2008 Woodie Awards
STAFF EDITORIAL: Spending on state a good investment
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Opinion
When we send senators to Washington, D.C., we send them to make our state better by the most efficient means possible.
Often, they fail at this. The short-term solution is Washington has been the ongoing use of "pork-barrel spending" - sending money home for pet projects - for decades.
We're glad Sen. Ben Nelson has found another way to spend federal funds in direct support of our state, help to foster work and keep wealth spread out among taxpayers.
Yesterday, Nelson made his commitment to long-term economic development and investment clear when he urged the United States Senate to double the amount of funding to $7 billion for infrastructure improvements.
"If we are going to do additional economic stimulus, then we should invest, not simply spend, taxpayer dollars," he told the Lincoln Journal Star.
Well said, Senator.
We've known about the positive economic benefits of government infrastructure projects since Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal in response to the great depression.
These projects provide huge economic demand, especially in the areas of construction and engineering, which provide good business for our local contractors and firms.
They provide a means through which government can both better serve society and provide jobs to people who can benefit heavily from them.
Obviously, there come times when government infrastructure projects are simply put in place to provide jobs. The WPA ran circus construction projects, for example, and paid artists and writers to come up with new material.
There are plenty of people who can't stand the idea of the government "giving out money," as they see it. But this isn't a question of some bureaucrat doling out welfare checks at random.
It's a system by which to make government work for people on as many levels as possible.
Those infrastructure projects have merit today, too. Nelson pointed out that 42,000 jobs are created for every $1 billion invested in infrastructure, according to a study by the Federal Highway Administration.
Often, they fail at this. The short-term solution is Washington has been the ongoing use of "pork-barrel spending" - sending money home for pet projects - for decades.
We're glad Sen. Ben Nelson has found another way to spend federal funds in direct support of our state, help to foster work and keep wealth spread out among taxpayers.
Yesterday, Nelson made his commitment to long-term economic development and investment clear when he urged the United States Senate to double the amount of funding to $7 billion for infrastructure improvements.
"If we are going to do additional economic stimulus, then we should invest, not simply spend, taxpayer dollars," he told the Lincoln Journal Star.
Well said, Senator.
We've known about the positive economic benefits of government infrastructure projects since Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal in response to the great depression.
These projects provide huge economic demand, especially in the areas of construction and engineering, which provide good business for our local contractors and firms.
They provide a means through which government can both better serve society and provide jobs to people who can benefit heavily from them.
Obviously, there come times when government infrastructure projects are simply put in place to provide jobs. The WPA ran circus construction projects, for example, and paid artists and writers to come up with new material.
There are plenty of people who can't stand the idea of the government "giving out money," as they see it. But this isn't a question of some bureaucrat doling out welfare checks at random.
It's a system by which to make government work for people on as many levels as possible.
Those infrastructure projects have merit today, too. Nelson pointed out that 42,000 jobs are created for every $1 billion invested in infrastructure, according to a study by the Federal Highway Administration.
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