Infrastructure
To follow up on serial catowner's post below, one thing I've not mentioned enough is the federal Dodd-Hagel bill to create a National Infrastructure Bank.
Obama's on board, and Hillary Clinton's a co-sponsor as well. The Campaign for America's Future has a good overview of the legislation:
Perhaps most importantly, the selection criteria required by the National Infrastructure Bank would encourage the federal government to undertake projects that are significant to the country’s long-term well-being: rather than stop-gap measures to repair existing problems, such projects would take into account new challenges like climate change, the growing importance of urban areas, and the need for more affordable housing, while at the same time confronting the more typical concerns associated with economic growth (increased air, highway, and port traffic). A database with details about each infrastructure project and its funding would provide at least some public oversight.
- Frank's blog
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Actually an important topic that most of us don't know how to talk about.
The US was founded on a very simple premise- the government has land to sell, and can always get more. Thus the government could be funded in spite of people not being willing to pay taxes. By a happy coincidence mechanical power exploded exponentially at the very time that the frontier was closed, and it turned out that a moderately prosperous citizenry would almost mindlessly consent to a taxation rate of 10-20%.
That the sovereign must be of independent means is a pretty sturdy conclusion of history, nicely illustrated by the problems of sovereigns who needed money. In America the sovereign power is our power of self-government.
IOW, we rely on the assets of our government to ensure our independence, and we need to make sure that what we spend on infrastructure today is creating an asset we want to own tomorrow. Just as events are going to the next level with the carbon buildup that accompanies industrialization, we need to take our analytical game to the next level in understanding the long-term consequences of what we do.