US Infrastructure

The Federal Responsibility

The first order of business is the border wall, to be paid for by the federal government with optimism that they will extract half the cost from Mexico one way of another.

 

The second order is infrastructure like the pipelines being built by private investors and the building of natural gas cooling units next to exporting harbors paid for by investors with some government subsidies. These investors are US energy companies who can cut our trade deficit in half in no time.

 

The third order of business is the federal highway system after the repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act that requires union rates to be paid.  This would include bridges in the system.

The rational for this is to provide interstate highways that are currently in need of maintenance and expansion. There are problems with interstates during rush-hours when the interstates are routed through cities and are used by interstate vehicles and the local population. These pinch-points can be solved by building a real bi-pass or by lane expansion.

 

The State Responsibility

States are responsible for the construction of reservoirs to store enough water to provide for crop irrigation and water for the population during droughts.  States are also responsible for building and maintaining water sheds to prevent property damage during floods.

 

States also have state roads and bridges and they are responsible for maintaining and expanding these.

 

Municipal Responsibility

Counties are responsible for county roads and bridges, sewer systems, water treatment, water distribution and storm sewer operations. Counties also have waste removal responsibilities including garbage collection, recycling and land-fill operations.

Cities are responsible for their own roads and storm water systems.

 

Contracts for infrastructure projects should be awarded to the lowest bidder who guarantees the work with a performance bond.

 

This infrastructure should be the top priority of these government entities and should be funded before anything else. 

 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader