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Now is exactly the time for government spending in California, says commentary

Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2009 at 4:01 pm

From Inside the Bay Area, this guest commentary by Oakland resident John Gliss:

“Despite the insistence to the contrary of conservative pundits, now is precisely the time to increase government spending.

Aggressive investment in California’s infrastructure during a down economy stimulates the economy, creates jobs, fosters optimism and, most importantly, provides for much more infrastructure per dollar as work-hungry contractors are bidding significantly lower prices.

In the 1950s and ’60s, Californians spent about 20 percent of the state budget on capital projects including highways, canals, water treatment plants, dams, parks, and University of California and California State University campuses.

Today, infrastructure spending is less than 2 percent of the state budget. In 2006, the American Society of Engineers developed an Infrastructure Report Card for California, and awarded our crumbling infrastructure an average grade of “C-minus.”

Not only does well-designed, well-constructed and well-maintained infrastructure improve our quality of life, but it is essential to our economic competitiveness. Maritime ports, airports, rail and highway systems are critical for fast and efficient goods movement and state-of-the-art universities attract the best and the brightest to our state. … “

Read more of this commentary by clicking here.

December 19, 2009 · Filed Under Infrastructure

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