Last week I listened to a segment on the Diane Rehm show about the problems we are facing with our crumbling infrastructure, so it was more than a bit creepy to turn on the TV the other night and see a vivid example of this very problem with the crumbling of a bridge in Minnesota.

The buzz around this issue makes it clear that the need to rebuild the infrastructures on which we depend for our daily lives is going to be a highlight of the upcoming Pluto in Capricorn period. Capricorn is associated with the structures of society and building itself. Dams, bridges, tunnels, subways – many of these were built over 100 years ago with little or no improvements over the years. The failure of the levees in New Orleans were the first reminder that the old infrastructures were in danger, but little attention was paid.

The debacle over rebuilding in Iraq is bound to come to the forefront of discussion now because of the appalling amount of money that is being wasted there and the lack of progress. A recent government audit of Bechtel’s work there showed that less than half of that company’s reconstructions jobs had been completed, and the ones that were finished had staggering cost overruns.

Senators Chuck Hagel and Chris Dodd introduced legislation on Wednesday to fund projects to revitalize the crumbling infrastructure in the US, creating an independent national bank to help finance such projects. Perhaps this will help to alleviate much of the pork spending that goes into earmarks and pet projects. More here.