Tag: politics: Page 10

Business

In campaign to end the skilled worker shortage, Mike Rowe unafraid of reaching into both sides of the aisle

As part of his Profoundly Disconnected campaign to make students and, really, the country in general, aware of the opportunities and good money available to those who choose a career in the trades, Mike Rowe has been making a lot of appearances lately. A little while back he appeared on Bill Maher’s HBO show “Real […]

October 30, 2013

Business

Government priorities and lack of infrastructure spending are hurting the American economy

Ever since the statistical end of the Great Recession an argument has raged about deficit spending by the federal government. Belt-tightening types (usually Republicans) want to rein in spending because they think government deficits hurt the economy. Their opponents (usually Democrats) say the government needs to spend more to stimulate the economy. Who is right? […]

September 25, 2013

Business

Forecast for U.S. construction value at year’s end dropped due to 3 political uncertainties

Citing three different political situations it expects to cause continued shifting in construction markets, FMI has again revised downward its forecast for overall construction value. FMI, a management consulting and investment banking provider for the engineering and construction industry, dropped its forecast for the U.S. value of construction-put-in-place to end at $909 billion this year. That’s […]

September 23, 2013

Business

CHARTS: Americans don’t pay enough for roads

A great report from The Atlantic Cities brings two charts into focus that do a great job of illustrating why American infrastructure is struggling. The charts were put together by Juan Gomez and José Manuel Vassallo for the Journal of Infrastructure Systems and compile data gathered between 2004 and 2009.   The first chart compares the United States’ […]

September 23, 2013

Roadbuilding

Transportation Infrastructure Funding: Efficiency is necessary but not sufficient

It’s a case of on the one hand/on the other hand. New Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx is saying that his department is “working to improve the efficiency and performance of our existing transportation system” and is “doing so in an era when we must work harder than ever to stretch our transportation dollar.” He […]

July 26, 2013

Workforce

Construction industry lobbyists continue to fight for more guest worker visas as immigration bill moves to House

As the House of Representatives prepares to consider the immigration bill that recently passed the Senate, construction industry lobbyists are preparing for their final chance to increase the limit on guest worker visas offered to the industry. According to a report from the Washington Post, construction industry advocates say more than 200,000 new workers will […]

July 1, 2013

Business

Senate confirms Anthony Foxx as next Secretary of Transportation

In a unanimous vote Thursday, the Senate confirmed Anthony Foxx as Secretary of Transportation, our sister site Better Roads reported. Foxx succeeds Ray LaHood, who announced in January that he would step down as soon as a successor was found. There was little to no doubt that Foxx would earn the confirmation. He breezed through […]

June 28, 2013

Business

Senate Committee approves nomination of Anthony Foxx for Secretary of Transportation

As expected, Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx’s confirmation as the next U.S. Secretary of Transportation is going smoothly. On Monday, the Senate Committee for Commerce Science and Transportation approved his nomination, according to our sister site Better Roads. Foxx’s nomination will now go before the full Senate. The Senate committee’s chairman, Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, urged committee […]

June 12, 2013

Business

Recent talks suggest Congress has put transportation funding on the back burner

After attending last week’s Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) fly-in visit with Congress, John Latta, the editor of our sister site Better Roads, writes that the overall feeling among the contractors and agency officials that were there is that lawmakers do not share their sense of urgency about securing funding for transportation infrastructure. “A common theme they heard […]

June 11, 2013

Business

Arrest of excavator operator in Philly building collapse raises questions about marijuana legalization, contractor regulations

After an investigation of what caused the demolition of a downtown Philadelphia building to turn deadly, a 42-year-old equipment operator named Sean Benschop turned himself in to authorities Saturday night after a warrant was issued for his arrest. According to the Associated Press, a toxicology report found that Benschop was allegedly high on marijuana as […]

June 10, 2013

Business

Believe it or not, most Americans think good roads are more important than their iPhone or TV

To say the findings of a recent study reported on by our sister site Better Roads are a bit shocking is an understatement. Maybe the understatement of the year. Be honest. If you had access to a swath of the American population and could ask them what they value more than their iPhone or cable […]

June 5, 2013

Business

Construction spending up 0.4% in April despite another dip in government spending

Spending on construction projects in the United States rose 0.4 percent in April, continuing a volatile trend in 2013 of ups and downs, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department Monday. After dropping 4 percent in January, spending rose in February only to drop again in March. But in April things are back […]

June 3, 2013