Posted by Tina
The Obama Boomtowns, by Joshua Zunbrun
** On Dec. 8, just two days after Obama’s pledge for massive infrastructure spending, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released an 803-page report–a wishlist of some 11,391 infrastructure projects they would love to press ahead with. *** Talk about a dream scenario. Build all those projects, do it with federal money, say you’re rescuing the economy with the spending and, since it’s not your local taxpayers’ money, don’t even stress too much about whether or not the project’s cost effective. *** Sacramento, second on the list, wants to plow $560 million into an assortment of road and interstate projects to take pressure off congested roads. The city would also like $200 million to protect the city from floods by improving levees in the Natomas Basin. Other big safety items include $250 million requested to purchase equipment for the fire and police departments. *** All told, the conference collected lists from 427 cities with $73 billion in proposed projects. The mayors say that with funding they could start the projects and hence start pumping money into the economy in 2009, and finish them by 2010. *** The mayors have big eyes. Those cities that responded would like $17 billion for streets, $15 billion for water and sewage, $13 billion in community development grants, $7 billion for transit systems, $6 billion for energy projects, $4 billion for schools, $4 billion for public safety, $4 billion for airports, $2 billion for public housing and $1 billion for Amtrak infrastructure. ** (emphasis mine)