Federally-assisted waste: Story is all too familiar

The federal government does so much to waste our money. One under-appreciated way of doing this is by providing matching funds to help local governments build unnecessary projects like trains and transit. Check out this Reason article about the current push for a streetcar project in Cincinnati.

Oh, and then there was this article in the papers recently about how the federal government is spending $6.7 million to create another Rail Runner station (and transit center) at Montaño Road. Oh, and don’t forget the $5 million (of a total of $7.5 million) the feds put down to fund construction of the bike bridge over the Rio Grande at I-40.

Surely there are better uses for this money with the economy facing major hurdles, the federal government swimming in debt, and the state facing additional, major cutbacks in the coming year?