The Big-Dig-ulus: Backscratching we can believe in

Boston's Big Dig project began in 1982 as a government-led attempt to fight the near constant gridlock that drivers experienced downtown while on Interstate 93.

The original plan called for the replacement of the rusting, elevated "Central Artery" (I-93) and a third harbor tunnel that would enhance access to Logan Airport.

By 1985, the project had received clearance from environmental regulators and was marketed to taxpayers as a $2.8 billion effort.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), an organization with a checkered history of waste, graft and fraud, ran the project despite its lack of experience in managing a project the size of "The Big Dig".

Over two decades, the project incurred numerous cost overruns, criminal arrests, tunnel leaks, a fatal collapse of a ceiling on a driver, use of substandard materials and documented waste on a grand scale.

Instead of $2.8 billion, the Big Dig will cost at least $22 billion, an eight-fold increase. Taxpayers will be paying the tab until 2038.

Consider the Big Dig in the context of the stunningly large "Stimulus" package. Instead of an estimated $2.8 billion for starters, the corpulent government construction tab comes in at around $100 billion.

It includes transportation infrastructure, which translates to roadways, bridges, public transportation, and airports; renewable energy projects and energy-efficiency initiatives; and upgrades to water infrastructure (both drinking and waste-water systems) as well as flood-protection projects.

Given the nebulous nature of many of the projects -- just what encompasses energy-efficiency, for example? -- it's unclear just how much waste and fraud will result. But one thing is certain: it will range from immense to spectacularly huge.

Furthermore, a little publicized Executive Order rescinded by Barack Obama will result in even more waste and expense.

Obama's action means that 84% of America's construction workers and 25,000 businesses will be ineligible to participate in any federally funded construction projects. Why? Because those workers and businesses are non-unionized.

So why is President Obama rushing to ram the immense Porkulus package down taxpayers' throats before they've even had a chance to read it?

It's called payback to the unions. Obama's executive order limits federally funded construction spending to union shops. The "Spendulus" package is heavy in federally funded construction spending.

The combination is a festival of waste, fraud and mismanagement, topped off with a wonderful return-on-investment for the union bosses. The current Porkulus package is not temporary, is not targeted, and it doesn't create jobs. That's why they're trying to rush it through.

Now that's back-scratching we can believe in!

Related reading: Wikipedia: Boston's Big Dig and The Big Dig comes to an End. Maybe.