Obama Outlines Support for Infrastructure Investments

In a speech given earlier this week in Flint, Mich., presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama outlined his plan for $60 billion in infrastructure investments over 10 years to "leverage private investment" and create two million new jobs. Echoing our sentiment here that great nations build, and that our nation has a proud history of federal leadership in developing infrastructure to benefit our economy, Sen. Obama said:

That's what our Founding Fathers did after winning independence, when they tied together the economies of the thirteen states and created the American market. That's what Lincoln did in the midst of Civil War, when he pushed for a transcontinental railroad, incorporated our National Academy of Sciences, passed the Homestead Act, and created our system of land grant colleges. That's what FDR did in confronting capitalism's gravest crisis, when he forged the social safety net, built the Hoover Dam, created the Tennessee Valley Authority, and invested in an Arsenal of Democracy.

The Illinois senator, whom we have endorsed for president, specifically mentioned passenger rail as one of his priorities. Speaking to the Michigan audience, he said, "We can invest in rail, so that cities like Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis are connected by high-speed trains, and folks have alternatives to air travel."