In article .com, "charlie" wrote:

but couldn't you state that about EVERY project in the usa that
received (receives) federal funds?

Of course. No doubt you're paying for part of the costs of water delivery in
Indianapolis, too (though not mine specifically, because I'm on a private
well).

are you advocating that there be no
federal money paid for infrastructure in any state?

Yes -- unless it's for a purpose authorized by the Constitution. Building dams
in Arizona, and forcing the people of Hawaii, Indiana, Alabama, and Maine to
pay them goes quite a bit beyond the legitimate authority of the Federal
government.

how much of my
taxes went into providing the interstate road system

Interestingly enough, that's one of the (few) purposes that *is* specifically
authorized by the Constitution.

and water system of your state?

Probably not too much. Indiana isn't in the middle of a desert. We have plenty
of water here, and we don't have to build extensive systems of canals,
aqueducts, and underground storage reservoirs to get water for drinking. Here
in the midwest, we don't build dams across rivers in order to have drinking
water. We build them for flood control -- in short, because we have _too_much_
water, instead of not enough.

could your city afford the cost of the infrastructure to
provide water to you in total?

Probably yes -- but it wouldn't really matter if they couldn't, because it's
pretty easy to sink a well and hit water in Indiana. Anybody who wishes can
hire a well driller and provide his own water.

we in arizona are paying for the trains
in la and dc, along with the levees in la, the airports in every state,

Yep, and so are we -- and we shouldn't be.

the highways in every state, etc.

Again, *that* one is specifically authorized by the Constitution. You might
stretch that point for rail and air as well, because the authorization for
building roads is specifically for the purpose of carrying the mail.

furthermore, we are repaying federal loans that were used to build the
canal from the colorado through our local taxes. and actually, the
farmers from 40-50 years or more ago are the ones who actually paid for
and built the canal system and the dams that formed a lot of the lakes
around here. i would hope that they would have been paid off a long
time ago.

So none of those dams were built with Federal *grants*? Yeah, right.

frankly, you don't know about my individual situation. my local water
provider has a well and storage tank in the property adjacent to my
property. they provide water to about 200 houses in my general
location. some of my neighbors have their own wells. so when you say
'you' receive federal funds, i assume you're speaking in generalities,

Yes, absolutely.

because for sure there were no federal funds used to provide me with
water.

Nor me. Private well, as noted above.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.