MooPig Report from the Middle :: "Infrastructure"

Report Card for Texas Infrastructure 2008 / 2012, a dismal "C"
Retrieved by Pat Darnell and Assid Reflux  |  Mar 19, 2013  |  Bryan TX

Every 4 years, the American Society of Civil Engineers releases a Report Card for America’s Infrastructure that depicts the condition and performance of the nation’s infrastructure in the familiar form of a school report card by assigning letter grades to each type of infrastructure.

PART ONE: Local, Texas
There are twelve categories in America's report card:

1. Schools
2. Drinking Water
3. Waste Water
4. Dams
5. Solid Waste
6. Navigable Water Ways
7. Roads
8. Bridges
9. Aviation
10. Transit
11. Flood Control
12. Energy

Focusing on the report card for Texas, let's pick on one tiny part of this assessment, Modernizing Our Schools:  per National Education Association (NEA), Texas has a "D-" for Schools, which has not improved from 2008.

" ... From 2000 – 2010, the population of Texas grew 20.6% according to the U.S. Census. In 2010, 19.5% of the population in Texas was school age, a percentage that has remained relatively constant. These figures indicate a current increase in school populations of just about two percent per year. Texas enrollment is the fastest growing for the 15 most populous states over the last decade. ... "

Compare to a 50-state estimate of the need for school modernization in the United States along with recommendations: Key findings show the total funding needed for public school modernization is $321.9 billion, and that total funding needed for public modernization varies dramatically across states, ranging from $50.7 billion (New York) to $333 million (Vermont).

Texas spends just $8,908 per student each year, which is well under the national average of $11,463, according to the National Education Association. Per student annual spending dropped $500 after the Perry education budget was approved by lawmakers.

" ... In Texas, the gain in jobs from 2009 to 2011 has been a loss for the Texan student. During those same three years average spending per enrolled student declined 10.4%, while nationwide, the same measure increased 3.7 % over the same period, according to the Dallas News. ( Alex Rogers. Feb 05, 2013. LINK) ... "

" ... The conservatives of the Texas legislature are about to try again to fool the state's taxpayers into funding private schools with a voucher program. The Republican argument, which falls apart under scrutiny, has been that no child should be condemned to attend a failing public school. No conservative wants to talk about why the public school system might be troubled, however, nor do they contemplate the even greater long-term damages to be wrought by school choice. (James Moore. 1.06.2013. LINK) ... "

So, by deductive reasoning, Texas schools will stay at the substandard level of "D-" for a long time here after. Political fervor to not spend on public education will cause stammer in any attempt to pass bonds for education, or attract Federal funding for our ailing public schools. We think as the public schools go, so will the private schools. Let's call it "Dismal," a D-, for Texas school children. And Texas ends up with inadequate public schools.

' ... State Senator Dan Patrick (R), who promises to push a repackaged vouchers bill in the 2013 legislative session, portrays himself as the champion of parents wanting to free their children from the prisons of public school ignorance and failure. He is, instead, a lost horseman leading a misguided herd off of a cliff into a far canyon. Vouchers will create even greater disparities in educational quality and new forms of segregation. (James Moore. 1.06.2013. LINK) ... "

Question for you; let me know in the comments if you understand this "State funding" statement:

" ... State funding to support school districts with debt principal and interest expenditures related to public school facilities is provided through the Instructional Facilities Allotment and the Existing Debt Allotment. These programs ensure equalized funding related to the Interest and Sinking (I and S) tax effort at rates of $35.00 per penny per student in ADA. The EDA assistance is limited to 29 cents of tax effort, a limit that does not apply to IFA. Higher property wealth school districts rely upon local tax property taxes and receive no state aid from these state aid sources. (ASCE Texas Section. LINK) ... "

So, in Texas, State funding for schools comes from property tax? Is that all they are saying? And the richer the community, the less that community receives for schools?

" ... If less money comes from Austin to local districts, those schools simply have to make cuts or find new ways to raise revenue, which often occurs through increased property valuations on homeowners... (Moore, James. 1.06.2013 LINK)... "

Here is the entire Texas Infrastructure Report Card:

PART TWO: The Nation
What will it cost to bring up our Nation's rating?

In context of our "federal" ailing infrastructure, we hover around a "D" grade overall. Proposed “key solutions” in the 2009 report, included:

• Increasing federal leadership
• Promoting sustainability and resilience
• Complementing a national vision
• Addressing life-cycle and maintenance costs
• Improving infrastructure investments from all stakeholders

How much? It will cost the United States of America $2.2 to $3.2  trillion: "the report estimated that $2.2 trillion is the required five-year investment to increase the infrastructure’s condition to “good.” ( Melanie Wong. May 7, 2012. LINK) ... "

TABLE: Estimated 5-year Investment Requirement in Billions of Dollars. Source: ASCE Report for America’s Infrastructure, 2009

CONCLUSION, more of a RANT:
The Rothschild's are worth about $700 trillion. (LINK). Bill Gates Net Worth: a measly $67 Billion as of March 2013 -- Harvard Drop Out -- (LINK). Current Governor of the state of Texas and Republican Presidential primary candidate Rick Perry has a net worth of $3 million. He's accumulated that net worth largely through his family's fortune, and his numerous published books... (LINK)

As we lie awake at night, with gurgling stomachs, and 3 AM beckons us to nervous paranoia ... our imaginations are taxed, and we perceive our children sleep in an unsure state of being.

What socio-pathic government morons are doing at this hour? I can only suspect they are sleeping the sleep of the evil damned. Their home life is not thwarted by their own "denial" and cock-a-mania "conservative agendas." Their children sleep in the throes of voucher privilege. Their infrastructure is covered by the government check they receive, and government vehicles they are given. Yes, given ease of living by us generous folk out here.

Those others, the sleeping rich guys, are born on third base, and never get the pleasure of gutting out a real life struggle to just get on first base, like us. Their idea of work is flying a jet airplane.

It always sounds like sour grapes from us at MooPig Enterprises. What it really is, is acid reflux. So, next time your State votes on education bonds, be sure you are on the right side of that matter.

And that's our Report from the Middle; Where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children are hopefully above average.


_________________Reference
2012 Texas Report Card FINAL.pdf [LINK]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/rick-perry-education_b_2421776.html
http://www.ascecareportcard.org/citizen_guides/Citizen's%20guide%202012_Revised.pdf
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/#p/home
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/report-cards
http://sciencewonks.com/2012/every-day-im-crumblin-asces-report-card-for-the-nations-infrastructure/
http://texasce.affiniscape.com/associations/10803/files/2012%20ASCE%20Schools%20Fact%20Sheet%20FINAL3.pdf
http://www.texasce.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=84
http://www.publicworksgroup.com/blog/2012/01/asceinfrastructurereportcard/
http://www.publicworksgroup.com/blog/2010/05/bryans-consumer-confidence-report-on-stage-at-gov-2-0-expo/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illinois-infrastructure-report-card-0319-20130319,0,4904502.story

Gulf Coast

No Hurricanes to Report
by Pat Darnell  |  August 28, 2011  |  Bryan TX

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FWD :: FWD Email; the LORD'S Baseball Game -- Continued -- Fishing and Oil

FOR MORE DISPATCHES FROM THE GULF, VISIT FACING SOUTH: www.southernstudies.org

TITLE: GULF DISPATCH: Will BP disaster spark move to a new Gulf economy?

By Chris Kromm   |   Friday, June 25

MooPig Site Review, Article
[Retrieved HERE for Awesome Reportage by C Kromm , today by Pat Darnell and the iHerd]

" ... Traveling along Gulf Coast fishing towns from Moss Point, Mississippi, to Louisiana bayou communities like Dulac and Lafitte, one hears a common refrain in the wake of the BP oil disaster: Families fear they're not only losing their livelihoods, but the extinction of entire culture that's sustained them for generations.

Right now, a third of Gulf waters are closed to commercial fishing, idling thousands of boats that would usually be busy catching shrimp and other seafood. The shut-down has brought national attention to the diverse and precarious culture of coastal fishing communities, who face not only an immediate loss of their economic lifeblood but may be grappling with the consequences of the spill for years to come.

Those fears have forced coastal leaders to begin a sometimes painful discussion about the need for the Gulf Coast to explore economic alternatives -- new sources of jobs and vitality that can ween coastal towns from their reliance on two industries that have been thrown into chaos from the BP spill: fishing and oil.

"IT'S LIKE WE'RE ON DEATH ROW"

Today, tens of thousands of fishers make their living off the waters of the Gulf. Shrimping, trapping crabs, harvesting oysters and other fishing have been an especially critical avenue of opportunity for groups like Vietnamese immigrants and Native Americans, who were often excluded from other industries.

"For many of the [Vietnamese fishermen], this is all they know," Diem Nguyen with the Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation in New Orleans East told me. "They were fishermen in Vietnam before they came here in the 1970s, and they've been fishing here ever since."

One finds the same story in the bayous of Terrebonne Parish, where the Native American Houma Nation has a community center. "This is what my family's been doing for seven generations," said one fisherman we met with in Dulac, Louisiana. "We're not just losing a job, we're losing a way of life. It's like we're on death row."

COASTAL CRUDE

Adding to the economic stress is the turmoil now engulfing the other big economic driver on the coast: the oil and natural gas industry. According to federal estimates, offshore oil directly employs over 100,000 people nation-wide, with most of those in the Gulf.

The reliance of Gulf communities on offshore oil came into sharp relief when President Obama issued a six-month moratorium on deep water drilling projects. Politicians, oil companies and offshore oil workers rushed to point out that 8,000 jobs hinged on the 33 rigs affected by the moratorium, and another 20,000 work in the maritime industry that supports offshore drilling.

Indeed, while the Gulf fishing and oil industries are often at odds, families along the coast often depend on both in the same year for income. In south Louisiana, commercial fishers often go to work on oil rigs after the fishing seasons end.

And while a federal judge in New Orleans ended deep water moratorium, 17 of the rigs covered by the ban have left the Gulf, and likely won't come back as long as the case is tied up in federal court.

PATHS TO A NEW GULF ECONOMY?

With the future of both fishing and offshore oil thrown into question, coastal communities are now rethinking their long-running dependence on these extractive industries -- and looking to economic alternatives.

Thomas Dardar, the newly-elected chief of the Houma Nation, estimates that "about half" of the Houma's 17,000 tribal citizens count on fishing income, and thousands also have jobs in the oil industry.

Now, with boats and rigs idle, they're looking at other options -- both to "keep people busy" in the short-run to avoid depression and despair, but also to lay the foundation for a more diverse economic future.

Houma residents are looking into working with the nearby Coushatta tribe to erect greenhouses so they can grow and sell fresh produce. Some are also interested in reviving the Houma tradition of community gardening.

"Our people have always had big gardens," said John Silver, who works with Houma youth and is a member of the tribal council. "We want to bring gardening back to the communities."

Even if commercial doesn't bounce back, the Houma can also put years of experience on the water to use as ship builders and boat captains. As Chief Dardar says, "We learn how to drive boats before we learn how to drive cars."

In New Orleans East, Vietnamese residents are asking the same questions -- and even coming up with similar answers. After Katrina, the community 20 acres next to the Mary Queen of Vietnam church and teamed up with Tulane architects to create plans for a town farm and market. The Viet Village Cooperative Urban Farm is now working its way through the environmental permitting process and hopes to open soon.

Diem Nguyen says a whole set of economic ideas are on the table: Partnering with solar companies to train workers in green building construction; transforming an empty industrial building into a plant making traditional Vietnamese food like dried shrimp and fish sauce; even tourism, with swamp tours and excellent food being the big draws.

A 21ST CENTURY JOBS PROGRAM

But these new coastal economies will likely never reach the scale of oil and fishing. To make the new industries succeed will take money, perseverance and a good measure of luck. And more than anything, it will take one thing that coastal leaders feel like they are running out of: time.

With fishing boats and deepwater rigs on hold, coastal towns are being slammed with a "double whammy," David Gauthe of Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (BISCO), which works in the bayou parishes of Laforche and Terrebonne.

That's why Gauthe and BISCO, along with other Gulf leaders, are reviving an idea floated after Hurricane Katrina: the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, a federal jobs program that could put thousands of Gulf residents to work in good-paying jobs doing green building construction or coastal restoration projects.

The idea of Gulf jobs program is being pushed by dozens of coastal organizations, and it's found allies in surprising places: BISCO alone has convinced local Democratic and Republican leaders in Louisiana to endorse the program.

Whatever support it enjoys among Gulf leaders, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act faces a formidable obstacle: a deeply divided Congress and an embattled president in an election year.

But the costs of failing to address the jobs and economic crisis resulting from the BP disaster could be immense, both in the short-term -- depression, substance abuse, even suicides -- as well as the future viability of coastal communities.

"It's a ticking time bomb," one Louisiana resident said of the jobs and economic crisis. "We just don't know when it's going to explode." ... " (Kromm, Chris: June 25, 2010. entire Article HERE)