roads

This is how government works, and how California’s government works the most. They provide crummy public services. Instead of fixing the problems of their own making, officials spend their time punishing us for relying on private alternatives. California lawmakers couldn’t fix the congestion situation even if that were their goal. Worse yet, they use their own failings to justify their real goal: getting us out of our cars and into their lousy transit systems. They won’t succeed, but they have an infinite capacity to make us miserable in the process.

The focus on projects that contribute to GDP growth is what makes the President’s plan workable – or at least worth considering – in this age of massive deficits. Congress should keep the focus there and resist the temptation to siphon money off to boondoggles (like bike paths, parks and trails) that do not produce a return on investment through GDP growth.