The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
Proposed budget cuts make for some strange bedfellows. From Greg Sargent's great column in the WaPo:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO -- two powerful players that are often at each other's throats -- are considering teaming up for a campaign against the House GOP's planned cuts to infrastructure spending, spokespeople for both groups tell me.
The two groups rarely agree on anything, and frequently target each other in the harshest of terms, but one thing they agree on is that they don't want the House GOP to make good on its threat to subject highway and mass-transit programs to budget cuts. GOP leaders announced earlier this week that such cuts could not be taken off the table in the quest to slice up to $100 billion in spending.
There are two ways to look at this, of course. The first: anything that both the Chamber and the AFL-CIO are against is probably a bad idea. The second: anything that both the Chamber and the AFL-CIO are against is probably a fantastic idea.
I lean to the latter.
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Aug '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
Unfortunately, my experience with Chambers of Commerce teaches me that Chambers are all too happy to spend other people's (tax) money when it benefits their constituencies. I think you are leaning in the right direction.
Jun '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
As much as I appreciate the need for infrastructure upgrades, especially with our national electrical grid and our many bridges that are a part of our Federal highway system, we left these "dogs" at the gate when we spent a trillion dollars of "stimulus" money on political favors rather than infrastructure over the past two years. Now that we have wasted, or nearly wasted a staggering amount of money, our first job is to balance our expenses with our revenues. One doesn't remodel their house when one cannot pay the electrical or gas bill. I can understand the AFL-CIO not recognizing this reality. They simply do not care. But I would certainly expect an organization representing business (to which I belong and pay dues) would behave like adults with an understanding of our priorities as a nation. I guess I was wrong.
Sep '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
Two dinosaurs that have not died out completely, but are becoming irrelevant. While cutting spending, including infrastructure is OK the sums being discussed are paltry. Why is no one in the GOP advocating for the sale of the interstate highway system. With easy pass technology it is now possible to charge for usage making for a viable business model. Private industry would do a much better job of maintaining their capital investment than the government ever would do and politicians would be deprived of the “infrastructure dollars” to pass out as political patronage. Maybe I just gave the reason no one is discussing this.
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
That's a pretty solid idea, Liberal Jim. And I have no idea why it's not out there, especially, as you point out, because innovations like EZ Pass make it so, well, EZ to track and charge users. I know that several governors -- Mitch Daniels, especially -- are experimenting with ideas like this. My hunch is that all of these kinds of advances will start at the state level.
Jul '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
Do not expect the special interests to willingly recognize the dire straits the 111th has pushed us to. If our public culture recognized some stodgy thrift virtue we would not be dancing at the edge of the abyss already (picture, Obama in a tutu and ballet slippers dancing en point at the edge) while Europe collapses in stages.
Absolutely we should be drawing up the next generation power grid right now. State of the art 1950 is plain reckless and very fragile. It may be ten years before we can afford to execute it. Or the first pieces may come before, in the small, to shore up military assets. Projects have long lead times in government, especially when they affect nearly every household and business. (Unless we're talking Health Care Reform, of course.)
Jul '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
I love the EZ-pass concept in principle, in practice in the DC area they couldn't get their accounting right, so rather than eat $100+ a year in their accounting incompetence now I settle for the cash toll approach. Works better from a privacy point of view, too. Delaware has gone way down this road, so to speak.
Edited on Jan 7, 2011 at 7:16amSep '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
I think it is the "EZ to track" part that creeps out a lot of people. Now I don't see the bar code on your windshield as the sign of the beast, but then I don't want my travel patterns to be part of the public record either.
Anyway, I would support pay-for-use roads but only if that meant a repeal of the gas tax.
Sep '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
EZ pass in the hands of private for profit companies would be measurably improved and no big brother threat. Info would only be made available with a warrant I assume. If you think with current cell phone technology and GSP automobile features your whereabouts cannot be ascertained easily you’re misinformed. Government run EZ pass of course is going to be no more efficient than the Post Office. Remove the profit motive and you remove the incentive for efficiency. Government is primarily involved in paper pushing; with the advances in computer technology one would have expected the government to shrink instead the exact opposite has occurred. GOP maintains a big government paradigm and their current proposals reflect this.
Jul '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
The Chamber of Commerce is, make no mistake, a conglomerate of rent-seekers.
Dec '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
Exactly! So why does it seem strange that they would team up with another gang of rent seekers like the AFL-CIO? Big Business + Big Labor + Big Government = Crony Capitalism.
May '10
Re: The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce Finally Agree! More Federal Spending!
That said, there is nothing wrong with applying the gas tax proceeds to roads. But not to mass transit, and not in amounts that exceed gas tax revenues.
I don't want to see special purpose consumption levies like this turned into general revenue slush funds.