Infrastructure

Two nights ago Rachel Maddow had a clip about how Oklahoma’s Senator Inhofe nearly killed a bunch of people landing his plane on a closed runway, provoking little more than a light slap on the wrist from the F.A.A. – yet is attacking the F.A.A. anyway.

A trivial bit of arrogance, perhaps, but one more example of a highly effective Republican tactic: turning reality on its head. Nearly kill a bunch of people? Attack the F.A.A. Running against a war hero? Mock his medals. Want to slash taxes for the best-off? Assert – with a straight face! – that “by far the vast majority” of your tax cuts will go to “people at the bottom of the economic ladder.”

And then came this must-see segment on infrastructure. How we rank 23rd in the world – and falling. How the President wants to put people to work with investments to reverse that decline. How the Republicans want to block that.

Our country’s future is at stake in these debates. It’s worth taking a few minutes to watch.

Have a great weekend. And remember: the wealthy are job creators. They must not be taxed as they were under Clinton, when we created 23 million new jobs. They must be taxed as they were under Bush, when we created almost none at all.