The thing that really pisses me off about the whole thing with the MN bridge collapse — the thing that nobody is standing up and pointing out — is this:
This is what happens after 25+ years of Conservatives successfully managing to spread the meme that “Big Government” and Taxes are OMG TEH WORST THING EVAR. They’ve convinced the American sheeple that ANY taxes, ANY government spending, is somehow suspect.
Maintaining the national infrastructure is EXACTLY what taxes are for, people. That’s precisely what the government is supposed to do. But no, after two decades of harping the point constantly, the Conservatives have managed to create an environment where anyone pointing out that we need to raise taxes to pay for this stuff is committing political suicide.
I saw on the news this weekend the next inevitable step: Some Conservative Talking Head floating the idea that everything would be better if we privatized the highway system.
It’ll happen, folks. Mark my words. Every Interstate in this country will become a for-profit toll road, in the name of “fixing what government can’t.”
Just wait.