Mallika+&+Ryan

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Aff questions: jasmine1227@gmail.com

1AC – Economy

 * Contention 1 – seaport competitiveness**

Since the birth of our nation, U.S. seaports and waterways … including landside and waterside access to seaports. We cannot wait.
 * The Panama Canal expansion will fundamentally change seaborne commerce – US ports require __new harbor deepening__ or they won’t be able to compete for post-Panamax ships**
 * Bridges 2011 –** Chairman of the Board of the American Association of Port Authorities and Executive Director of Virginia Port Authority (Jerry A., “Testimony of Jerry A. Bridges Chairman of the Board of the American Association of Port Authorities and Executive Director of Virginia Port Authority before the United States House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Hearing: the Economic importance of Seaports: Is the United States Prepared for 21st Century Trade Realities?”, October 26, 2011, [| http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/Media/file/TestimonyWater/2011-10-26%20Bridges.pdf)//MM]

__The White House on Thursday put Port Miami’s long-awaited dredging project …“____Today’s announcements focus just on expediting all remaining federal reviews//.”//__
 * Obama has expedited approval for projects, but not allocated funds – aff is still inherent, but you don’t have any DA’s.**
 * Morgan and Rabin 7/19** – Miami Herald reporter, environment reporter (Curtis and Charles, “White House Speeds Up Permits, Offers No New Cash For PortMiami Dredge Project”, The Miami Herald, July 21 2012, [])CB

Dawers 7/19 - JULY 19, 2012 1:44 AM by [|BILL DAWERS]-Savannah Morning News ([]) MK We were already expecting the final approval this fall … __faster approval process__ than had been previously promised.
 * Executive order doesn’t guarantee faster approval or funding**

Szakonyi 12 — associate editor of the Journal of Commerce (Mark, “The Hill Ramping Up Dredging Efforts”, Journal of Commerce, 5/7, ProQuest) EL __The push by U.S. ports for more federal dredging dollars …__ more meaningful long-term decisions.
 * The federal government’s __uncertain commitment__ prevents new projects**


 * 3 Internal Links to the economy**

Just like the nation itself, __our maritime industry …__ our inland waterways transportation system.
 * A. Perception of federal commitment key to foreign investment**
 * Calhoun 11** -- President of Cargo Carriers (Cargill) and Chairman of Waterways Council, Inc (Rick, “DREDGING FOR PROSPERITY”, Marine Log, August, ProQuest, []”) EL

It seems the U nited S tates willingly allows infrastructure … the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) is utilized to maintain federal navigation channels.
 * B. Seaport Competitiveness- it’s 3 trillion dollars and a quarter of the GDP**
 * Nagle, 11** --- president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Port Authorities (December 2011, Kurt, Industry Today, “Association: American Association of Port Authorities; Port-Related Infrastructure Investments Can Reap Dividends,” vol. 14, no. 3, @http://www.industrytoday.com/article_view.asp?ArticleID=F370)

) NK Exports Could Contributeto the Rebalancing of the U.S. Economy … can be part of the solution to many long-standing difficulties.
 * C. Exports**
 * Istrate et al, 10** -- senior research analyst and associate fellow with the Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative (Emilia, "Export Nation: How U.S. Metros Lead National Export Growth and Boost Competitiveness", July, Brookings, []

Reynolds, 8 - Economics Graduate @ Tarleton State University (Jackie, “W.W.K.D”, 11-28, [] While little consensus exists as to what caused the current economic crisis … __economic growth__ ? There’s no shortage of answers.
 * Government stimulus creates growth – it incentivizes investment and consumer confidence**

For another, on a substantive/policy-driven level, there's value in knowing … Recovery Act comes from the left -- it was too small.
 * Numbers prove the first stimulus worked, we just need a bigger stimulus**
 * Benen 6-7-12** - Article refers to Elmendorf, director of the Congressional (Steve, “Case closed: the stimulus worked”, The Maddow Blog, June 7, 2012, []

The reason why __ America has such large trade ____ … will be forced to with-draw back to the USA __.
 * We’re on the brink, US is falling behind---multiple warrants**
 * Porteous 6** 2/26, *RUCE PORTEOUS is currently Head of Financial Risk with Standard Life Bank in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has a degree in Mathematical Statistics from Edinburgh University, Scotland, and postgraduate degrees, including a PhD, in Mathematical Statistics from Cambridge University, England, “The Coming Economic Collapse,” http://www.rense.com/general69/econm.htm, AJ

Today, economic and fiscal trends pose … leading the world toward a new, dangerous era of multi-polarity.
 * Boosting economic competitiveness is vital to preventing military retrenchment – risks great power wars**
 * Khalilzad, ’11** – Bush’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the UN and former director policy planning at the DOD (Zalmay, “The Economy and National Security”, National Review, 2-8-11, [])

McCoy 10 –Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, BA from Columbia and PhD in Southeast Asia History from Yale (Alfred, “How America will Collapse (by 2025)”, SALON magazine, 12/06/10, [] Counterintuitively, as their power wanes…defeats that only accelerate the loss of power.
 * Hegemonic decline risks imperial lashout – net worse than their turns **

__The downward spiral the United States …__ as a benign hegemon serving their own interests.
 * Your turns are non-unique – even anti-hegemonic authors agree the US will always try to maintain hegemony – only a question of effectiveness**
 * Mearsheimer 11** John J. Mearsheimer, the “R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago” Jan/Feb 2011 “Imperial By Design” http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0059.pdf

[Niall, “A world without power,” Foreign Policy 143, p. 32-39, July-August] So what is left? Waning empires. … from such a not-so-new world disorder.
 * The alternative is apolarity – that causes extinction**
 * Ferguson, 4** – Professor of History at New York University's Stern School of Business and Senior fellow at the Hoover Institution

In the postwar period, US power and prestige… should concentrate on the following priority measures.
 * Strong US growth is key to the economy – alternatives fail and lead to conflict**
 * Posen 9** – Deputy director and senior fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (Adam, “Economic leadership beyond the crisis,” [])

Continuing calls for curbs … as the beginnings of a new world war.
 * Protectionism will cause terrorism and global wars – risks extinction**
 * Panzner 8** – faculty at the New York Institute of Finance, 25-year veteran of the global stock, bond, and currency markets who has worked in New York and London for HSBC, Soros Funds, ABN Amro, Dresdner Bank, and JPMorgan Chase (Michael, “Financial Armageddon: Protect Your Future from Economic Collapse,” p. 136-138)

1AC – LNG

 * Contention 2 - LNG**

Economists at a recent forum disagreed … but it won’t necessarily be a game-changer.
 * The Panama Canal expansion means the US will try to export liquid natural gas to Europe**
 * __ Eaton, 2012 __** – reporter for the Houston Business Journal (Collin, “Economists differ on Panama Canal expansion's impact “, Houston Business Journal, May 29 2012, []) MGD

Shipping Capacity The successful export of LNG will depend … in a dramatic decline in shipping costs to Asia. 40
 * This requires increasing US harbor deepening to be successful **
 * Ebinger et al. 12** -- Task Force Co-Chair of Brookings Institution Natural Gas Task Force("Evaluating the Prospects for Increased Exports of Liquefied Natural Gas from the United States", January, p. 15, Brookings, [|www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/1/natural%20gas%20ebinger/natural_gas_ebinger_2.pdf)//GP]

__Europe will watch the debate … it manages to frack in its own backyard.__
 * Expanding US LNG exports is vital to ending European gas dependence on Russia **
 * Hulbert, 5/26** – a Lead Analyst at European Energy Review and consultant to a number of governments, most recently as Senior Research Fellow, Netherlands Institute for International Relations (Clingendael), was previously Senior Research Fellow at ETH Zurich working on energy and political risk. He started work in the City of London, advising on energy markets and political risk, as Senior Energy Analyst at Datamonitor for leading global utilities, and headed up the Global Issues Desk at Control Risks Group, specializing in political risk, geopolitics and security analysis for multinational companies, governments and institutional investors. He was also seconded to work in Washington, D.C., to enhance CRG's political risk offerings in North America. (Matthew, “Why American Natural Gas Will Change The World”, Forbes, **5/26/12**, []

__The lack of reliable and sustainable European access to energy …__ that is determining the price of gas in Georgia.
 * Russia’s monopoly on natural gas threatens Eurasian security and pro-democracy efforts**
 * Baran, 7 -** senior fellow and director of the Center for Eurasian Policy at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. **(** Zenyo, “ EU Energy Security: Time to End Russian Leverage,” THE WASHINGTON QUARTERLY AUTUMN 2007, [])

First, __trade and globalization have reinforced the trend toward democracy…__ a general war in Europe is now unthinkable.
 * Democracy and Trade Solve War**
 * Griswold 5** - Director of the Cato institute center for trade policy studies (Daniel, “Peace on earth? Try free trade among men,” 12/28/05, [])

IN THE early 1990S, after the Iron Curtain lifted… **__nationalist Russia is on the rise.__**
 * Dependence on Russia causes Instability**
 * Asmus, 8** - Executive Director of the Transatlantic Center at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in Brussels, From 1997 to 2000, he served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Ronald, “ Europe's Eastern Promise; Rethinking NATO and EU Enlargement,” Foreign Affairs. New York: Jan/Feb 2008. [])

In the current election season … **__bone__** __than the old dogs of the Cold War would wish **to chew** on.__
 * That results in Nuclear War**
 * Mcdermott 11** - specializes in Russian and Central Asian defense and security issues and is a Senior Fellow in Eurasian Military Studies, The Jamestown Foundation, Washington DC, Senior International Research Fellow for the Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Affiliated Senior Analyst, Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen. McDermott is on the editorial board of Central Asia and the Caucasus and the scientific board of the Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies. He recently wrote The Reform of Russia’s Conventional Armed Forces: Problems, Challenges and Policy Implications (Roger, “General Makarov Highlights the “Risk” of Nuclear Conflict”, 12/6/11, The Jamestown Foundation, []


 * Central Asia is a geopolitical hub –means escalation is guaranteed**
 * Sahgal and Anand 10 -** * former Army officer who created the Office of Net Assessment in the Indian Joint Staff, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses and ‘Distinguished Fellow’ School of Geo-Politics at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
 * (Arun and Vinod, “Strategic Environment in Central Asia and India”, []) ****GP**
 * The geo-strategic salience of Central Asia … ** __outside powers to interfere in their internal affairs____.__**

1AC – Plan

 * The United States federal government should substantially increase its expedited investment in port deepening projects in the United States**.

1AC – Solvency

 * Contention 4 – solvency**

Over time these constitutional responsibilities … be recognized and prioritized.
 * The federal government is key – port infrastructure is under __federal jurisdiction__ and federal action is vital to __leadership__ **
 * AAPA, 11** - AAPA represents 160 of the leading seaport authorities in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 300 sustaining and associate members, firms and individuals with an interest in seaports (American Association of Port Authorities, “The U.S. Government’s Historic Role in Developing and Maintaining Landside and Waterside Connections to Seaports”, March 2011, []

First, the funding level of the Corps of Engineers’ … we can meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
 * Regulations mean any absent federal expedition, new projects will take __decades__**
 * Nagle, 2012** - President and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities (Kurt J., “Testimony of Kurt J. Nagle President and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities Before the United States House of Representatives Appropriations Committee Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subommittee”, Budget Hearing- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Assistant Secretary, Chief of Engineers, March 7, 2012, []

Like many nations, __the United States will be challenged …keep America’s economy strong for generations to come.__
 * Federal leadership is vital to expediting new projects and coordinating federal agencies – it creates faster infrastructure development**
 * Woodley Jr. 8** — Chairman – PIANC (Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses) USA (John Paul, “Dredging key to keeping nation’s economy afloat”, Seaports Magazine, [], Summer) EL

Harvey, 11 – Professor of Economics @ TCU (John, “How to Destroy the US Economy? Balance the Budget,” 6-5, [])AH Situations like the 1930s and today benefit no one. Unemployed workers … not analogous to how a household budget works.
 * Government spending solves every internal link, doesn’t cause inflation, stimulates demand and solves for private sector**

With increasingly larger ships calling the East Coast… critical infrastructure projects is fundamentally broken//.
 * Federal regulations __prevent__ other actors from solving – only federal action to streamline the process and increase funding solves**
 * Anderson, 11** –Chief Executive Officer of the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) (A. Paul, “testimony of A. Paul Anderson Chief Executive Officer of the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) for the Record of the united States House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment Hearing: “The Economic Importance of Seaports: Is the United States Prepared for 21st Century Trade Realities?””, October 26, 2011, [| http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/Media/file/TestimonyWater/2011-10-26%20Anderson.pdf)//MM]

=Neg= Neg questions: rdivers11@gmail.com

Previous 2NRs: Politics and Case, Politics and Devolution CP, Elections and Devolution CP, Predictions K, T-Capital Spending, T-physical infrastructure (vs NIB)