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“RINO” = I disagree with the last thing he said.

Precisely. Too many conservatives have gone over the edge and become purely reactionary - which allows them to be even more manipulated. It's crazy. Sometimes spending is actually needed - repairing roads, bridges, and expanding airports seems like a good idea to me - just like replacing our military infrastructure as well.

If there's going to be any spending, then spend it on things that benefit ALL people, and build the nation and its economy - that's actual, hard infrastructure - not food stamps and subsidized housing and bailing out big union companies.

In fact, highways and airports ARE a Constitutional domain of the Federal Government - they are used for postal roads/delivery of mail, and per Article 1, Section 8, Clause 7 of the US Constitution - Congress gets to establish postal roads - roads (and I would assume ports as needed as well) for delivery of mail. That's the highways and airports.

Keep the infrastructure spending on these things - get rid of the social welfare spending that eats up 100% of the Federal Revenues and is actually unconstitutional.

...Sometimes spending is actually needed - repairing roads, bridges, and expanding airports...

...In fact, highways and airports ARE a Constitutional domain of the Federal Government - they are used for postal roads/delivery of mail, and per Article 1, Section 8, Clause 7 of the US Constitution - Congress gets to establish postal roads - roads (and I would assume ports as needed as well) for delivery of mail. That's the highways and airports.

Let's take an example. NJ. We have Newark Airport. It's not a postal road. It's primarily for commercial air travel, it also moves freight (many flights move freight along with passengers, but people don't know that). Ok, do you have any idea how much wealth and how many large corporations are in NJ ? Now, I can hit NYC with a rock from Newark airport. Any idea how much wealth is flowing around there ? Look at how many large infrastructure projects in the NYC-metro area are funded by a wonderful little thing call bonds. NJ issues bonds, NYC does, there are so many public utility/transportation/infrastructure bonds issued it would make one's head spin. Investors - big funds, instituttional investors - the whole of the American capital markets - they all jump in and buy these bonds.

So if I need $50 billion to put in an airport, do I need Feral government "grant" money ? No. But if it's offered to me for free, in addition to all the other capital I raise to build my airport, do i take it ? YES ! ABSOLUTELY.

And I say - THANK YOU CONGRESSMAN _______ . Me and and my investors thank you for the financial handout that you gave us that improvied our ROI - for FREE ! And by the way, all the UNION guys, they send their best as well. They'll be sure to do some legwork come next election, and go out and crack some heads, or drive vanloads of people to vote for you, the bringer of free money to our district. Ssshhhh, we just won't tell the rubes voting for you that it's because of our FREE money scam that their taxes start to get oppressive the minute they start having any comfortable amount of income, and our whole little government tax-and-regulate-cabal is the reason why their jobs have gone overseas.

The Congress has INSINUATED ITSELF into the whole "infrastructure" industry.

If NJ used IT'S OWN money to pay for Route 80 within NJ, then, when it got into PA, PA used IT'S OWN money to maintain Route 80 within PA, etc..... it would be very affordable. It is very possible. The Feral government has many smart people thinking that building a highway is like building a space ship - only governments can possibly afford it. Wrong. The private sector has MORE MONEY than the Feral government. It has to - that's where the Feral government gets IT'S money from. The only reason the government had to fund the space program is because it did not have a reasonable payoff at that time - it did not make economic sense. It was a political effort, "let's prove we can do this" but far before the technology was cheap enough and the uses were there to make it worthwhile.

Is it Constitutional ? Absolutely not. Post roads were needed only because, again, there was no earthly reason why businesses at the time would create roads in certain places where they were needed for the mail to get through. Mind you, these were dirt roads, horse and buggy trails, not spaceships and airports. Should the postal system be run efficiently ? Of course. That's why much of the trucking they need is OUTSOURCED to guys with trucks who want to make a buck. This clause is merely saying that Congress is permitted to fund road building for the Post Office if the private sector has not already built roads where the Post Office needs them and there is not earthly reason why they would build the roads needed, given that getting the mail to that dude living way up on the mountain is the only reason a road is needed up on the mountain. That's the opposite of saying Congress can and must build all interestate roads, used for private sector passenger and shipping traffice, just because a few times a day a Post Office vehicle drives over that same public road.

Of course, nowadays almost every house has a road leading to it - for private sector reasons. So, plainly speaking, the road-building phase of the country - IS OVER !

What we really see here is the States that keep re-electing the same Congressmen over and over, so their Congressmen have SENIORITY and become POWERFUL COMMITTEE CHAIRS, are more effective at wrangling around other Congresscritters and getting more Feral funds sent to their own state than other States who don't have such finely-tuned State political machines. So we've been having a 150-year race to see who can bilk the Feral government out of the most money. And where does it get it's money from ? Well, the old slick willy congresscritter just smiles that smile, and shrugs, and says well, I guess we just need to raise more taxes. But I'm a man of the people - I will just tax those evil rich folks !

We all know the drill...

IMHO.