CNN reporter finally speaks the truth on air this morning!

[AndyA]

In a story covering the Minneapolis bridge failure, a reporter (didn't catch his name), stated that much of America's critical infrastructure had been allowed to deteriorate. He then mentioned the underground pipes in Manhattan that exploded and spewed asbestos all over the place, and the power grid failure a few years ago, and a few other catastrophes.

He then said that it would take billions of dollars to bring these things up to standard, and that many of the bridges you and I would be driving on today had the same ratings as the one that collapsed in Minneapolis.

He then stated he wasn't a Democrat or a Republican, but that the bottom line was: there's no money to fix these things. And then he said "when you're spending billions and billions over in Iraq, there's nothing left for America, so we've now given up our own public safety for a war in another country."

:patriot:

It will be interesting to see if he keeps his job after this. After all, speaking the truth is not something we normally see or hear on the corporate owned, self-serving media in this country.

[ceile]

1. Wow.

He didn't pull any punches. Good for him, but he may be filing for unemployment tomorrow.

[Cha]

36. I hope so many people heard

this hard truth coming from this reporter's mouth!

[Amonester]

2. We saw some of them telling the truth during the Katrina disaster...

Did they keep their jobs? Just asking, from abroad... without any teevee (by choice).

Kudos to this brave reporter. :thumbsup:

[tblue37]

26. Anderson Cooper did--and became a star for it.

But his reporting is erratic, and it is mostly about him and how he feels rather than real reporting, so mainly he just became another pretty face to draw ratings on TV rather than a force for holding The Powers That Be responsible for their bad actions.

[Amonester]

29. Thanks for the information and observation.

Hope History Won't Repeat Itself with this morning's reporter.

[goclark]

41. His mother is Gloria Vanderbilt ~! think that helps

I like him more than most of them however.

[goclark]

37. Solodad spoke the truth about Katrina

and she went bye bye.

Just on for a few segments now.

Sad, she was one of the few reporters of color.

[Amonester]

39. Thank you for bringing this information up.

I, like many here, have wilfully thrown everything "TV" out of our lives for good, but we still wish that media will be used to truly help solve the myriad of problems brought by blind-corporati$m instead of for enabling them further down. If that ever happens (in our dreams, it seems...), I may tune-in again for once in a while or more (depending on the quality).

Kudos to the good reporter (Solodad) again. :thumbsup:

[sce56]

52. But can't live with out Colbert & Stewart 08

[Cooley Hurd]

69. She was tossed shortly after her heated exchange w/ Tony Snow:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zBld8hDadz0

It was roughly two weeks after this that she was yanked off the air. I could never understand why so many here on DU thought she was a shill - on the contrary, she was always fair.:shrug:

[0007]

85. Beautiful too!!

[goclark]

100. I agee ~ at 1st I thought so too but she was about the

only sane voice at CNN.

[kenny blankenship]

3. That took courage (i know stating facts & objective truths is just their job, but still) Hat's off !

Who was that unnamed reporter?

[Supersedeas]

93. wonder if he will ever be seen or heard from again??

[PearliePoo2]

4. did anyone catch the name of this guy?

amazing...he is editorializing. Offering his own analysis.
He will be toast, no doubt.
I know that I am calling my senators TODAY to also state the obvious.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Wow is right. I posted this exact idea last night when I said

economists would refer to the $1.6 trillion estimate to fix our deteriorating infrastructure as the opportunity cost of the Iraq war.

[AndyA]

7. He mentioned that as well. I heard him say TRILLION.

I was getting ready for work, so I didn't catch his name. I think he many have been a local guy appearing on CNN, as I don't think it was a regular CNNer.

Of course, I would expect the local people to be more honest, since that area seems to be more progressive.

[DemReadingDU]

14. If you find his name, let us know!

[Duppers]

67. in 2003 Engineers said it would cost $1.6 TRILLION

ENGINEERS: U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS ESTIMATED AT $1.6 TRILLON
From a 2003 article:

>>
The condition of the nation's roads, bridges, drinking water systems and other public works have shown little improvement since they were graded an overall D+ in 2001, with some areas sliding toward failing grades, concluded the 2003 Progress Report for America's Infrastructure, released by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The report examining trends and assessing the progress and decline of America's infrastructure - roads, bridges, mass transit, aviation, schools, drinking water, wastewater, dams, solid waste, hazardous waste, navigable waterways and energy - was prepared by a panel of 20 eminent civil engineers with expertise in a range of practice specialties. In 2001, ASCE engineers released the Report Card for America's Infrastructure, grading the same 12 infrastructure categories at a discouraging D+ overall and estimating the need for a $1.3 trillion investment to bring conditions to acceptable levels.

more here: http://www.buildingonline.org/news/viewnews.pl?id=2533&...

------------------

From the "Report Card for America's Infrastructure" site:

Long commutes.
Dirty Water.
Delayed flights.
Failing Dams.

With each passing day, aging and overburdened infrastructure threatens the economy and quality of life in every state, city and town in the nation.

Read about the infrastructure issues in your region and how you can help raise the grade on America's failing infrastructure.

http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/index.cfm

[pokercat999]

70. Remember Sen. Tom Harkins (D Iowa) bid for the Presidential

Nomination? He was all about rebuilding Americas infrastructure. Anyone remember the year?

[Pacifist Patriot]

79. That was a major part of Graham's (D-FL) message in 2004 as well.

And he was never taken seriously and eliminated fairly early in the primaries. I loved his ideas for how to improve our infrastructure.

[Carolina]

91. Ironically

He ran against Bill Clinton in the primaries in 1992

It was a big field that included Jerry Brown, Paul Tsongas, Tom Harkin, Bob Kerrey (Nebraska) and several others.

Tom Harkin and Paul Wellstone were great friends and kindred spirits!

[pokercat999]

101. Now I remember I was disappointed when Sen. Harkin

quit/lost. I think history is on my side.

How different things would be if Harkin had won. Sen. Wellstone might have played a role in the administration and maybe might not have taken that fatal flight.

Where's an alternate universe when you need one?

[NewJeffCT]

76. But (gasp) we might have to roll back the Bush tax cuts to pay for it!

Say it ain't so.

[yardwork]

86. $1.6 trillion to repair the infrastructure vs. $3 trillion and counting in Iraq.

If only we had given Halliburton all the contracts to rebuild our infrastructure. True, the repairs would have been deficient.

[ozone_man]

90. That's $2 trillion in 2007 dollars.

And we've just reached our debt limit at $9 trillion. Let's have Hillary Clinton explain why voting for the Iraq War was a sound investment.

[Benhurst]

98. Think what that money invested in the United States would do for

us all. On the other hand, the money spent on our immoral and illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq would have better been flushed down a toilet. At least then it wouldn't have been used to kill over 700,000 innocent men, women and children.

[underpants]

6. LBN thread-34% substandard or mediocre

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2938889&mesg_id=2938889

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. Not to mention selling off parts of our infrastructure under the guise of

saving money. In the long run, it costs much more with the way they've been "managing" things.

[donkeyotay]

28. Exactly, they were discussing the privatization opportunities on CNBC

Licking their chops over another chance to screw us. Remember when they privatized the utilities, but then we had to pony up for the electrical grid because these fine companies had apparently been maximizing their profits and planning on passing along the costs to us.

[YOY]

9. I hate to give someone credit for simply telling the truth but there it is

and good on him for it.

[patricia92243]

10. Anyway to get his name - we all need to e-mail CNN our approval.

[renate]

22. good point

He's going to need some support. I didn't see it but I hope somebody who did recognizes him and can tell us his name.

[emilyg]

57. I like your idea

[Summer93]

11. Kick and Recommend

[JPZenger]

12. Deterioration vs. Terrorist Attacks

After 9-11, it would not have surprised me that terrorists caused a major blackout in the Northeast. Instead, it was caused by faulty equipment in Ohio.

I would not have been surprised if terrorists blew a hole in New Orleans levees while there was high water. Instead, it was caused by faulty engineering and construction and lack of upgrades.

I would not have been surprised if terrorists blew up an interstate highway bridge. Instead, it was done by lack of upgrades.

In New York City, there was a threat 2 years ago that some of the most heavily used subway lines in the country would be out of service for many months. (Fortunately, they were repaired quicker). The cause - a homeless guy setting a small fire in a tunnel to stay warm, which destroyed all kinds of important equipment.

[wizstars]

80. Actually, that blackout was traced back......

...to one dim bulb at 1600 Penn., Washington DC

:rofl:

[merh]

13. They allow things to collapse and fail so that they can

(a) privatize -- by proving the "ineptness" of the government, they have an argument supporting their desire to privatize everything (it's beyond our capabilities, we need to hire experts and hold them accountable if they fail.)
(b) emergency repairs don't require the proper bid system, anyone can be hired, like no bid contracts, if they can get the job done and done quickly.

The ignored the VA so they can outsource it and try to privatize it. They also use the VA as an argument against the government operating health care "government can't operate the VA or medicare properly, how can the government handle universal health care."

Wasn't there something in the works about privatizing the roads, making more toll roads.

Bottom line - greed is the energy source of this administration. Greed and only greed controls them.

[Nikki Stone1]

15. Exactly.

This is exactly what they are doing.

[glitch]

16. Profiteers make a lot of money with Disaster Capitalism. Can't wait for Naomi Klein's new book

But in the meantime: http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20050502&s=klein

[Deja Q]

25. But they also say they want to run government like a business!

In other words, if they're treating government like a business, how the hell can real business handle it??

[merh]

30. They don't even come close to running the government like a

business. If they ran a business like they run our government, that business would go belly up in no time. Come to think of it, that is exactly what happened to GWB's business, he ran it into the ground and sold his interests just before it collapsed.

x(

[vssmith]

71. Like Enron?

[CGowen]

45. we have a winner a) din ding ding n/t

[orleans]

47. everyone is complaining about bridges and roads now. don't they

realize that the fuckhead has been so busy protecting us from terra he hasn't had time to pay attention to these other little details?

[merh]

55. and it has been a purposeful neglect

if they screw things up they can say the government is inept and the services need to be privatized.

the sick bastards. :grr:

[BearSquirrel2]

56. Bush's Bitch Mitch ...

Bush's Bitch Mitch sold of the Indiana Toll Road that linked South Bend to Chicago. He was pushing for three other toll road projects but he got shut down. We'll see how the privatization goes. Likely, it will not be good. I expect to see a crumbling road.

[rucognizant]

77. SOmething in the Works?

I think some if it is already a done deal! I think Australia owns the Tappen Zee Bridge.

[merh]

87. I listen to talk radio on the way in to work (all we get are the kookie

righties) and Glen Beck this morning was talking about it, the government failure - the levies the bridges the infrastructure medicare - yada - need to privatize.

absolutely amazing, the propaganda continues and no blame placed on management, those inept fools put in high jobs by bush to garner political favor, no talk of failures to operate the program and no talk of oversight or responsibility, just talk of failures and privatization.

[Patiod]

83. Our (Dem) governor in PA wants to privatize our turnpike system

So turning our roads over to a company that not only needs to maintain the roads but MAKE A PROFIT, TOO is going to save us money how? I see only more corner-cutting which will lead to decreased safety.

The only positive I see is that those who use the roads more may pay more than those of use who don't, thus saving tax money that might go to public transportation, which can't be privatized (no public transportation system in the world makes a profit, so you don't see any rush to privatize it)

[merh]

88. I've never understood those that support privatization.

they say it saves money, but if a company can make a profit at it, why can't the government and then put that money back into the system, back into the program.

Some argue the company is strapped with civil service concerns and high pay employees, as if the violations of workers rights and taking from them what they need is right as long as it isn't "us" doing it.

[1776Forever]

89. Toll Collections on Many U.S. Highways Going to Foreign Firms - Link

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/07/toll_collection.html
:banghead: :shrug: :nuke:

[karlrschneider]

17. Woah! That's pretty amazing.

Did Keith switch to CNN? :silly:

[Alpharetta]

18. Could have mentioned an outdated levee system.... n/t

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

19. Give Kudo's to Keith Olbermann

He's made the airwaves safe for this kind of reporting.

[Lilith Velkor]

51. Katrina was the one who did that

but kudos to Keef anyway.

[tabasco]

20. If he doesn't get fired, he'll get counseled.

He will be asked if he enjoys his paycheck.

He will be told, "no more criticism of Bush or his policies."

[progressoid]

21. Oops, a reporter with a brain slipped into the mix.

I'm sure they'll find him a nice job covering Lindsey Lohan or puppies soon.

[cureautismnow]

23. Hooray for that reporter!

Finally, someone tells it like it is rather than telling us what the GOP wants us to hear. :applause:

Let Iraqis pay for building and re-building their own infrastructure and let us concentrate on fixing our own broken system.

[Deja Q]

24. And our jobs to other countries, some of which may not particulalry care for us.

[bobbolink]

27. Where's the outrage? Why aren't the American people up in arms about this?

Where are all the "no-tax" people?

That's also part of the problem.

We don't speak up.

We don't demand.

[PearliePoo2]

32. I just called my Senators

Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Washington State.
Their aides are saying they are fielding many calls like mine.
We are re-building Iraq infrastructure to the tune of billions (after we destroyed it) and America's is decaying by the minute.
Let your voices be heard!
(I love to take back road highways when traveling and I notice that thousands of bridges were built in the 30's. The year the bridge was built is usually cast right in the concrete at the beginning of the span)

[bobbolink]

54. Thanks for letting me know they're getting lots of calls.

Maybe some people are actually waking up and finding their spines?

[Johnny Noshoes]

74. Yep they were built in the '30's

under a Democratic President, a Democratic Congress putting people back to work and rebulding the middle class. Making us a better country in the process. All those who whine about taxes need to shut up and learn that taxes are the membership dues in a civil society. You spend money on weapons and war and yeah you might create some jobs but when you use the products of those jobs they're gone up in smoke. When you build and maintain bridges and roads and rail lines and schools and mass transit systems and all that you build a stronger healthier better middle class and a better greater America.

[krkaufman]

31. Wish he'd have also said that "Tax Cuts are not a governing philosophy."

Our crumbling infrastructure is largely due to the push for tax cuts over the last 30 years, as a means to buy votes by the Republican Party. Tax cuts are not a governing philosophy, they're an accounting scam.

[wiggs]

33. let's not forget the mining disaster of last year...lack of inspection and enforcement. nt

[1776Forever]

34. Don't ever forget Wilbur Ross, a billionaire with homes on Fifth Avenue, in the Hamptons & Palm Bch

Yes - let's not forget this man - Wilbur Ross, a billionaire with homes on Fifth Avenue, in the Hamptons and Palm Beach, who bears the ultimate responsibility for the Sago mine. His company, the International Coal Group, of which he is the chairman and principal owner....

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Mine/story?id=1476409

Just one of many CEO's who could care less for quality of life and ethics -

I am sure he is a Bush supporter!!!!!!!!!:spank:

[Theres-a]

35. .

:patriot:

[pacalo]

38. Good to hear.

Not to be be picky, but he forgot mentioning the tax cuts given to the rich by the same turkey who's to blame for the billions & billions spent over in Iraq.

[Mind_your_head]

40. Just goes to show you how f'ing sick & tired everybody is of this "war"

for ALL kinds of reasons, such as this!

K & R

[lebkuchen]

42. Bush has made across the board FY 2007 cuts among all fed agencies

unless they are strictly war related. It's a reporter's obligation to point this out, especially when the results of making these cuts are played out so dramatically and catastrophically.

Most folks may not have a child in the military, and so are not part of a public outcry to stop the war in Iraq. However, everyone has a stake in the road/bridge system. Once people apply basic cause/effect logic to the current situation...if we spend our tax dollars in Iraq, we won't have any left for our road systems here at home! :think: ...the public outcry will crescendo. If I'm wrong, then it's official: Americans lack a central nervous system.

[BrightKnight]

43. 13% structurally deficient and fewer are major arteries

Governor Pawlenty can't squirm out of this like that. Of the 13% of bridges rated structurally deficient most of them are not going to be major arteries. I35 was one of the largest and the busiest bridge in the state. Mn/DoT chose to generate an inspection report rather than repair or replace the bridge. He got behind the new stadium and managed to get the funds for that.

Apparently bridges don't make good photo ops.

[ooglymoogly]

44. Lou Dobbs just did a big segment on this. Nt

[malaise]

46. Disasters are so visual that they help

help some people to understand Bushit. Good for him. Katrina was a similar moment that woke up a lot of sheeple.
The Rethugs can wave adios to Minnesota. Dems need to frame this in terms of wasting money in Iraq while the country deteriorates.

[TacticalPeek]

48. Finally found it: Greg Hunter

HARRIS: And Greg, is the reason we're not talking about fixes here because it's about money and political will?

HUNTER: Well, I'm neither Democrat nor Republican, but we are spending billions of dollars, you know, every month in Iraq. That money has to come from somewhere.

And the people at the American Society of Civil Engineers say, we're running deficits now. You know, a decade ago, in the '90s, we were running surpluses, in the trillions. And now we're running deficits.

So, the money to repair the infrastructure, it's just a dollar- and-cents issue...

HARRIS: Yes.

HUNTER: ... that the money is not there as it used to be.

Back to you guys.

HARRIS: OK. CNN's Greg Hunter for us.

Greg, appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/02/cnr.02.html

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/hunter.greg.html

[prolesunited]

59. Do we have any e-mail addresses

to thank him and his bosses?

[0007]

96. Is this the man?

[defendandprotect]

49. Unbelieve because that's a lot of truth and Dems haven't pointed to GOP Third World America --

The Republicans are destroyers --
and the Dems should be pointing that out --

I'm wondering if this CNN reporter will be forced into a retractio of some kind?

[defendandprotect]

50. In NJ, we have the Tappan Zee which needs to be totlaly replaced --

[rucognizant]

78. Wasn't that NY tpk authority?

See my post # 77 above. Then write John Howard!

[EVDebs]

53. Costofwar.com's estimate of Minneapolis loss due to occupation in Iraq is

about $675 million ... enough to have fixed that bridge I'll bet and a whole lot more.

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/Cost-of-War/Cost-of-War-3.html

[Mind_your_head]

58. Modern day republicans are DESTROYERS!

It needs to be repeated....

REPUBLICANS ARE DESTROYERS!!!! They create Nothing.....they only destroy....and modern day Democrats aren't much better.

[HughMoran]

60. It's so ironic too - we've built a TON of infrastructure in Iraq too

Even more ironic, a huge amount of that infrastructure we built in Iraq has been destroyed or is not functional.

:-(

[file83]

63. Even worse, we're building infrastructure over THERE, so we don't have to build it over HERE.

Oh, the fucking irony.

[beltanefauve]

61. The writing is on the wall

The first signs that the Roman Empire was falling was when their military was overextended and they couldn't take care of their people. Katrina was the tipping point for our empire, and now this.

[file83]

64. Funny you should say that...

...the first thought that popped into my head when I heard this story was "Rome is crumbling."

Well, wha'daya know.

[Broken Top]

62. Cnn reporter speaks the truth

Well, I doubt he will keep his job! Telling the truth about something is not the agenda for the mainstream media. We need to go back 27 years to the election of the "Great Communicator" and his sound bite administration to understand that his removal of revenue sharing was just the beginning of the end of federal government involvement in maintaining the infrastructure of this country. Reports state the bridge was part of the I-35W federal interstate highway system and as such I believe is (or was) the responsibility of the federal government to maintain. Well, obviously they maintained it like they do everything else--let it fall apart while we build, sell and use weapons of mass destruction and give tax breaks to the rich. First things first, folks.

[Skittles]

65. YOU KNOW IT BROKEN TOP

:thumbsup:

[L. Coyote]

66. Same thing said on MSM today. Everyone is saying this. Stating the obvious!

[shimmergal]

68. With a decent admin., we SHOULD be able to

recoup some of the money spent on the *^&#@ Iraq war.

Now a lot of it's just been blown up, but money made by the rip-off "contractors" and their CEOs,
who're profiting from their own mismanagement and the blood and lives of U.S. soldiers, should be regarded as a prime target for recovery. Fines are the most obvious way, but there should be additional financial penalties for malfeasance too. Certainly Cheney should be hit up for the Halliburton money that he's undoubtedly still rolling in.

I hope some smart progressive lawyers are already thinking about ways this could be accomplished.

[Wiccan Warrior]

72. Our country is going to goto shit as far as I'm concerned

I don't think anyone cares about our country that's in upper government all they care about is the bottom line and saving their own RICH asses. I **spit** on them.

[Sherman A1]

73. I was listening to a local radio reporters roundtable on NPR

on Thursday discussing lots of local issues and they mentioned Missouri Bridges and overpasses as well. The host said basically the same thing that the money was all spent in Iraq.

:toast:

[bklyncowgirl]

75. What would you rather have--world domination or safe bridges?

Empire has its costs.

Actually, we're a rather piss poor excuse for an empire. The Romans achieved world domination--at least as much as they could control with the technology at hand--and also managed to build excellent roads and bridges--some of which are still in use some 2000 years later.

[tom_paine]

81. This guy is SO FIRED. They will either break him or dissmiss him

Honest journalism is to be stamped out at Operation Mockingbird v2.0 HQ (CNN in Atlanta)

[gasperc]

82. yeah, but it's about the oil man

we'ves gots to have that oil or we couldn't drive the cars to go over the collapsing bridges. oh and the war, gots to have the war, must keep provoking the insurgency to have a reason to keep the troops in Iraq. Sadly, vicious cycle

[raccoon]

84. Kudos to this dude, whoever he is. K&R. nt

[ringtailtooter]

92. NPR also has been discussing the aging infrastructure issue also.

On last night's "All Things Considered" and today's "Morning Edition" they have gingerly woven the message into the bridge stories. They also discussed the enormous cost to repair and rebuild what is known to be problematic, something like $40 billion a year for the next 30 years. And that's what we are behind on, not counting unknown damage and future necessities.

Privatization is not the way to go as most Republicans desire. It usually costs more in the long haul, little oversight and opportunity for rampant greed and corruption as we all have witnessed in Iraq.

I just finished reading "Jeb, America's Next Bush" by S.V. Dáte, the Palm Beach reporter who followed the other side of Florida's Governorship. Watch out for him, he's right up there with the rest of the Bush clan trying to privatize everything and personally bilk the government for all he can get. What's scary is he is much smarter than any of his brothers and father. God forbid he ever make it to the White House.

[disndat]

94. The reality is

a relative small percentage of the people are personally and directly affected by the Iraq war, but almost everyone crosses over bridges twice a day. Maybe now, finally, people will understand Bush's "frakonomics."

[JohnShadows]

95. Hey, we gotta spend it on the miltary ..

... or so the reasoning goes. We spend over a half-trillion dollars a year now on military contracts and war. We can't afford to fix 70,000 bridges. I tell you, the leaders of our party need to do some serious talk about 're-prioritizing' now, and not later.

[Raejeanowl]

97. Whoa!

This was my own thought when Himself started making partisan hay out of the disaster the other day.

Admittedly, I don't crunch the numbers for Federal transportation money, gas tax dollars; I'm not on top of the budget detail, and I'm not certain the state didn't have some level of funding responsibility for repairs and maintenance.

However, Iraqi war dollars are needed and can be better used elsewhere in America. And while they're fixing the roads and bridges, maybe we could spare some decent medical and psychological care for our veterans? And then maybe some transitional homeless shelters/housing....

[AllyCat]

99. How can we make it so that if by some stroke, the $ comes back here

Halliburton doesn't get the contract to do all the rebuilding?