Frank Luntz, of all people, positively gushes over the results of a new poll he’s run about the concerns of Americans on infrastructure spending:
Consider this: A near unanimous 94% of Americans are concerned about our nation’s infrastructure. And this concern cuts across all regions of the country and across urban, suburban and rural communities. Fully 84% of the public wants more money spent by the federal government — and 83% wants more spent by state governments — to improve America’s infrastructure. And here’s the kicker: 81% of Americans are personally prepared to pay 1% more in taxes for the cause. It’s not uncommon for people to say they’d pay more to get more, but when you ask them to respond to a specific amount, support evaporates. (That 74% of normally stingy Republicans are on board for the tax increase is, to me, the most significant finding in the survey.)
Luntz also makes the point that support for infrastructure spending is geographically broad too, Americans understand that infrastructure is more than roads and bridges and that they are clear on accountability:
The poll found that Americans are far less interested in doing projects quickly than in doing them right. “Don’t screw it up” would be a more popular rallying cry than “get it done.” Washington should not mistake the message of the November election and the desire for change with an “at all cost” mentality. In the poll, 61% chose “accountability” as their first or second priority in any government investment — not the creation of jobs (34%) and not that the investment be truly national in scope (25%).
And while Americans want accountability, transparency and citizen input to priorities, they also undestand why infrastructure is so bad:
78% of Americans polled say government is responsible for the failure of America’s infrastructure. They don’t think the problems can be solved in the first 100 days of a new administration in Washington.
As they say, read the whole thing. I’m surprised at those numbers too, but I suspect that when you spend much of your adult life watching your government (at all levels) re prioritize infrastructure expenditures to meet other demands, at some point you get that part of the commons is just deteriorating. Luntz says that this sends a message to Congress especially for the stimulus spending, but I also think that this sends a message to state and local governments who may be receiving some of this money — not only do you really not want to mess this up, you may want to take a hard look at the business of shuffling local infrastructure projects to the bottom of the deck.