The country could do itself a favor by paying more attention to the efforts of Senator Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is chairman of the Banking Committee, and Senator Hagel, a Nebraska Republican. They have co-sponsored legislation that would create a national infrastructure bank to promote and help finance large-scale projects across the nation.

Part of their mission is to generate a sense of urgency. In an interview yesterday, Senator Dodd told me: “At a time when we’re worried about rising unemployment rates and declining confidence in this country, infrastructure projects have the dual effect of putting people to work — and usually at pretty good salaries and wages — while also creating a sense of optimism, of investing in the future.”

The country has been hit hard by lost jobs in manufacturing and construction. As government and political leaders are scrambling for ways to stimulate the economy in the current downturn, infrastructure improvements would seem to be a natural component of any effective recovery plan.

“In terms of stimulating the economy, there is nothing better than a job,” said Senator Dodd.

The need for investment on a large scale — and for the long term — is undeniable. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, in a study that should have gotten much more attention when it was released in 2005, it would take more than a trillion and a half dollars over a five-year period to bring the U.S. infrastructure into reasonably decent shape.

Will we wait until another New Orleans-style disaster occurs, or another heavily traveled bridge plunges into a river?

As things stand now, the American infrastructure is incapable of meeting the competitive demands of the globalized 21st-century economy. Senator Hagel noted that ports are overwhelmed by the ever-expanding volume of international trade. Rail lines are overloaded. Highways are clogged.

“The basic infrastructure of a country will determine that country’s future,” he said, “and we are far behind.”

We appear to have forgotten the lessons of history. Time and again an economic boom has followed periods of sustained infrastructure improvement. It’s impossible to calculate all of the benefits from (to mention just a few) the Erie Canal, which connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean and helped make New York America’s premier city; the rural electrification program and other capital improvements of the New Deal; the interstate highway program of the Eisenhower administration.

The tremendous costs and vast reach of today’s infrastructure requirements means that the federal government has to take a leadership role. It’s inevitable. The only question is when.

The financier Felix Rohatyn, who served as ambassador to France during the Clinton administration, and former Senator Warren Rudman, a Republican, have been sounding the alarm for a number of years now, urging the government to get over its unwillingness to invest adequately in public transportation systems, water projects, schools, dams, the electric grid, and so on.

I remember Mr. Rohatyn telling me, “A modern economy needs a modern platform, and that’s the infrastructure.”

The current concern over the economy should be taken by the government as a signal to finally move ahead on this critically important issue.

Labels: Chris Dodd, Chuck Hagel, real bipartisanship

Off-duty Shiite policemen enraged by massive bombings in the northern town of Tal Afar went on a revenge spree against Sunni residents there on Wednesday, killing at least 45 men execution-style, police and hospital officials said.

The policemen began roaming the town's Sunni neighborhoods on foot early in the morning, shooting at Sunni residents and homes.

A senior hospital official in Tal Afar said at least 45 men between the ages of 15 and 60 were killed with a shot to the back of the head and four others were wounded. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

Police said dozens of Sunnis were killed or wounded, but they had no precise figures. The shooting continued for more than two hours, the officials said.

Army troops later moved into the Sunni areas to stop the violence and a curfew was slapped on the entire town, according to Wathiq al-Hamdani, the provincial police chief and his head of operations, Brig. Abdul-Karim al-Jibouri.

Labels: Chuck Hagel, Iraq, Joe Lieberman

Chuck Hagel on Abortion

• Voted NO on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives. (Mar 2005)
  
• Voted YES on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus during other crime. (Mar 2004)
  
• Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions except for maternal life. (Mar 2003)
  
• Voted YES on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions. (Jun 2000)
  
• Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions. (Oct 1999)
  
• Voted YES on banning human cloning. (Feb 1998)
  
• Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)
  

Chuck Hagel on Civil Rights

• Voted YES on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration. (Jun 2006)
  
• Voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
  
• Voted YES on loosening restrictions on cell phone wiretapping. (Oct 2001)
  
• Voted NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
  
• Voted NO on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women. (Mar 1998)
  
• Voted YES on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
  
• Supports anti-flag desecration amendment. (Mar 2001)
  
• Rated 60% by the ACLU, indicating a mixed civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
  

Chuck Hagel on Corporations

• Voted NO on repealing tax subsidy for companies which move US jobs offshore. (Mar 2005)
  
• Voted YES on reforming bankruptcy to include means-testing & restrictions. (Mar 2005)
  
• Voted YES on restricting rules on personal bankruptcy. (Jul 2001)
  
• Rated 87% by the US COC, indicating a pro-business voting record. (Dec 2003)
  

Chuck Hagel on Education

• Voted NO on $52M for "21st century community learning centers". (Oct 2005)
  
• Voted NO on $5B for grants to local educational agencies. (Oct 2005)
  
• Voted NO on shifting $11B from corporate tax loopholes to education. (Mar 2005)
  
• Voted NO on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
  
• Voted NO on funding student testing instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
  
• Voted NO on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction. (Apr 2001)
  
• Voted YES on Educational Savings Accounts. (Mar 2000)
  
• Voted YES on allowing more flexibility in federal school rules. (Mar 1999)
  
• Voted YES on education savings accounts. (Jun 1998)
  
• Voted YES on school vouchers in DC. (Sep 1997)
  
• Rated 36% by the NEA, indicating a mixed record on public education. (Dec 2003)
  

Chuck Hagel on Energy & Oil/Environment

• Voted NO on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska's AMWR. (Nov 2005)
  
• Voted NO on $3.1B for emergency oil assistance for hurricane-hit areas. (Oct 2005)
  
• Voted NO on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%). (Jun 2005)
  
• Voted NO on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Mar 2005)
  
• Voted YES on Bush Administration Energy Policy. (Jul 2003)
  
• Voted NO on targeting 100,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010. (Jun 2003)
  
• Voted NO on removing consideration of drilling ANWR from budget bill. (Mar 2003)
  
• Voted YES on drilling ANWR on national security grounds. (Apr 2002)
  
• Voted YES on terminating CAFE standards within 15 months. (Mar 2002)
  
• Voted YES on preserving budget for ANWR oil drilling. (Apr 2000)
  
• Voted NO on ending discussion of CAFE fuel efficiency standards. (Sep 1999)
  
• Voted NO on defunding renewable and solar energy. (Jun 1999)
  
• Voted YES on approving a nuclear waste repository. (Apr 1997)
  
• Voted NO on including oil & gas smokestacks in mercury regulations. (Sep 2005)
  
• Voted YES on confirming Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior. (Jan 2001)
  
• Voted YES on more funding for forest roads and fish habitat. (Sep 1999)
  
• Voted YES on transportation demo projects. (Mar 1998)
  
• Voted NO on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests. (Sep 1997)
  
• Rated 0% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)
  

Chuck Hagel on Government Reform

• Voted YES on allowing some lobbyist gifts to Congress. (Mar 2006)
  
• Voted NO on establishing the Senate Office of Public Integrity. (Mar 2006)
  
• Voted NO on banning "soft money" contributions and restricting issue ads. (Mar 2002)
  
• Voted YES on require photo ID (not just signature) for voter registration. (Feb 2002)
  
• Voted NO on banning campaign donations from unions & corporations. (Apr 2001)
  
• Voted NO on funding for National Endowment for the Arts. (Aug 1999)
  
• Voted NO on favoring 1997 McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. (Oct 1997)
  

Chuck Hagel first ran for the U.S. Senate in Nebraska in 1996. Electronic voting machines owned by Election Systems & Software (ES&S) reported that he had won both the primaries and the general election in unprecedented victories. His 1996 victory was considered one of the biggest upsets of that election. He was the first Republican to win a Nebraska senatorial campaign in 24 years and won virtually every demographic group, including many largely black communities that had never before voted Republican.

Six years later Hagel ran again against Democrat Charlie Matulka in 2002, and won in a landslide. He was re-elected to his second term with 83% of the vote: the biggest political victory in the history of Nebraska. Again, the votes were counted by ES&S, now the largest voting machine company in America.

While these victories could be dismissed simply as a Republican upset, a January 2003 article in the independent Washington paper The Hill revealed interesting details about Hagel's business investments and casts a different light on his election successes. Chuck Hagel was CEO of ES&S (then AIS) until 1995 and he is still a major stockholder of the parent company of ES&S, McCarthy & Company. Hagel resigned as CEO of ES&S to run for the Senate and resigned as president of the parent company McCarthy & Company following his election (where he remains a major investor).

Today, the McCarthy Group is run by Michael McCarthy, who happens to be Chuck Hagel's treasurer. Hagel's financials still list the McCarthy Group as an asset, with his investment valued at $1-$5 million. Campaign finance reports show that Michael McCarthy also served as treasurer for Hagel until December of 2002.

Chuck Hagel on Health Care

• Voted YES on limiting medical liability lawsuits to $250,000. (May 2006)
  
• Voted NO on expanding enrollment period for Medicare Part D. (Feb 2006)
  
• Voted NO on increasing Medicaid rebate for producing generics. (Nov 2005)
  
• Voted NO on negotiating bulk purchases for Medicare prescription drug. (Mar 2005)
  
• Voted YES on $40 billion per year for limited Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Jun 2003)
  
• Voted NO on allowing reimportation of Rx drugs from Canada. (Jul 2002)
  
• Voted NO on allowing patients to sue HMOs & collect punitive damages. (Jun 2001)
  
• Voted YES on funding GOP version of Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Apr 2001)
  
• Voted NO on including prescription drugs under Medicare. (Jun 2000)
  
• Voted YES on limiting self-employment health deduction. (Jul 1999)
  
• Voted NO on increasing tobacco restrictions. (Jun 1998)
  
• Voted YES on Medicare means-testing. (Jun 1997)
  
• Invest funds to alleviate the nursing shortage. (Apr 2001)
  
• Rated 12% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)
  

Labels: 2008, Chuck Hagel