One example why the U.S, economy is such a mess

http://www.drybonesblog.blogspot.com/

Overspending money we do not have is what has caused the economy to collapse.  Even in this time of economic trouble, the governments are still misspending money we do not have - even on foolish projects people do not want and will end up costing more money.

One foolish project is in Seattle that I have previously written about.  It is to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep bore tunnel.  The cost of this replacement, without considering cost overruns, is four billion dollars.  Two billion dollars is coming from the federal government the rest from the State of  Washington and the City of Seattle



Here is why this is a foolish way to spend money:

1.  Federal government cannot afford to spend so much on projects since they cannot afford to pay their obligations now.
2.  The state of Washington has a two billion dollar deficit and cannot afford to spend two billion dollars on a project (their share of the project) if they cannot meet their current obligations.
3.  The City of Seattle cannot afford the tunnel and is proposing to raise car tab fees by $40. - $100. a year to pay for road repair projects.

Seattle is built on fill dirt and the base is sandy loam.  The tunnel will be built under the water table along the water front in a major earthquake area crossing major earthquake fault lines.  The tunnel will go under down town and will not have any exits in the downtown Seattle area (the Alaskan Way Viaduct it would replace has many city exits)  The tunnel will not have any emergency access and will be a terrorist target which will be closed whenever a high government official visits the city.  Plus since the tunnel will charge a toll, it will increase congestion on I-5 and along surface streets from people who want to avoid the toll.  It is an extremely foolish project to spend money on and in spite of the people saying they do not want the tunnel, both the State of Washington and the City of Seattle are doing everything in their power to force it on the people.  If it were not for this albatross of a tunnel, the State of Washington would not have a budget deficit and the City of Seattle would not try to increase car tab fees by $80. (that's the current figure - debate on it is tonight --- see: http://www.kirotv.com/news/28823043/detail.html )  The tunnel is a foolish way to spend money - especially money you do not have.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel replacement concerns all tax payers in the United States because over TWO BILLION federal dollars will be spent on it - a project few in the State of Washington and the City of Seattle want.  In fact, many groups are still fighting it.  This is one example (probably out of hundreds) of federal tax dollar waste that has led to the collapse of the economy.  Even after the economic collapse, the federal government is still funding this project (two billion dollars is their share of it)   The State of Washington and the City of Seattle are also spending money on projects they do not have when the money could be spent on rebuilding the viaduct and on other infrastructure projects that we could afford - and projects that are needed more - if it were not for the unwanted and too expensive viaduct replacement tunnel project.  In this economy, forcing people to pay an increase on car tabs because of government spends money on foolish projects (such as the tunnel) shows that all governments are losing touch with the people they are suppose to represent.

Contact your representatives and senators and tell them to stop spending money on foolish projects and to cut out the foolish spending.  We need a budget and we need to stop spending money on unneeded and unwanted projects.