umm, right, einstein. you are associating the bush administration and the war in iraq/against terrorism with the bridge collapse. Political officials at all levels set priorities with the limited tax revenue they receive. the mn legislature has failed miserably with this task. infrastructure maintenance is the immediate responsibility of the state and locals, not the federal government. it's quite simple, the elected officials chose to fund other projects/priorities (education, in fact, was first on their list), and now it has bitten them in the ass. as for the twinkies new palace, the taxpayers of hennepin county got screwed on this deal, plain and simple (if the tax increase would have been put to popular vote--like state law mandated--it would have been soundly rejected; polled hennepin voters identified more important priorities--infrastructure was near the top). what about the millions hennepin country is spending putting into infrastructure for access to the new venue? are the zillions in revenue (as you suggest will be pouring in) be earmarked for infrastructure improvements for the immediate/secondary areas (let me answer that for you... no). after all, the fans will put a burden on the roadways getting to the games. Again, priorities. blame bush all you want... but it's misplaced anger.