States Consider Leasing Roads as Upkeep Takes Toll

(NEWSER) - Birther "crazies" are fueling ugly confrontations at town hall meetings about health care reform, complains Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. “The birthers are a perfect slice of people who have lost their rationality" whose "obsession is hurting the Democratic process," he said on Hardball yesterday. The so-called birthers insist President Obama is an undocumented alien despite "clear evidence" that he was born in Hawaii, said the Democratic governor. They're "absolutely nuts," he added. More»

Prez plots $8b high-speed train network

(NEWSER) - America's railways are about to get a huge handout: At today's signing of the stimulus package, $8 billion will be allocated to high-speed rail. Though the money will be divvied up according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's master plan, the expansion is truly President Obama's pet project, reports Politico. "The president wanted to have a signature issue in the bill, his commitment for the future,” said Rahm Emanuel. More»

Subprime crisis has officials scrambling to pay for infrastructure

(NEWSER) - As subprime fallout ripples across the country, several states are planning to increase road, bridge, and tunnel tolls, and not by mere pennies, USA Today reports. The George Washington Bridge, for example—which lets New Jerseyites into the Big Apple—will raise its rush hour price from $5 to $8 for cars, and $35 for trucks. One official defended the move, saying, "People view highways as free, but they're not." More»

Critics balk as states privatize highways to raise capital

(NEWSER) - Cruising the Goldman Sachs Turnpike might not be as futuristic as it seems, Time reports, as more states lease highways to private companies to raise quick cash for infrastructure needs. And backlash didn't stop Indiana from grabbing $3.8 billion for a 75-year lease on the Indiana Toll Road. States and localities are considering 71 such projects, worth $104 billion. More»