It's an old story that doesn't seem to ever have a different ending: America's infrastructure is crumbling and nobody in Washington seems to care or have the political will to do something about it.
The U.S. received a cumulative grade of 'D+' in the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2013 Report Card on America's Infrastructure, which estimates $3.6 trillion of investment is needed by 2020.
"We know that investing in infrastructure is essential to support healthy, vibrant communities," the ASCE wrote in its executive summary. "Infrastructure is also critical for long-term economic growth, increasing GDP, employment, household income, and exports. The reverse is also true – without prioritizing our nation’s infrastructure needs, deteriorating conditions can become a drag on the economy."
Kudos to 60 Minutes for bringing renewed attention to the issue with its report on Sunday night. But 60 Minutes glossed over a few key issues on the topic of infrastructure, which Henry Blodget calls "a national embarassment" in the accompanying video.
First and foremost, the U.S. government could almost certainly raise $3.6 trillion (or more) by tapping the global bond market; rates are near historic levels which, among other things, reflects global demand for Treasuries.
'But what about the deficit,' you say? 'Can America really afford to take on more debt?'
The short answer is "yes." And the longer answer is that infrastructure spending has as much better long-term return on investment than most other forms of government expenditures. It's a good investment, in other words. Also, the U.S. federal deficit was $483 billion in fiscal 2014, the lowest since 2008 and just 2.8% of GDP, the smallest since 2007. (In 2009, the CBO forecast the fiscal 2014 deficit would be $1.2 trillion.)
Forbes contributor Stan Collender further notes: "$483 billion is $197 billion below the almost $680 billion deficit recorded in 2013. It’s also $930 billion, that is, close to $1 trillion, less than the largely recession-caused $1.4 trillion deficit in 2009."
In sum, the U.S. deficit is coming down, flying in the face of conventional wisdom and a primary concern cited in recent years by opponents of infrastructure spending, aka fiscal conservatives.
But a failure on this scale is bipartisan by nature. The federal gas tax, which funds the Highway Trust Fund, hasn't been raised since 1993, meaning Democratic Presidents and Democratic-controlled Congresses failed to act just as badly as GOP-controlled White Houses and Congresses.
More specifically, President Obama poisoned the well for additional infrastructure spending with the $787 billion (later revised to $831 billion) Recovery Act in 2009. The White House claimed in 2014 the Act created or saved an average of 1.6 million jobs a year between 2009 and 2012, but just over $100 billion of spending went directly toward infrastructure projects -- a paltry figure given the nation's needs in this area.
In sum, the Act tried to do too many things, including "measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need," according to The Treasury Department.
In his 2012 book, The New New Deal, Michael Grunwald's described the Recovery Act as the "biggest and most transformative energy bill ever," featuring "unprecedented investments in wind, solar and other renewables," as discussed here.
The Recovery Act featured $90 billion of spending on clean energy projects, research and tax incentives, according to Grunwald, who makes it seem the act was a Trojan Horse of sorts for President Obama's ambitions to combat global warming. Whether that's a good thing or not (Greenwald thinks it was) depends on your perspective and just today the World Bank is warning of an "alarming" risk from global warming.
But only time will tell if President Obama's 'green' strategy was successful. Meanwhile, America's infrastructure continues to degrade, hurting our global economic competitiveness which has implications for American workers today, in real time.
A failure to successfully address America's infrastructure deficit is arguably one of the great failings of Obama's presidency -- even if other issues garner far more attention from supporters and foes alike.
In case you missed it here are some other notable stats from the 60 Minutes story:
One out of every 9 bridges in America -- more than 70,000 across the country -- is considered deficient.
Almost one-third of the major roads in the U.S. are in poor condition.
Only 2 of 14 major ports on the eastern seaboard will be able to accommodate the super-sized cargo ships that will soon be coming through the newly expanded Panama Canal.
There are more than 14,000 miles of high-speed rail operating around the world, but none in the United States.
U.S. air travel is the world's most congested, due to "a shortage of airports runways and gates along [with] outmoded air traffic control systems."
The U.S. ranks #16 globally for infrastructure, according to the World Economic Forum.
Aaron Task is Editor-in-Chief of Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter at @aarontask or email him at altask@yahoo.com.
