The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an editorial entitled Privatization takes a toll which harkens back to the thinking of Dwight Eisenhower to make its point. While the Journal Gazette doesn’t go as far back as I did to Henry Clay’s “American System,” but clearly I approve of looking to past leaders for guidance on the U.S. infrastructure.
The Journal Gazette’s focus is on Gov. Daniels idea of selling or leasing one of our highways (I-80/90) to private companies.
As a young lieutenant colonel in the Army, Dwight Eisenhower was part of an 81-vehicle convoy that spent two months of 1919 slogging over rough roads, mud, bridgeless rivers and other hazards to travel from Washington to San Francisco. It convinced him of the need for an integrated federal system of highways.
During World War II, when he saw how the German autobahn could be used to move U.S. troops into enemy territory, Gen. Eisenhower became more convinced. As president, he fought for and won passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, setting in motion construction of a 47,000-mile web of interstates that continues to fuel the nation’s economy.
Wonder what Eisenhower would think of bids to lease that system to companies based in Spain, France, Italy, Australia and Hong Kong?
Among the downsides to leasing our highways are the costs — profits will likely be made by private contractors by way of higher tolls or decreased maintenance/service. The quest for cheaper routes could put additional strain on local roads. Political accountability provides better safeguards than a lease agreement. (I’m not sure I agree with this last one, necessarily, but certainly I agree with the first two.)
In the previous entry that I linked to, I was discussing public development of broadband, but the same principles apply:
I’m generally a limited government kind of guy, but for infrastructure, I tend to support a strong government presence. I started thinking this way when I first heard about Henry Clay and his “American System.” Government development of infrastructure almost always seems to yield dividends for the public.
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