VIDEO: Maryland Water Main Break Highlights Need For Infrastructure Spending In Federal Stimulus

By GottaLaff

Obama's challenges as the new president remind me of how I'd feel if I invested every bit of myself emotionally, intellectually, and financially in an enormously, hugely, gigantic new fixer-upper mansion, and during escrow, discovered that its roof just collapsed:

This [water main] incident underscores the vital need for including infrastructure funding in the upcoming economic stimulus bill. Maryland, like so many other states, is facing a budget crunch to deal with its much-needed repairs. Gov. Martin O’Malley has been urging President-elect Obama to make an early investment in infrastructure. “Not only would an infusion of funds help keep people employed and create new jobs,” O’Malley said, “it would allow us to deliver infrastructure improvements that will last beyond the immediate economic crisis and benefit generations to come.”

In an interview with Washington DC’s CBS affiliate WUSA9, Montgomery Country council member Roger Berliner stressed the point, saying the state is suffering an “epidemic” of infrastructure breakdowns. “We simply don’t have the money to take care of it,” he said. “We need help from the federal government.”

While President Bush has stubbornly refused to address the need for immediate infrastructure investments, President-elect Obama has expressed his strong desire to make it a priority.

The previous owner of my imaginary fixer-upper could have made at least some of the necessary repairs, but instead, abandoned it for a Texas ranch with an abundance of excess dry brush, and left my family and me to fend for ourselves.