The Republicans have been pushing the message that taxes and government are inherently bad and since Reagan, they have been on a tax cutting spree for the extremely wealthy and cost cutting spree on budget items that directly effect the majority, average Americans.

As we have industrialized, we built an infrastructure. Government is necessary for these monumental projects like the early canal system and then the railroads. Individuals cannot possibly do these things on such a grand scale. Even if government didn’t pay for the entire project, it was necessary for right of ways, coordination through different jurisdictions, etc. Since the 1930′s under the WPA, we have been building massive projects like bridges, dams, sewer systems, electric grids like the TVA, and airports and an interstate highway system starting in the 1950′s. None of this would have been possible without government and taxes.

Maintenance and replacement on critical infrastructure like bridges, dams and levies has been delayed or denied. I remember a bridge on I95 in Connecticut collapsed in the 80′s. ( used to drive over it a couple of times a year and hated that stretch so much, I took another route). The army corps of engineers reported that the levies around New Orleans wouldn’t protect the city in a severe hurricane. The bridge on I35, like too many of our bridges, was reported to be in very bad shape. The sewer and water pipes in our major cities are very old and break all the time, disrupting major downtown areas. I just checked out an interactive map on msnbc’s website, www.msnbc.com/id/20093413/. It shows shows each state’s bridge ranking. How comforting to know now that I am living in Pennsylvania that we and only one other state (I think it’s Massachusetts) have the worst bridges in the country. You can check out the bridges by county. I did. I shouldn’t leave my house.

I am not even writing about decrepit schools and other public buildings, but infrastructure that endangers our lives everyday. I have traveled in Europe quite a bit and their transportation systems are more technologically advanced. They invest their money, their taxes, into systems that will make their lives more convenient and safe and their economies run.

I don’t know about you, but my taxes have gone up not down over the last 25+ years. The services the government provides have declined. We have lost a whole American city, a cultural gem. Bridges are falling with cars sitting bumper to bumper during rush hour. A steam pipe exploded in Manhattan, a rainstorm shuts down the subway. The power grid in northern Ohio and southern Michigan shut down about four years ago for several days in the summer. Even the water supply was effected. Public transportation in this country is shrinking. Trains seem to derail on a regular basis, sometimes endangering communities by spilling some kind of dangerous cargo. We are told there is just not enough money for us, for the things that make our society technologically advanced, convenient, efficient and safe.

But there seems to be funds, billions for no bid contracts. Contracts that are supposed to provide clean water and meals to our troops and rebuild Iraq but don’t. Billions of dollars are missing in Iraq too, and apparently there is no accounting system to figure out where the money went. It seems a lot of American supplied arms are missing in Iraq now. What a way to support our troops.

Billions spent on the global war on terrorism, on the Iraq and Afghanistan war and yet terror acts have increased world wide and Bin Laden is still roaming the Pakistan border. 1800 people died during Katrina. Homeland Security employees are looking at airline passengers’ deodorant and hair gel in plastic bags while bridges collapse and steam pipes explode.

I hate when politicians treat Americans like they are stupid. People understand they must pay taxes. What people hate is corruption and wasting their tax money. The Democrats weren’t free from waste and fraud but the Republicans have raised it to a whole new universe. People want and therefore will pay for sound bridges. People will pay for maintenance because they know it’s cheaper than structural failure. People want to live in an advanced society not one declining into something medieval.

We need to dispel the meme that government doesn’t work and that it is unnecessary, bad. Without good government, people fall overboard.