By the end of next year Americans will likely be sick and tired of hearing the word "infrastructure."
Rebuilding of the nation's highways, mass transit systems and power grids hardly cracked the top hundred issues during the 2008 presidential campaign. But all along, through primary season and the general election, President-elect Barack Obama was a cheerleader for stimulating the economy by spending on tangible public works projects.
You don't need a Ouija board to discern that "infrastructure" is going to be the political buzzword of 2009. All the forces are aligned for a renewed enthusiasm for spending on roads, bridges, transit lines and other projects that will keep yielding benefits for decades to come. Don't count on any more stimulus checks subsidizing purchases of imported flat-screen TVs.
For one thing, infrastructure spending is in the tank now. Transportation money has dried up in states all over the country. The federal Highway Trust Fund is running on fumes. Maryland State Highway Administrator Neil Pedersen is wondering whether his agency will be able to keep up with basic maintenance after the next round of revenue projections. The overall economy looks just as bad - with unemployment rising sharply. In Maryland and other states, transportation agencies have fully designed projects on hold, lacking the money to start up the tractors.
Obama is on the record as a supporter of creation of a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to invest $60 billion in projects over the next 10 years. With a Democratic Congress, he should have little difficulty in creating and funding such an enterprise.
Politically, it's a likely winner. In addition to being a unifying issue for liberal and moderate Democrats, a massive commitment to infrastructure would also pick up the support of important Republican-leaning constituencies such as contractors, trucking firms, manufacturers and utilities.
Even with 365 electoral votes in his pocket, Obama would surely relish the prospect of expanding his base even further. Seizing the legacy of Dwight D. Eisenhower from the Republican Party could help accomplish that goal. So would forging an alliance with Republican governors such as California's Arnold Schwarzenegger, a big booster of infrastructure spending.
The advantage of infrastructure spending for a liberal-leaning president is that it doesn't carry the whiff of welfare. It appears hard-headed, practical and anything but effete. Cutting a stimulus check? "Girly-man" stuff, Schwarzenegger would say. Rebuilding a bridge? That's macho stimulus.
