On the Bailout special this Sunday, I talked about how I’d spend maybe $250 billion on buying out troubled mortgages, but that I’d spend maybe $500 billion on a massive infrastructure program.

Building and rebuilding roads, schools, bridges (not including the “bridge to nowhere”) would put people to work with real jobs that pay real wages. It’s a lot better to get a solid income with benefits than a one-time $1,000+ check.

Here’s an email I just received:

“Your suggestion for a $500 billion upgrading of the US’s infrastructure to serve as an economic stimulus in place of checks to taxpayers or “bailouts” meets my sniff test. We spend the money just like the bailout, but the nation ends up with better roads, new bridges, safer airports, more secure ports, and a host of other improvements. Make it a trillion and we won’t even have to pick and choose what projects we fund.

Now, how do we get the politicos to act like public servants protecting our interests instead those of themselves and their cronies?”

Do you agree? What do you think we should spend $800 billion on in order to offset the (now global) recession?

Published: Oct 6, 2008