Independence Minnesota

(The following article is reprinted from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.)

This past Sunday my family and I decided to walk to our local grocery store to purchase a few last minute items for our evening meal. On a whim, I directed my kids to turn onto Bryant Avenue and informed them that there was a scenic bridge spanning the Minnehaha Creek.

 

When we arrived I was mildly disappointed to find that the Bryant Avenue pedestrian bridge was closed. A sign informed us that we could cross at either Lyndale Avenue (two blocks to the east) or Dupont Avenue (two blocks to the west). We opted for Lyndale and agreed to cross at DuPont on our return trip.

 

The following day I was reading our neighborhood newspaper, The Southwest Journal, and I stumbled upon a small article entitled “Pedestrian bridge fix-up could begin soon.” “Hallelujah,” I said.

 

I then read the remainder of the article and my point of view changed, dramatically.

 

Due to the actions of the Metropolitan Council I learned the bridge is slated to receive $382,000 in federal stimulus money. (The project will receive an additional $95,000 from the city for a total cost of $477,000.)

 

Now, I’m no crank or curmudgeon and I’d love to see the bridge safely restored to its former glory as much as anyone but, in its own way, this project is as egregious as the notorious “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska.

 

I fully recognize that the latter bridge was projected to cost a mind-boggling $250 million but this bridge is no less a waste of taxpayer money – it is just doing it on a smaller scale.

 

In one sense it would be easy for me to look the other way and say, “What the hell. The $382,000 bill is a mere drop in the ocean of America’s debt.”Alternatively, I could look the other way and rationalize away the project by arguing that similar projects of questionable merit litter America’s neighborhoods and communities -- from Arkansas to Alaska -- and it’s only fair that Southwest Minneapolis receive its share.

 

But I can’t and I won’t.

 

The national debt now stands at a truly staggering $11.3 trillion -- about $37,000 per person or $148,000 for a family of four. In other words, my family’s share of the national debt equates to just under half the cost of the Bryant Avenue Bridge.

 

The bridge, of course, is only symbol of a much larger problem but it is time all of us, including the residents of Southwest Minneapolis, begin making small sacrifices.

 

In my case, my family and I had to walk two additional blocks to cross the creek at Lyndale. On our return trip was only slightly more burdensome. We crossed at DuPont and I had to carry my son’s bike down some stairs, cross a smaller foot bridge, and then I had to carry his bike back up another flight of stairs.

 

At the time I thought nothing of my actions but, in retrospect, if I have to continue to make such small sacrifices so he won’t be burdened with even a greater share of this country’s national debt in the future, I will gladly do so.

 

And that, in the end, what this is all about: every one of us needs to realize that the massive legacy of the national debt is not simply created by other people. It is created by millions of citizens who are either not paying attention; are actively looking the other way; or, ultimately, unwilling to do without things which really aren’t that vital or important.

 

Bridges are all fine and well but whether they are a $250 million “bridge to nowhere” or a questionable $382,000 “stimulus project,” they are both a waste of taxpayer money and they are taking this country down a slow road to fiscal oblivion and that’s a path I’d prefer not to take.