Memo to White House: Bridge Failure Determined to Strike in U.S.

[babylonsister]

http://www.attytood.com/2007/08/memo_bridge_failure_determined.html

Memo to White House: Bridge Failure Determined to Strike in U.S.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday proposed deep cuts to federal healthcare, education, and transportation programs, searching for new money in the federal budget to pay for increasingly costly defense programs and the war in Iraq.

-- Boston Globe, Feb. 6, 2007.

snip//


A 2005 federal study found that the bridge was "structurally deficient."

"A structurally deficient bridge might be one not adequate for the traffic it takes, but not necessarily dangerous," Burnett said. "But a lot of structurally deficient bridges are dangerous."

Burnett said he believed it would be the state's responsibility to check on the bridge in light of those reports. But he conceded that there could be a federal role and an issue of whether fed standards are adequate.

-- Scripps News, Aug. 2, 2007.


That would be Jim Burnett, former chairman of the National Transporatation Safety Board, who -- in what some might find as an irony -- happened to be in Minneapolis for a meeting of the Republican National Committee.

The story today is an awful tragedy -- my heart goes out to the people of Minneapolis. But the story in the days ahead will be the spending priorities of two "cost-cutters," Bush (who didn't cut costs, but is in the process of shifting $1 billion to Iraq) and Minneapolis Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Hopefully there will be some lessons learned here.

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Most excellently worded. K&R. nt