Washington, Aug 3 -

BOSTON HERALD

By Boston Herald Editorial Staff

Now, don't get us wrong, we agree with goal of the aforementioned state lawmakers that rebuilding the nation's infrastructure is essential to economic growth - and even more to our basic survival. Crumbling bridges, poorly maintained roads and a rail system badly in need of an update require an infusion of cash.

But taxing hard-pressed drivers staring down the barrel of $4-a-gallon gasoline isn't the way to go - not when the federal transportation budget is one of Congress' most pork-laden creations.

This year, federal spending on infrastructure will be in the range of $80 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The problem is that Congress has such a good time earmarking some of those goodies, there's less to go around to meet critical needs. The most obvious example was that aborted Bridge to Nowhere inserted in the transportation budget by the now-indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) - the indictment was unrelated to the bridge, but very much related to his penchant for earmarks.

In the 2005 transportation bill, Citizens Against Government Waste - authors of the annual Pig Book - identified 6,300 earmarks costing more than $23 billion.

Is it any wonder that the federal Highway Trust Fund is running short of cash?

But rather than raise gasoline taxes, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has proposed the Resisting Offsetting with Additional Debt Act. Despite the unwieldy title, the proposal is a good one. The bill would require any shortfall in the trust fund to be covered by rescinding money for some of those pork-barrel projects authorized in 23 different programs created under the rubric of "transportation."

Say, perhaps, that $2.3 million for landscaping a highway in Simi, Calif., could wait. Or perhaps Minnesota, where that bridge fell last winter, might want to redirect the $1.6 million allocated for bike paths and the $1 million for visitor's centers.

And don't even get us started on how the $150,000 for Chicago's Muntu Dance Theater ends up in a transportation bill.

So, if Congress wants to get serious about improving the nation's infrastructure, there are plenty of places to look for some spare cash. And maybe it's time to do that, rather than tapping the taxpayers again.