Hood misses the real point

Posted

To the Editor:

In his recent column (“Infrastructure deal did us no favors,” Dec. 2-8) in the News + Record, John Hood once again missed the real point. He states that the federal government shouldn’t be involved in local and regional issues, and goes on to write that roads, bridges, broadband and water systems should be paid for with local user charges and taxes with state and local representatives making the decisions.

The low tax policies instituted by recent Republican majority legislatures and their decision to hoard money in a rainy day fund are exactly why the federal government had to step in. Our roads are not the ones for which our state was once famous, our bridges are deteriorating rapidly, and broadband is not reaching a significant proportion of our population. And that’s not to mention the other positive elements in the Democratic infrastructure law. His adding broadband is especially egregious as it is the Republican-led legislature that has bowed to pressure from the large internet providers and prohibited local governments from making their own broadband arrangements.

Michael W. Cotter
Chapel Hill