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THE BEAST AIN'T STARVING

August 09, 2007

In the wake of the 35W bridge collapse, David Yepsen and others have argued that low taxes have starved essential highway repair work.

Let's go to the pictures:

Source: Congressional Budget Office

In a study released yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office reports that in constant, inflation-adjusted dollars, the federal government is spending more on infrastructure than it ever has - to the tune of $80 billion annually. It's not that there isn't enough money.

It seems likely that the 35W bridge collapse was a matter of misjudgements made at the local level by those in charge of the bridge. There is no evidence that that some heroic whistleblower was silenced for trying to draw attention to an imminent bridge collapse.

If there isn't enough money to cover failing bridges, it's because congresscritters prefer to vote money for shiny new projects where they can cut ribbons to fixing the ones they have. $180 million indoor rainforest, anyone?

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