Clinton raps roadway safety

ROCHESTER, N.H. – Piggybacking on the bridge collapse in Minneapolis last week, Hillary Clinton stopped in this struggling industrial town today to raise an alarm about America’s crumbling infrastructure.

She even cited the Big Dig tunnel collapse, along with Hurricane Katrina and the tragedy in Minneapolis, as a warning sign that the country faces a crisis that threatens both safety and economic vitality.

As President, Clinton would establish a $10 billion emergency repair fund for bridges, roads, waterways and seaports, and spent $250 million for states to conduct emergency safety reviews. She would invest $1 billion in urban rail systems, and boost federal funding for public transit by $1.5 billion a year.

Sounds like a lot of money? Well, Clinton said that previous American generations, from the Civil War through World War II, were willing to sacrifice for their children and grandchildren. (But she didn’t specify how she’d pay for everything.)

“What is it we’ve done to sacrifice and share the burden that I think should be the responsibility of each American generation?” she said. “When we see what happened in Minneapolis and New Orleans, it’s hard to answer that question.”

Betsy Emerson, a recently retired social worker, she was willing to make the kind of sacrifice Clinton talked about, but still felt pessimistic that Clinton or any other potential president would manage such a massive overhaul.

“I like her programs, but I’ve heard so many people talk about so many good things,” said Emerson, 69, of Barrington, N.H. “I’ve become very discouraged with the government’s ability to follow through.”