Detroit Free Press: We need a Fannie, Freddie for roads or something

Apparently having the federal government prop up two entities (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae) that took over the mortgage market and inflated a massive bubble only to burst in their faces causing The Great Recession isn't enough for some on the left. The same model needs to be copied over to roads now. From The Detroit Free Press: Editorial: Transportation disinvestment costs jobs, damages economy

The aging and neglected hardware that binds, sustains and connects this nation is falling apart -- a victim of myopic politicians who can't see beyond the next election cycle. After dwindling for decades, U.S. transportation investments now account for less than 2% of gross domestic output.

Um - didn't the $1.2 trillion stimulus boondoggle (including interest since ever God-blessed penny of it was borrowed) fix our roads and bridges? Wasn't that the purpose? Shovel-ready? Hello? How about the freep demand that we cut back on entitlements then since we are borrowing 40 cents on every dollar spent? Just so you all know where we're at in this day and age: Pic of the Day: The Only Chart You Need To See To Understand Why The US Is Screwed, for the first time in our history just entitlement spending by itself is greater than all federal tax revenues... combined!:

America became an economic superpower largely because of investments in roads, bridges, railways, airports and ports -- many made more than 50 years ago. But in the last decade, America's global economic competitors have planned and built the premier transportation systems of the 21st Century. To avoid slipping even further behind Europe and Asia, the United States needs a transportation strategy for the next decade that will also create millions of good-paying construction and factory jobs.

The construction jobs would be temporary. But I highlighted the above for a reason- when did we fall behind Europe? The economy there has been stagnant for some time now because they are spending too much. And Obama is following the same path to nowhere.

The U.S. is one of the few leading industrial powers without a National Infrastructure Bank to award competitive grants, finance large projects and leverage private capital for multistate and multimodal efforts.

Of that infrastructure bank, Cantor had this to say: Infrastructure Bank Would Be "Fannie and Freddie for Roads and Bridges"

It's another liberal boondoggle with little to no value added. Laughably, this is what passes for bi-partisan with the freep these days:

Creating an infrastructure bank is one of the many solid recommendations made by Building America's Future Educational Fund, a bipartisan group headed by former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Schwarzenegger, Rendell, and Bloomberg. All liberals. In a fiscal sense they are all utter failures. Why would anyone at all listen to them on any issues involving other people's money?

In a report released last month, "Falling Apart and Falling Behind," the group called for a long-term investment of at least $200 billion a year, creating nearly 5 million good-paying jobs for the next decade that can't be outsourced.

So as the logic goes, you pull $200 billion a year out of the economy, tax it, and then put it back into the economy. And this helps the economy because...??? The freeps further 'logic' is anything but:

U.S. infrastructure has lost its top competitive ranking by the World Economic Forum, slipping to No. 15. That means, among other things, poor roads and inadequate mass transit for U.S. commuters, additional hours sitting in traffic -- nearly 5 billion hours a year -- and outdated technology that causes frequent air traffic delays and the world's worst air traffic congestion.

The US is ranked 15 because of the lack of mass transit (read: trains, high-speed rail, etc). Trains won't work here. It's a different country than many of those in Europe where people are sardined into urban environments. And of course, the freep builds u to the obvious - more taxes!:

Without question, Congress needs to raise the federal gas tax. But gas taxes can't keep pace with transportation needs, because people are driving less and acquiring more fuel-efficient vehicles. Moreover, a transportation system fueled by gasoline is unsustainable. New long-term revenue sources are essential and could include fees based on miles traveled, congestion tolls and carbon auctions.

Funny that liberals create their own problems, no? They demand higher mileage and then come out for higher taxes because of the higher mileage. They complain that we need infrastructure because there is too much road congestion, but then want to put toll booths that will exasperate the problem. They demand prevailing wage laws and burdensome regulations that cause road construction to cost way more than it should, and then complain that taxes can't keep up. Do they not see their own contradictions?