Don's Tuesday Column

THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson  Red Bluff Daily News   5/26/2015

Tribute to fallen; spending charades

We all give some reflection and well-deserved recognition to the fallen who served in America’s military—the Coast Guard, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Army (the order in the medley of service songs performed at the Capitol Memorial Day commemoration). I doubt that there was a dry eye during this year’s PBS broadcast or among those in attendance. The anecdotes that described the losses to spouses, families and their comrades-in-arms, and the struggles of those who survived while enduring physical, emotional or mental injuries and trauma, were at times incomprehensible for those of us never in uniform.

All of us have lost loved ones in the natural course of aging and decline. However, the sacrifices and endurance displayed by those who remain after the untimely loss of parents or beloved spouses who’ve given their last full measure serving America in wartime—is both overwhelming and inspirational to us all. Rest in peace; carry on in faithfulness.

I’ll turn now to an issue that’s becoming the go-to rhetorical cudgel wielded by those for whom all of America’s ills cry out for more government spending: infrastructure. It makes shameless political sense when the prior rallying cry, “for the children,” only covers the myriad of situations that affect, well, children. It’s a bit of a stretch to try to roll the legitimate need to repair (and even build new) roads, bridges, water systems, trains and airports into another arm of the children’s crusade by big-government liberals. Hence, big-spending Democrats must adapt.

The knee-jerk call for more “infrastructure spending,” and the castigation of supposedly stingy Republicans (the same ones mythically depriving the nation’s children of their food and health care), gets blurted out to awaiting cameras and microphones. Yet another broken pipe, poorly maintained train track, an endless supply of cracked, pot-holed roads or worn airport runways helps the cause if a budget bill is working its way through Congress. Who cares if the money devoted to infrastructure in past budgets has been wisely and efficiently spent?

Who cares, or dares, to point out that, under Democrat rule in all branches of Washington, a trillion dollar “stimulus” bill (including interest on the debt) sailed through Congress with feigned emphasis on “shovel ready” projects? Who needs to remember that no actual budgets have been written for years as spending went forward (and always up), on baseline autopilot lacking genuine Republican resistance? Who has the temerity to point out that, aside from actual federal highways and bridges, most of such “infrastructure spending” is the responsibility of each state?

Will anyone remind voters that, due to the Davis-Bacon Act, the “prevailing wage” is based on bloated union compensation in each state, mandated by the government? It was passed in 1931 as part of President Roosevelt’s futile effort to boost Americans’ wages by keeping the cost of labor high. The taxes paid and used for infrastructure projects could, if bidding were opened up to non-union contractors, build much more for the same competitive bid.

Finally, does anyone notice that, after finding out that the Amtrak train wreck in Philadelphia was due solely to excessive speed by the engineer, Amtrak has had all the money its advocates have wanted for years? Its own internal incompetence is to blame for not wisely spending money to implement the speed control technology that would have prevented that same crash. Will any impertinent reporters remind Democrat hacks the next time the issue comes up that they shamelessly used the deaths and injuries from a preventable train wreck to shill for more government spending? Train wrecks or not, it’s always more spending.

Anyone doubting the hypocritical charade of Democrats pandering for more infrastructure spending, while pointing accusing fingers at Republicans--You have only to look at how Democrats manage a bloated budget and infrastructure spending when they have complete control and no effective Republican opposition—that would be the case in California, folks. I refer readers to (searchable by title) “Blue State Blues: California Dems skimp on infrastructure to pay unions, illegals,” by Joel B. Pollak (May 20, Breitbart Big Government). You can find excerpts and additional thoughts at Powerlineblog.com, in “Blue-State Infrastructure” by John Hinderaker.

California has some of the highest per-pupil spending on schools, the nation’s highest taxes, the most onerous regulations, highest energy costs and, by coincidence, I’m sure, the nation’s worst business climate. Also, anyone who has driven around the more populated areas to the south soon learns, as did Mr. Hinderaker upon visiting Southern California, that “we were appalled by the third-world condition of California’s roads and highways…not just decrepit and pocked with potholes, they are dangerous…(needing billions to bring) related infrastructure up to South Dakota’s level.”

Brown and Democrats claim their budget is short on money for roads, and yet “There is money for a high-speed rail system that no one will ride. There is money for tuition for illegal aliens at state universities. There is money for the public sector unions that control state politics.” It’s easy to cast it in Democrat terms and ask how many people will die needlessly while money is spent elsewhere than making roads and infrastructure safe and ready for businesses to thrive.

California’s poverty, unemployment, illegal immigration and business problems will only be solved by economic growth—impossible to stimulate under current Democrat tax and regulatory conditions. It’s called a self-imposed vicious cycle.