Editor, Gazette-Journal:

In reading about the deterioration of the Gwynn’s Island bridge and the need for a new one, it seems that the only paradigm under consideration regarding paying for it (or, at least, the preferred paradigm), is to look to Washington, D.C., where, supposedly, the money for the new bridge would be found in the jobs bill—if only that dysfunctional Congress were to pass the bill. This seems to be the editorial position taken by the Gazette-Journal.

This inclination to nationalize the expense of a new bridge strikes me as the latest manifestation of a popular tendency to view the federal government as a backstop to whatever ails us and for whatever we want. If it were defensible to look to "Washington" to pay for a new bridge, the money would come from the good folks of Natchez, Tupelo and Portland (via taxes) and from those unsuspecting folks in the neonatal units in hospitals across the country (via borrowing). Here’s a bold idea:...