One For the Kids

A Bridge Too Far

Stumler says he wants to run an issues-oriented campaign. One of the issues he’s concerned with is the Ohio River Bridges Project. He says he supports current efforts to make the project smaller and less expensive, but thinks they should go further.“

I would kind of like to, say, hold off on the downtown bridge. Maybe redo part of Spaghetti Junction to make it more drivable, less problems,” he says. “I just don’t know if we should burden ourselves with that much money. It probably, for sure, in the future will be needed. But maybe we should build it and pay for it when it’s needed.” (emphasis in both instances added)

--Newly minted Democratic Mayoral Candidate Irv Stumler, as quoted by WFPL's Gabe Bullard at yesterday's coming out party.

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Those are welcome words as the imbroglio over the Bridges Project enters a new phase. ALL local governments have spoken against the concept of tolling existing bridges as a means of funding the bloated Two Bridges Plan which occupies center stage in the debate.

The larger question is one which Mr. Stumler's answer suggests, "What is the preferred shape of our regional transportation plan, of our footprint on the regional environment for now and for countless years in the future?"

Tolls are a monetary inconvenience and a threat to today's businesses which hope to thrive in a regional economy. By questioning the very need of a Downtown Bridge, Irv Stumler broadens the debate to look at the environmental impact of a second bridge. Taking tolls off the table is a huge step, but it is only the first step, and a small one at that, in right-sizing this over-inflated boondoggle.

Not only will the Downtown Bridge take a scythe to our neighbor's (Jeffersonville) thriving, though-still-nascent riverfront renaissance (please excuse the alliteration). It will also place us regionally on a path which is at odds with responsible environmental stewardship. To look for other paths, as Mr. Stumler has done, is to glimpse the better way for a 21st Century metropolitan area thirsting for cohesion and its attendant benefits.

If the default position is not obeisance to automobile commuting, it must be something else. And that something else is, hopefully, a modern incarnation of the long lost interurban system which thrived (throve is correct but a tad pedantic) here in the pre-war era. The reason this throwback transportation model is, in fact, forward-looking can be summed up in two words--River Ridge. That goose along the Ohio and Highway 62 is perched upon a nest and ready to lay dozens of golden eggs. Those eggs will best be accessed by rail for freight and while we're at it, why not upgrade to a commuter service which can responsibly and efficiently transport workers to the sprawling facility? Such a model of efficient transportation, rational planning, and environmental responsibility, is one step we can take regionally to differentiate our community from the many other communities also hoping to grow their economy. Mr. Stumler's challenge, as stated in the phrase,"we should go further" claims the high ground in this debate.

I'm not a student of military campaigns, but I think a tenet of that school would be to hold the high ground when once you have occupied it. Thank you, Irv Stumler.

Something related to what Mr. Stumler has done is alluded to in an article by author Bill McKibben. In the article reprinted on Truthout, McKibben talks about the intrinsic value of The Commons, that's what Woody Guthrie referred to when he sang, "This land is your land..."

Irv Stumler's comments about the inappropriate Two Bridge plan came to mind when I read McKibben's words,


These things we share are called commons, which simply means they belong to all of us. Commons can be gifts of nature—such as fresh water, wilderness and the airwaves—or the products of social ingenuity like the Internet, parks, artistic traditions, or the public health service. But today much of our common wealth is under threat from those hungry to ruin it or take it over for selfish, private purposes. (emphasis added)

Stumler rightly sees the threat to the commons which the Two Bridge plan represents. I welcome Irv Stumler into the political arena and wholeheartedly pledge to help him fulfill his pledge to stop the Downtown Bridge.

A Winter's Tail(feather)

Upon walking out the porch door to get some firewood this evening I received an amazing Christmas gift. It may not be a grand rarity, but I took some reassurance that this creature had found a way to make peace with our encroachment on its habitat. A Great Horned Owl, or so I've deduced from information on the internets, split the winter night with its eerie call.

So that makes for me, a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Truly

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Just Outside My Bailiwick

President Obama has become afflicted with premature capitulation. While his avowed enemies within the ascendant G.O.P. seem intent on a Bush restoration of sorts. The supine executive has agreed to a continuation of the Bush tax cuts, in a deal short on benefits for the middle class, while adding to the mountain of debt the Republicans claim to abhor. That party's abhorrence attends when the debt helps the lower classes, it ends when it helps the upper class.

Since the President made a bad deal, I figure he was simply lacking the perspective of City Council members from cities around the country. As most people recognize, the nation's City Councils are the great repository of deep economic and political theory. So, hearing the call of duty once again, here goes my plan to pull the president's Nusse out of the fire.

I respectfully suggest that someone within the Democratic leadership should offer a proposal containing the following basic elements:

A:

Taxpayers earning below $250,000 will keep 90% of their current tax cut. These taxpayers would lose 10% of their current tax cuts.

The "average" taxpayer, according to the President, would see their taxes increase by $3,000 if the entire tax cut expired, therefore, if they kept 90% of the cut their taxes would increase just $300 (three hundred) per year.

Every penny of this increased tax revenue would be dedicated to deficit or debt reduction.

B:

Taxpayers earning between $250,000 and $1,000,000 would keep 50% of their current tax cuts. A person in this bracket earning $625,000 per year would see their taxes increase by about $11,000 per year. Those fortunate enough to earn a million dollars would see an increase of about $22,500 per year.

Half of the increased revenue from these increased payments would be dedicated to deficit or debt reduction. The other half would go toward funding infrastructure improvements.

C:

Those earning above $1,000,000 would see their tax rates revert to the rates in effect before the Bush tax cuts--an increase from 35% up to 39.6%

Half of this increased revenue would go to deficit or debt reduction and the other half would go toward funding infrastructure improvements.

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All segments of the population would share in the sacrifice needed to get our fiscal affairs in order. All segments of the population would benefit from a revitalized infrastructure.

The unemployed would be put to work in all phases of the gargantuan task of getting our infrastructure up to par and up to date. The improvements would include a viable, 21st Century rail passenger and freight system worthy of a First World power, highway improvements, public park restoration, power grid improvements, urban revitalization, seashore cleanup and buffering, removal of tinder from forests which fuel dangerous forest fires. The list is practically endless and the needs are great.

Work which focuses on such basic improvement of our nation pays immediate dividends because it is work which must be performed in this country, by this country's workers, many of which are currently unemployed or under-employed. The components of these improvements should and must be domestically produced. This could be the engine which drives a long term and sustainable recovery and a sustainable economy.

It makes more sense than padding the bank accounts of the wealthy.

Might that be hard for Republicans to vote against, Mr. President?

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