Heisman Trophy hopefuls are second-stringers compared to congressmen and senators. Politicians can throw money at problems far better than any quarterback can throw a pigskin – and they both involve pork.
Football, though, has more tight ends than Washington has tightwads.
Ready to play receiver for the money being tossed are America’s mayors and governors.
With President-elect Obama talking about a $1-trillion-plus “stimulus package” in January, big spenders in the nation’s capital are already drawing up their post-Christmas wish lists.
Governors lined up first when they met with Obama to ask for $136 billion or more in immediate projects.
But mayors were also fleet of foot. A joint request from the U.S. Conference of Mayors claims they have $73 billion in projects “ready to go.” And, they promise, they will add many more by January! They claim all projects could be started during 2009, providing fast, fast economic stimulus. That’s highly questionable. At best.
Yet the mayors deserve thanks for posting their wish list online. It gives us a peek at their priorities. They include some road and bridge projects that are no doubt important. But there’s a multitude of projects of dubious virtue.
So, what are some of these “vital infrastructure” projects that justify running up even more federal debt? We find 56 requests for museum funding, for starters. They include:
- $35 million for the Music Hall of Fame in Florissant, Mo.
- $35 million for the Scottsdale Museum of the West in Arizona
- $20 million for the Virginia Key Beach Museum in Miami, Fla.
- $26 million for a new museum and exhibits in Meridian, Miss.
- $20 million to build a Minor League Baseball Museum in Durham, N.C.
- $30 million to create a Museum of Contemporary Science in Trenton, N.J.
- $80 million for the Philadelphia Museum of Art
- $1.75 million for the Music Museum of Ponce, Puerto Rico
Parking garages are equally popular. That long list includes:
- $43 million for parking garages in Tucson, Ariz.
- $94 million for Miami to build a parking garage where the Orange Bowl once stood (and where the Florida Marlins plan a new baseball park), plus another $200 million for other garages around town.
- $16 million for parking in Hercules, Calif.
- $85 million for “solar-powered” airport parking in Long Beach, Calif.
And there’s a plethora – over 200 – of bicycle-related requests:
- $5 million for four bicycle paths in Long Beach, Calif. (no indication that they’ll require solar-powered bikes)
- $8 million for citywide bicycle facilities for Miami, Fla.
- $2.6 million for bicycle paths in Lewiston, Maine
- $15 million for bicycle/pedestrian ways in St. Louis, Mo.
- $2.5 million for bicycle paths in Austin, and the same amount for Arlington, Texas
- $14.5 million for new bicycle ways in Salt Lake City
The wrong question is whether these and other projects have merit. The right question is whether they have such overwhelming merit as to justify borrowing and spending an extra $1 trillion on top of the regular bloated federal budget.
If mayors are irresponsible in picking their priorities, will they be any more responsible as watchdogs of how it’s spent?
And who says these are indeed “ready to go”? One $110 million project requested for Tulsa – an additional bridge over the Arkansas River to Jenks and Bixby, Okla. – is neither designed nor approved. In fact, it’s hotly controversial. Regardless of its merits, this Bridge to Bixby does not belong on a list of “ready to go” items. Its inclusion demonstrates the lack of oversight in compiling the mayors’ request list. What else is tucked into the fine print of this 800-page document?
Stay tuned, because there’s more coming. The mayors’ report notes that it only covers 427 of America’s 1,200 cities with populations over 30,000. Soon, it promises, we well have two and a half times more requests to supplement this $73 billion. We haven’t even heard yet from New York City. Or Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, Memphis, Oklahoma City, or even Washington, D.C.
Yet the requests are already big. San Francisco seeks about $1.5 billion for itself. Los Angeles seeks $2.3 billion. Dallas wants $1.2 billion. Tulsa, Okla., wants $725 million.
And why not, when it’s treated as “free” money from Washington? Most cities adopt standards on how they spend taxpayers’ money. Often a public vote is required to approve major projects; usually it at least requires city council approval. Lesser priorities don’t get screened out when accountability is lifted by going straight to the federal piggy bank for money.
Getting the dough from Washington bypasses local and state requirements for balanced budgets. There is no federal requirement to balance the budget, which is why we already have a trillion-dollar deficit this year. It’s still borrowed money, but this is like switching to a different credit card when you exhaust your limit on the first one – and sending the bill to your children.
As the lack of discipline becomes more obvious, the requests pouring in may get even more unusual than Dayton, Ohio’s. They want $1.5 million to fight prostitution, by providing streetwalkers “with resources to leave a life of prostitution.” It’s an open question whether that profession is older than politics or not, but perhaps we should fund a similar program for politicians? It might be worth it.
Democrats’ seething hatred for America
Wayne Allyn Root