A troubled infrastructure

Re “Rough roads ahead for Congress,” Aug. 9

The endless fiasco in Iraq is costing so much that politicians now claim there aren’t enough funds to repair America’s infrastructure. Their solution, as always, is to throw good money after bad by raising taxes, rather than eliminating the unnecessary expense of a futile war.

Four things are certain about any proposed “temporary user fee” on gasoline: It won’t be temporary; its existence will embolden politicians to use even less general-fund money to repair roads and bridges; the new targeted “trust fund” soon will be raided for projects having nothing to do with infrastructure; and it won’t remain only a penny per gallon.

James Dawson

Woodland Hills

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If our elected representatives truly cared about us, they would implement the simplest and most effective solutions that could be done immediately and not wait for the inevitable fight over pork. All bridges in the U.S. are inspected and graded under a standardized criteria. Our representatives should copy the way the L.A. County grades restaurants and require bridges to have their latest safety grade posted at all entrances. Agencies big and small would magically find money to protect us.

Michael P. McKelvey

Agua Dulce