Point: New bridge will create jobs, stabilize economy
Nolan Sharkey, Guest Columnist
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Opinion
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Should Illinois, which is currently in a $12 billion deficit, fund a bridge that costs $313 million? Elliot Davis of the Fox 2 News' "You Paid for It" segment challenged Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to discontinue the construction of this bridge until a later time due to the state's financial situation.
Simply put, this is not the smart thing to do. It is a priority for Illinois to finance the building of this bridge, because this construction will help stabilize the high unemployment rate in the bi-state area and it will also provide work to local contractors.
Pew Research Center said that Illinois is one of the top 10 states in financial peril and Illinois also holds the third worst budget crisis in the country. Looking back in history to the early twentieth century, we, as Americans, can learn how to respond to such a large financial crisis.
In 1929, President Herbert Hoover tried to fight the economic downturn by cutting the public sector funding and relying on the private sector to fight the depression. Paul Krugman, 2008 Nobel Prize winner in economics, said that had Hoover utilized the public sector properly, then the depression would have never gone as deep as it did. The public sector should be small and discrete during times of prosperity, but it should be very active during times of financial crises.
In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt realized this and created the first New Deal, which would create jobs through public programs such as the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
Illinois leaders are looking to the past for answers to our state's high unemployment and rising deficit. Public projects like the new Mississippi River Bridge construction will create thousands of jobs, according to Governor Quinn. These jobs would include work for surveyors, engineers, high-paying union construction tradesmen, and Missouri's and Illinois' Departments of Transportation. Cutting spending to the public sector would cripple our economy worse than it is now.
The bridge is costly, but a capital bill will finance it, which is basically a mortgage that can be paid back over time. Large private jobs in the metro-Saint Louis area, like the President Casino, are shutting down, and people need new jobs. Creating this modern bridge will bring jobs, make safer roads, and help both Missouri's and Illinois' traffic congestion.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Mike H
posted 3/04/10 @ 9:29 PM CST
This bridge is crucial to Illinois future. The Poplar Bridge was many malfunctions and issues with drainage and upkeep. The Eads and MLK bridge are good, but not realistic for massive transit to Missouri. (Continued…)
BacktoWorkIllinois
posted 3/05/10 @ 11:15 AM CST
The $31 billion capital plan--the first of its kind in 10 years--needs to be implemented as soon as possible. These improvement projects will create 439,000 jobs as the state unemployment rate has reached 11. (Continued…)
mike
posted 3/07/10 @ 4:09 PM CST
they need to continue witht he bridge. if they stop it. over 200 million in federal funding will be lost.
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