Seeking sustenance in stimulus wishes

The federal stimulus plan is still in the oven, but it's made folks hungry across the country.

The $800 billion package being cooked up by President Barack Obama and Congress has already been claimed - many times over - by governors, legislators and mayors starved for money to repair crumbling infrastructure.

There is a piece for everyone: tax cuts, roads, bridges, schools, scientific research, health care for low-income people, "green" energy jobs, unemployment benefits, college grants and early education.

All those possibilities have officials from town halls to legislatures drawing up menus for spending. Those wish lists primarily focus on infrastructure improvements. The leading bill calls for about $90 billion, an amount that may grow as Democrats press for fewer tax cuts and more spending.

But the bill is almost certainly doomed to fall short of the hyped expectations - it just can't satisfy everyone's appetite.

The National Governors Association has compiled a list of $136 billion in transit, port and energy projects.

Not to be outdone, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has a $97 billion list, including everything from sidewalks for Acworth, Ga., to streetlights for Zanesville, Ohio. Worcester, Mass., is looking for a new swimming pool; Pasco County in Florida has $1 billion in road and utility needs; a community college in North Tonawanda, N.Y., is hoping to reforest its campus.

Norfolk has filed $363 million in suggestions, including funds for light rail, programmable thermostats and improvements to Brambleton Avenue. Virginia Beach's $950 million list includes work on Laskin Road and Nimmo Parkway, a tennis court replacement, beach replenishment and an animal control facility.

Let's pause for a deep breath and some mathematics.

Virginia is one of 50 states in line for a cut of the $90 billion infrastructure plan, and Hampton Roads will get only a slice of Virginia's share. No city in the region will get $950 million or even $363 million for its projects.

So what's the harm if government officials take a break from laying off staff, reducing library hours and canceling school field trips to cheer themselves up with a peppy little wish list for President Obama?

Maybe such sugar plum spending requests are a perfectly innocent coping mechanism, at a time when everyone could benefit from a little day dreaming.

But it is harder to come up with a coherent, long-range plan for rebuilding the nation's economy when we're up to our necks in wish lists.

The real harm is that the money is a diversion from the issues that face government in times like these. And it lets political leaders off the hook for abrogating their responsibilities.

Undoubtedly, the stimulus money will help. It may build some roads and lay some train tracks. But it will not feed the need for infrastructure improvements, at least not for long.