Gees, I was just reading some stats on this, can't find the article. Going from memory though, about 27% of the highway fund is for debt service, So if Obama offers up 50 billion for dot, 27% right off the top is going to help states with their debt load. Another large chunk (can't recall the number) maybe 18% is going for pensions, health care, etc. Somewhere in that 50 billion though are nickels and dimes for concrete.
The road building and maintenance that those taxes pay for would have to stop, so eventually the roads would crumble and bridges would collapse. I don't think that will do much for the economy.
Thank you. You've put some substance into the numbers that my post was lacking. I've been lambasted by some folks when I made a claim a few years back that all of these gigantic "rebuild America" projects were merely a ruse to fund the pensions and grease the palms of the guys who will "do a feasibility study".
The is the big Liberal myth used to raise taxes. Roads always need fixing....but I don't read of to many bridges falling down