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AEDNews - Construction Equipment Industry NewsInfrastructure Absent from Romney, Obama SpeechesOver the last couple of weeks, Republicans and Democrats took to their national conventions to outline their political agendas, rally supporters, and nominate their presidential candidates. Though generally considered more as a forum for politics than policy, the construction community was disappointed with the exclusion of infrastructure at both party conventions. On Aug. 30, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney accepted the Republican nomination for president, citing the role his business experience would play in job creation, but he failed to include overhauling our nation’s ailing infrastructure in his plan. President Obama’s Sept. 6 speech also lacked substance on the issue, only briefly noting his plan to use revenues saved by ending the war in Afghanistan to rebuild roads and bridges. Despite the silence of both candidates on transportation, their respective parties have distinct visions for our nation’s surface infrastructure. The Republican platform calls for greater private-public partnerships in infrastructure and opposes any mechanism that would involve government monitoring of vehicles (such as a vehicle miles travelled (VMT) system). Conversely, the Democratic platform offers increased investments in infrastructure through savings on downsized war efforts “together with reforms that will better leverage government dollars and target significant projects.” With the HTF expected to run out in 2014, our leaders must make infrastructure investment a priority. To urge your lawmakers to find new revenue streams for our nation’s aging transportation network, go to AEDAction.org. Article Date: 2012-09-10 Source: Associated Equipment Distributors Copyright(C) 2012 Associated Equipment Distributors. All Rights Reserved. | ||||||
