Time to shore up our infrastructure

Hurricane Katrina and the recent Minneapolis/St. Paul bridge collapse should give politicians at every level of government pause.

For years, professional engineers and managers of every sort have been warning that America's infrastructures are rapidly declining. These include sewer and water system pipes, roads, bridges, dams, levees, over- and underpasses, tunnels.

But the professional politicians, far too many of whom want reelection more than to serve the public interest, have repeatedly avoided the hard decisions to spend tax money on the unseen underpinnings rather than the pork laden and glamorous "get me reelected" programs that offer dubious benefits to society at large.

With each high profile disaster, it becomes more obvious that politicians have the wrong priorities and so does the electorate. Deciding to do the right thing for everyone should be rewarded by reelecting politicians who have the courage of their convictions.

Some especially vocal members of the "I didn't get my rightful hunk of the pork and you're going to pay" part of the electorate need to be voted against. A significant number of losses at the polls would soon teach these "greedy Gusses" that a more balanced view of their place in society would serve their organizations and the nation better.

In the meantime, those elected officials who have an opportunity to do the right thing but don't deserve to be the first ones swept away in these catastrophic failures instead of the innocents whose trust is being rewarded with injury and death. Karmen Brower Calabasas