Nice thought, if the country weren't a democracy. What most Governors believe are 'shovel ready' jobs are those on the drawing board that need to be done, but, aren't funded yet. Part of that funding is 'the permitting process.'
Permitting processes are very important and contain a 'public response period' most of the time. It allows organizations such as The American Cancer Society, The American Lung Association, environmental and conservation groups and citizen advocacy groups to participate in major infrastructure projects. That Public Response Period is a minimum of 90 days. There are also Environmental Assessments (EA) and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) that have up to eighteen months to be completed of all the groups above and more can and should participate.
There has been 'talk' about reducing the amount of time for EA and EIS to a shorter time period. That is not a good idea and there is no one during this Public Comment Period that wants to be cheated out of their opportunity to participate. Participation of organizations require the memberships to be aware of the topic, meetings on the topic, research and then compilation of the information and approval by the group before any of their participation or reply to the EA and/or EIS can take place. That is the way it is and it cannot be turned into a circus because it will simply spawn more lawsuits.
Mr. Zakaria has to recognize the fact that democracy is a complicated set of circumstances that culminate is something called "The Will of the People." All too often the USA democracy is recognized by legislators and the bills they seek to pass or do pass and the Executive Branch that signs those bills. However, there is SUPPOSE to be a process and not a truncated process that allows citizens to PARTICIPATE. Legislators are NOT SUPPOSE to be god and do as they please. The American people in many ways are cheated out of that opportunity when Legislators take office, as the Republicans of 2010 have, and turn their backs on their constituents and simply pander to the cronies that elected them while manipulating the public opinion of a candidates image.
When infrastructure projects occur they are huge. The dynamics that surround them are huge and have huge impacts. It takes the insight and input of many, many people to bring the best result to the forefront of the project and have it happen well and correctly.
I have one question for Mr. Zakaria, "Does he want the next huge infrastructure project in his back yard to be fast tracked before he or his neighbors or his favorite health charity has a chance to chime in?"
