Today's D&C has a roundup of area politicians talking about next year's projects and legislation.
Eric Massa mentions a few projects he'd like to see, including an east-side water project in Rochester, high-speed rail, more broadband, and a better Irondequoit Bay bridge.
With the incoming Obama administration promising a $650-850 billion infrastructure package, Massa will be in the position of doling out billions of dollars of government money in the next couple of years. Forget about a few million dollars in earmarks -- federal infrastructure spending in the next couple of years is going to dwarf anything seen since the Great Depression.
Comments
Maybe we'll finally get the Campbell to Jasper high speed rail line that we've been waiting for!
Right, and I'd do a lot more shopping in Jasper if I didn't have to drive from Hammondsport.
Seriously, I don't see Massa controlling that much money. If he does, then imagine how much pork is available to more senior members. What is needed is a concerted , targeted effort to get us off imported oil, into clean and sustainable energy and a healthcare system that's available to all at prices that everyone can afford. If the Obama administration isn't able to coordinate such an effort and get congress on board, we may as well pack it in.
A high speed train from Montreal to Miami would be neat though. Especially if the cars were built in the Southern Tier.
BTW:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/world/europe/27house.html?em
Jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/jobs/14starts.html?scp=7&sq=solar&st=cse
Potential local jobs. Imagine NY state factory-built passive homes, windows, heat exchangers.
I agree that it's overly simplistic to simply divide the size of the stimulus package by the number of Congressional Districts, but some amount approaching $1 billion is not unrealistic when $800 billion is getting thrown around. The danger with that much money being flushed into the system so quickly is, as you say, "pork", and lots of it, instead of useful projects being approved.
I agree that this is a tremendous opportunity to wean ourselves from foreign oil, and to leverage the great R&D and construction capacity of our country.
LOL---Campbell to Jasper high-speed rail....LONG OVERDUE!