4 ms·
If you don't trust local municipalities to fund it properly why would you trust the federal government to do so. The federal goverment is just as politically mo
by zaphar 5y ago
If you don't trust local municipalities to fund it properly why would you trust the federal government to do so. The federal goverment is just as politically motivated as a local government and even further removed from the problems than your local municipality.
- echelon 5y agoPlus there are opportunity costs. You can't fund infinite bridges. Perhaps you built too many bridges and some of them don't service enough people to warrant replacement or repair. If you're getting free federal dollars, people don't tend to ask about it. High power people might divert funds to their preferred projects. Or maybe the spending is just outright careless. By keeping the money local, you tie it to local spending and local opportunity cost. There's more oversight, more deliberation, and more care as to how the money is disbursed. They become political talking points, and there's accountability. Not that there isn't a time and place for federally funded projects, but small town bridges probably aren't it.
- ip26 5y agoI think the idea is the Feds are fundamentally more capable at big civil engineering. E.g. the Army Corp of Engineers probably knows a lot more about bridges than your city streets department.
- zaphar 5y agoYeah but the city streets department isn't actually going to repair, replace the bridge. They'll hire an accredited engineering firm who will in fact be at least as competent as the Army Corp of Engineers to build it. Heck the inspections are even hired out for small municipilities. They don't keep on someone on staff to inspect the 5 bridges in typical small rural town rural America.
- boringg 5y agoOr that local private company that won the RFP through a corrupted process because they are friends with the local small town politicians who will cut corners on safety and maintenance while over billing the community.
- throwaway894345 5y agoThankfully special interests are exclusively a local government problem. Imagine if we had this kind of corruption at the federal level!
- throwaway894345 5y agoI think the military stands alone as a semi-competent federal entity, and I don't think anyone is thinking "let's have the military do it" when they're talking about putting infrastructure under federal jurisdiction. Asking ACoE to manage our national infrastructure is like asking the VA to manage our country's healthcare. These things aren't well-aligned with the missions of these organizations.
- throwaway0a5e 5y agoThe big problem with ACOE is that they'll show up and do shit right for the technical definition of right instead of the political one and the local moneyed interests don't like getting steamrolled like that.
- selimthegrim 5y agoGee, wish they’d done that in New Orleans with the levee piers before Katrina