Obama weighs in on infrastructure issues

President Barack Obama touched on U.S. infrastructure during an economic speech July 24 at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., pointing out that more than 100,000 bridges are theoretically old enough to qualify for Medicare.

“Businesses depend on our transportation systems, our power grids, our communications networks – and rebuilding them creates good-paying jobs that can’t be outsourced,” Obama said, according to prepared remarks released from the White House. “And yet, as a share of our economy, we invest less in our infrastructure than we did two decades ago. That’s inefficient at a time when it’s as cheap as it’s been since the 1950s.”

Obama added that infrastructure’s needs will only get more expensive the longer the U.S. waits to address them.

” The businesses of tomorrow won’t locate near old roads and outdated ports; they’ll relocate to places with high-speed internet; high-tech schools; systems that move air and auto traffic faster, not to mention get parents home to their kids faster,” he said. “We can watch that happen in other countries, or we can choose to make it happen right here, in America.”