oberstar: we need to restore the construction grant program. we need to invest substantially more, on the federal government side, as an inducement to states and local governments to make the investments they need to make. man: but the federal role is going to continue to be diminished because of so many competing demands. so the expectation that the federal government will step in and infuse a lot of capital into water infrastructure, i think, is doubtful. and whether they should or not, i think, will continue to be debated. narrator: where money continues to be elusive, some cities and towns are turning their assets over to private companies, hoping the private sector can find the solutions they cannot. man: in the u.s., roughly 90% of all water and wastewater systems are still publicly owned and publicly managed. the remaining 10% are managed by privately held companies. man: the private sector has learned to become very efficient, and frequently a municipality can save themselves a significant amount of money by bringing in a private compan

oberstar: the federal government has let down municipalities. the first investment under the '72 clean water act was to deal with the biggest waste streams. and after a period of six or seven years, to then go to municipalities under 250,000 population. but that was just about the time when the federal government converted to a loan program. so smaller-sized communities have had to deal with repayable loans. a larger cost on a smaller tax base, and, arguably, less affluent communities. man: sewickley township is a rural farming community, however, herminie itself would be considered to be the downtown area of the township. it's the agways, the auto-parts store, the bank. it's your typical small-town village. man: people think that rural areas are pristine and perfect and everybody has a nice, simple life. that's, uh, not exactly the situation here. when you come into town in the summer, you know you're coming to herminie. woman: the aroma in 90-degree days... can sometimes just want to knock you over. woman: we have water. we have power, we have

why don't the republicans, like this republican, like theiate jim oberstar works they bounced out ofongress last year, why don't they support what they say? he says he's for building and fixing bridges and all but his leadership isn't pushing this bill. >> you're getting the good cop/bad cop experience here. he's the good cop who says, i want a six-year highway bill, and john boehner's the bad cop and says, i can't find any money to do it. they know where the money is. they could tax people over $250,000 in income. they could take away that tax break right now. they could take away money from the oil companies. they have had prsts out the window, and there's plenty of places that they could take money, but they will not make the effort to get the money. they do not want to do it. it's just that simple. >> okay, look, thank you, gentleman. i think that's the answer. thank you, congressman jim mcdermott. thank you, congressman aaron schock. i agree with you about road building. let's do it. >>> up next, obama derangement syndrome. the latest example. hank williams jr., i don't believe

oberstar: all the water there ever was or ever will be is here on earth today and it's our responsibility now, at this time, in this generation, to protect it. that must be our legacy to the future. >> about four years ago, [inaudible] look at how beautiful this was. there is our relationship to the planet. these regions are the wealthiest, the most powerful. that really has impacted the planet. it is almost impossible now to go anywhere and had it really be completely dark. there are very few locations that you can find. that means our relationship to the sky, there is a way where we dominate the sky. we cannot see anything really. we are blinding ourselves in a way. >> you can look at the images, they are beautiful. when i started four years ago, there was a conversation about environmental issues that was very different. this is not being talked about in the way it is now. . this has just been like an amazing growth. i anticipate the project to be something that opens a dialogue to public interest in these ideas. so the work is really made to be seen in this environment. it's been show

oberstar, my predecessor and i made a pledge to do that in a bipartisan manner.py about the way that some of the money has been spent. actually some agencies have done a good job. the faa has done a good job in getting the money out and also responsibly. i don't know of any instances. i would love to hear because we will investigate that and it will be pursued and i make a note of it for our staff to check out. >> host: you are on the house transportation committee and john mica. regarding the actual title that on the screen about the deficits and transportation, i am wondering why is there such an emphasis in this day and age on the development of high-speed rail? obviously high-speed rail is a phenomenon that applies as the occupied wall street people would say for the 1%. and a lot of the use of high-speed rail is in this day and age it could be much more easily handled simply by teleconferencing, saving a few and saving of large amounts of money. i don't -- i'm not quite sure what the purpose of the president's emphasis on the high-speed rail could catch up w

oberstar and i pledge to do that in bipartisan manner. i'm not happy about the way some of the money has been spent. actually some agencies have done a good job. i think faa has done a great job in getting the money out and also responsibly. i don't know of any instances. i would love to hear because we will investigate that and it will be pursued but, and i will make a note of it for our staff to check out. >> host: robert, new york city, you're on with house transportation committee chair john michael. >> caller: yes, good morning, mr. mica. >> guest: good morning. >> caller: regarding the actual title that is on the screen about deficits and transportation, i'm wondering what, why is there such an emphasis in this day and age on the development of high-speed rail? obviously high-speed rail is a phenomenon that applies as the occupy wall street people would say, to the 1%. and a lot of the use of high-speed rail is for things that in this day and age could much, could be much more easily handled by simply by teleconferencing, saving fue

oberstar and die, -- and i, while we disagreed on the gas tax, and many around the country and associations and industry did it -- but we had a pretty good agreement to do a very substantial bill, and obama came in and said even he would not support that. so, that is off the table for the president. it appears it is off the table for congress -- the house and senate. speaker boehner and leader cantor are working to try to find additional revenues, maybe from some oil revenue sources where it can be a little more predict -- predictable and adjustable so it is not always diminishing. you drive further and you pay less, it does not actually work. it has to be equitable. so, we are looking at a way to fund this because, again, with all of the schemes they come up with, probably nothing between now and election or next year will put more people to work than a sound transportation bill. and we can do that on a bipartisan basis, i believe. host: chairman mica, if the deficit reduction committee does not come to an agreement, automatic cuts will go into effect. well that heard transportation? guest