratification. Also not included in that cost was the’ undercutting’ of our mass transit systems. Not included in that cost was the need to engage in a never-ending cycle of easing congestion, only to find ourselves ever more congested as we continue sprawling outward.
For example, a new bypass along the CTH-SS corridor in Waukesha County is being considered as one proposal for connecting I-90 and Hwy 59 along the west side of the city of Waukesha. What we seem not to realize is that for every bypass we build to ease traffic congestion, we eventually increase traffic congestion as more motorists commute to other suburbs and city centers from farther and farther afield.
The senator from Louisiana might not recognize our countryside or our cities, however he would feel right at home resisting funding mass transit systems, especially inner city mass transit systems, with user fees and what could be called, ‘decongestion’ fees, such as an increased gasoline tax and taxes on tire and equipment sales.
President Eisenhower might well bemoan what he would see now. Years before becoming a proponent of the interstate highway system, while on the US Army’s first transcontinental motor convoy, the not yet President Eisenhower “experienced all the woes known to motorists and then some – an endless series of mechanical difficulties, vehicles stuck in the mud or sand; trucks and other equipment crashing through wooden bridges; roads as slippery as ice or dusty or the consistency of ‘gumbo’….”
The irony is, that even as our suburbs blend more and more into each other and the remaining red barns are giving way to named developments, those of us commuting from the suburbs are finding more and more of our day spent dealing with the ‘woes of being motorists,’ with ‘it’s a parking lot’ and road rage replacing mud, sand, wooden bridges, and roads the consistency of ‘gumbo’.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System
http://www.wisconsinhighways.org/interstates.html
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/transportation/a_highway.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406400461.html
http://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/federal-aid-highway-act/
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