Third World America (32 page)

48
53 percent of the forty-two thousand road fatalities
: Ibid.

49
We are currently spending $70 billion annually
: American Society of Civil Engineers, “America’s Infrastructure Report Card: Roads,” 2009,
www.infrastructurereportcard.org
.

50
By the year 2000, each day, 3.5 million
: Nick Paumgarten, “There and Back Again: The Soul of the Commuter,” 16 Apr. 2007,
www.newyorker.com
.

51
One in eight workers—17.5 million Americans
: Hope Yen, “Recession’s Impact: Census Data Show Longer Commutes, Delayed Marriage, Fewer Immigrants,” Associated Press, 21 Sep. 2009.

52
Robert Putnam, a Harvard political scientist
: Nick Paumgarten, “There and Back Again: The Soul of the Commuter,” 16 Apr. 2007,
www.newyorker.com
.

53
A study by Swiss economists
: Alois Stutzer and Bruno S. Frey, “Stress That Doesn’t Pay: The Commuting Paradox,” Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Discussion Paper No. 1278, Aug. 2004,
www.iew.unizh.ch

54
America’s railway system is speeding down the tracks
: Tom Vanderbilt, “Stop This Train!” 15 May 2009,
www.slate.com
.

55
At the moment, the only high-speed train
: Chris Dolmetsch, “Amtrak Cuts Acela Train Fares to Attract More Leisure Travelers,” 17 Feb. 2009,
www.bloomberg.com
.

56
While in theory the trains
: Nicole C. Wong, “Will Stimulus Funds Put Rail on the Fast Track?” 25 Feb. 2009,
www.bostonglobe.com
.

57
Meanwhile, countries such as Japan, France, and Italy
: Mark Reutler, “How America Led, and Lost, the High-Speed Rail Race,” 31 Mar. 2010,
www.progressivefix.com
.

58
For example, the six-hundred-mile ride
: Randy James, “A Brief History of High-Speed Rail,” 20 Apr. 2010,
www.time.com
.

59
The stimulus bill included $8 billion
: “Obama Wants Nationwide High-Speed Rail System,” 28 Jan. 2010,
www.cnn.com
.

60
$1.25 billion going to a high-speed rail corridor
: Michael Cooper, “Stimulus Plan for Rail Line Shows System of Weak Links,” 22 Mar. 2010,
www.nytimes.com
.

61
Of course, high-speed rail systems
: Matt Van Hattem, “High Speed Rail in the Northeast: Beyond the Corridor, Slow Trains Get Some Help,”
Trains Magazine
, 28 Jan. 2010,
www.trains.com
.

62
So while this new investment is a start
: Tom Vanderbilt, “Stop This Train!” 15 May 2009,
www.slate.com
.

63
According to the Department of Transportation
: American Society of Civil Engineers, “America’s Infrastructure Report Card for 2009: Bridges,” 2009,
www.infrastructurereportcard.org
.

64
The problem is pretty basic: The average bridge
: Ibid.

65
It was May 2002, and Webbers Falls
: Tim Tally, “Up to 12 Feared Dead in Bridge Collapse,” 27 May 2002,
www.bgdailynews.com
.

66
Down in the river, towboat captain William Joe Dedmon: Magnolia Marine Transport Company v. State of Oklahoma
, U.S. Court of Appeals (10th Cir. 2004).

67
Up above, a six-hundred-foot section
: “Divers Find 3 Victims from Bridge Collapse,” 27 May 2002,
www.cnn.com
.

68
In an instant, the Arkansas River turned
: Kris Glenn, “Oklahoma Faces Bridge Tragedy,” 29 May 2002,
www.oudaily.com
.

69
“Officials set up a morgue inside city hall”
: Tim Tally, “Up to 12 Feared Dead in Bridge Collapse,” 27 May 2002,
www.bgdailynews.com
.

70
Indeed, the state had the dubious distinction
: Justin Juozapavicius, “Nearly a Quarter of Oklahoma Bridges Need Overhaul or Replacement,” Associated Press, 25 May 2008.

71
In August 2007, the Interstate 35W
: Steve Karnowski, “Contractor Settles with State in 35W Bridge Collapse,” 19 Mar. 2010,
http://minnesota.publicradio.org
.

72
The bridge had been inspected
: Elizabeth Stawicki, “Why Did the Bridge Collapse?” 2 Aug. 2007,
http://minnesota.publicradio.org
.

73
On March 16, 2006, the Ka Loko Dam in Kilauea, Hawaii
: Craig Gima, “Ka Loko Settlement Is Reached,” 30 Oct. 2009,
www.starbulletin.com
.

74
The breach created an ecological disaster
: Diane Leone, “State Keeps Eye on Dams,” 16 Mar. 2006,
www.starbulletin.com
.

75
According to Hawaii congresswoman Mazie Hirono, it was not
: Joint Hearing on National Levee and Dam Safety Programs, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 8 May 2007.

76
There are more than 85,000 dams in America
: American Society of Civil Engineers,
2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure
,
www.infrastructurereportcard.org
.

77
It would take $12.5 billion over the next five years
: Ibid.

78
Plus, of our 85,000 dams, the federal government regulates
: Ibid.

79
In 2007, during congressional testimony
: Joint Hearing on National Levee and Dam Safety Programs, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 8 May 2007.

80
Like any number of agencies charged with protecting
: Harry Shearer, “Fixing the Responder, Ignoring the Cause,” 25 Nov. 2008,
www.huffingtonpost.com
.

81
Instead of fulfilling its responsibility to build
: Harry Shearer, “New Orleans: Where Accountability Failed, Liability Follows,” 19 Nov. 2009,
www.huffingtonpost.com
.

82
The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates
: American Society of Civil Engineers,
2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure
,
infrastructurereportcard.org
.

83
Over the next ten years, there will be a five-hundredfold
: “Fixing America’s Crumbling Infrastructure,”
Free Enterprise: News and Views from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
, Jul. 2008,
www.uschambermagazine.com
.

84
Federal Communications Commission chair Julius Genachowski explains
: “National Broadband Plan: Consumer Survey Results Are In,” 23 Feb. 2010,
www.brookings.edu
.

85
In a study of 120 countries, researchers found
: Iain Morris, “Resilience Amid Turmoil: Benchmarking IT Industry Competitiveness 2009,” Sept. 2009,
www.economist.com
.

86
Even a farmer these days needs high-speed Internet
: “National Broadband Plan: Consumer Survey Results Are In,” 23 Feb. 2010,
www.brookings.edu
.

87
In 2001, the United States ranked fourth among
: Jerome Cukier, “Internet Penetration—Who’s Online?” OECD Factblog, 12 Feb. 2010,
www.oecd.org
.

88
Over one hundred million Americans still
: Julius Genachowski, “America’s 2020 Broadband Vision,” 18 Feb. 2010,
www.huffingtonpost.com
.

89
And while 83 percent of college graduates
: John Horrigan, “Home Broadband Adoption 2009,” Pew Research Center, Jun. 2009,
www.pewinternet.org
.

90
To help close the widening gap
: Tony Romm, “FCC Unveils Executive Summary of National Broadband Plan,” 15 Mar. 2010,
www.thehill.com
.

91
although the National Education Association estimates
: American Society of Civil Engineers,
2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure
,
www.infrastructurereportcard.org
.

92
Among thirty developed countries ranked
: Alliance for Excellent Education, “How Does the United States Stack Up? International Comparisons of Academic Achievement,”
www.all4ed.org
.

93
Even the top 10 percent
: Stéphane Baldi et al., “Highlights from PISA 2006: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy in an International Context,” National Center for Education Statistics, 4 Dec. 2007,
www.nces.ed.gov
.

94
A National Assessment of Educational Progress report found
: National Assessment of Educational Progress, “The Nation’s Report Card,” 2009,
www.nationsreportcard.gov
.

95
In 2001, amid much fanfare
: Robert Schlesinger, “Senate OK’s Education Bill, Win for Bush; New Spending, Required Testing,” 15 Jun. 2001,
www.bostonglobe.com
.

96
But it turned out to be reform in name only
: National Assessment of Educational Progress, “The Nation’s Report Card,” 2009,
www.nationsreportcard.gov
.

97
“Education,” said President Obama
: Remarks by the President at Hampton University Commencement, 19 May 2010,
www.whitehouse.gov
.

98
“Jobs today often require at least a bachelor’s degree”
: Ibid.

99
But rather than rising “to meet the challenges of a changing world”
: Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, “US High School Graduation Rate Climbs to 69.2 Percent,” 9 Jun. 2009,
www.csmonitor.com
.

100
And even those who do graduate
: “Measuring College and Career Readiness,” 2009 ACT National Profile Report,
www.act.org
.

101
Ramon Quintero
: Robert Greenwald, “Rethink Afghanistan,” 21 Apr. 2010,
www.huffingtonpost.com
.

102
Patsy Ramirez
: Ibid.

103
Amy Brisendine
: Ibid.

104
The result is his film
, Waiting for Superman: Scott Weinberg, “Sundance Review: Waiting for Superman,” 24 Jan. 2010,
www.cinematical.com
.

105
He turns a particularly withering spotlight: Waiting for Superman
, directed by Davis Guggenheim, written by Billy Kimball and Davis Guggenheim, release date: Sept. 2010.

106
By way of example, he cites the state of Illinois
: Ibid.

107
In New York, tenured teachers awaiting disciplinary
: Ibid.

108
On average, they remain in this well-paid limbo
: Erin Einhorn, “Teachers in Trouble Spending Years in ‘Rubber Room’ Limbo That Costs $65M,” 4 May 2010,
www.nydailynews.com
.

109
“we could just eliminate the bottom six to ten percent …”: Waiting for Superman
, directed by Davis Guggenheim, written by Billy Kimball and Davis Guggenheim, release date: Sept. 2010.

110
The film charts the connection
: Center for Responsive Politics, Federal Election Commission Data, 16 May 2010,
www.opensecrets.com
.

111
Andrew Coulson of the Cato Institute points out
: Andrew J. Coulson, “The Effects of Teachers Unions on American Education,”
Cato Journal
30, 1 (Winter 2010): 162.

112
“Since 1971, educational spending …”: Waiting for Superman
, directed by Davis Guggenheim, written by Billy Kimball and Davis Guggenheim, release date: Sept. 2010.

113
Based on the Prussian educational model
: Ann O’Connell, “Are We Teaching American Citizens or Training Prussian Serfs?” May 1998,
http://nj.npri.org
.

114
Plus, as President Obama pointed out
: Association of American Colleges and Universities, Greater Expectations Initiative,
www.aacu.org
.

115
In the 1950s, only 20 percent of high-school graduates
: Diane Ravitch,
Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 328–330.

116
“The problem is,” says Guggenheim: Waiting for Superman
, directed by Davis Guggenheim, written by Billy Kimball and Davis Guggenheim, release date: Sept. 2010.

117
“Once again, it’s a question of priorities
: Pew Center on the States, “One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections,” Mar. 2009,
www.pewcenteronthestates.org
.

118
and the number of people living behind bars
: U.S. Department of Justice, “Prison Inmates at Midyear 2008,” 31 Mar. 2009,
www.ojp.usdoj.gov
.

119
In fact, America has more people living behind bars
: International Centre for Prison Studies, “Prison Brief,” Kings College London,
www.kcl.ac.uk
.

120
Sadly, in that prison population
: “Don’t Teach Our Children Crime,” 3 Jul. 2008,
www.nytimes.com
.

121
Bill Clinton started his second term vowing
: Bill Clinton, State of the Union Address, 4 Feb. 1997,
clinton2.nara.gov
.

122
But as of 1999, America’s
: U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, “Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS),” Dec. 2000,
www.nces.ed.gov
.

123
“By the year 2000,” Bush 41 vowed
: George H. W. Bush, State of the Union Address, 31 Jan. 1990,
www.cspan.org
.

124
But 2000 arrived
: National Center for Education Statistics, “Program for International Student Assessment (PISA),” Dec. 2001,
www.nces.ed.gov
.

125
What Abraham Lincoln said: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln
, comp. Roy P. Basler (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1955), 537.