Editorials / Opinion

Seattle Times letters to the editor

Productivity in the United States has fallen

I must respond to the article on the Columbia River Crossing. [“Senators’ deadlock shutters Columbia crossing,” NW Tuesday, July 2.]

After years of planning and an expenditure of $175 million the bureaucrats in charge of this debacle declare failure, close down the study and walk away.

Gen. Eisenhower and his staff planned and successfully executed the Normandy Invasion, one of the most complex operations ever attempted, in June of 1944. This was only two and a half years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, the U.S. produced more than 276,000 aircraft plus countless munitions, vehicles, etc. required to wage war.

Now, our “leaders” appoint committees, perform staff studies, spend millions of our tax dollars, reach no workable design for the bridge, declare failure and walk away.

Any business that wasted $175 million of stockholder’s funds would be bankrupt and the company officers could be criminally charged for failure of their fiduciary responsibility. This is a gross waste of resources by our “representatives.”

Has the great United States of America come to this?

Robert Jones, Federal Way