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Anyone viewing pictures of cheaper home insurance recent Minneapolis area bridge collapse on I-35 was saddened, stunned, and probably given pause to reflect on their own daily travels. It could happen to me! My family! Here in my town! How could this happen in 21st century America? Who discount Prozac to blame? There is always somebody to blame, isnt there?

These are but a few of the comments and perspectives I have seen and heard since the tragic collapse. The immediate response from the ruling and media class was to call for Maryland Lemon Laws money to be invested in infrastructure. Always more money, the starving government is continually on a penurious diet forced upon them by stingy taxpayers. Give me a break.

Last night I viewed a documentary television program on the building of the Great Northern Railroad. The line was envisioned, built and funded by James J. Hill. Mr. Hill used private funds solely to construct the 1700 miles of track, bridges, stations and spur lines that became The Great Northern railroad. He was not a distant tycoon, managing the business operation from afar. Mr. Hill spent almost everyday in the field actually supervising the construction of the hard drive recovery service project.

The Great Northern was an engineering marvel. It was the northernmost of the main east/west lines built after the Civil War and was key to developing and populating the northern tier of the United States. The line was an engineering marvel, built through a vast wilderness and traversing the treacherous Rocky Mountains. Work was principally done by hand with dynamite and nitro-glycerine used as blasting agents. A key stretch of 670 miles of track and infrastructure was laid during a 15-month period alone.

Contrast this with public works projects we all view daily as we weave along our neighborhood streets and highways. Orange barrels line miles of highway, on each side, restricting traffic flow, and on many, many days, not a bulldozer, asphalt truck or workman is in sight. Jobs remain unfinished for many years. Mean while, usually in near proximity to this inactivity, we can watch whole subdivisions constructed, shopping venues go up and private property developed with speed, craftsmanship, on time (or early) and on (or under) budget.

Why the obvious disparity in work rate, productivity, and quite simply, bang for the buck that we view in private versus public development. My observation relies on the old saw; its other peoples money.

Jim Hill had his own money at risk in order to build the Great Northern railroad, get it operational and commence generating revenue and profit. Public projects face no such pressure. They are built with taxpayer, other peoples money. These projects seem abstract, faceless, and bureaucratic. The taxpayer has been numbed to the inefficiencies of government at all levels and has come to tolerate a significant amount of incompetence. This incompetence they would never tolerate in their private commercial dealings.

State and Federal Highway funds are generated each time we buy a gallon of gas, buy a license and buy a vehicle. Trucks pay heavy levies to use public right of ways. Billions of dollars are available each year. In addition Congress and State Legislatures pass highway bills and earmark funds for special and pet projects. And yet, when a bridge collapses, the first chirp we hear is a call for more tax payer monies.

Incompetence, bureaucracy, layers of red tape, endless studies and simple mismanagement result in these billions of available taxpayer dollars producing far too little in public works. Indiana recently sold the Skyway Bridge to an Australian/Spanish concern for over a billion dollars. The Skyway, from Gary to Chicago, was a constant construction snarl for years. Why would a private concern buy a supposed white elephant like this toll bridge? Simply because they will run it more efficiently, keep ahead of maintenance issues, eliminate bureaucracy and turn a profit.

Before 1983 100% of the gasoline taxes collected were devoted to highway maintenance and construction. Then the Congress, the same Congress now seeking more highway taxes, began to devote a significant portion of the gas tax to mass transit projects. The result of this co-mingled revenue is a distortion of the delivery of transit benefits. Formerly adequate funding for roads has been utilized to promote light rail and pet mass transit projects that cannot otherwise support themselves.

The Los Angeles subway is a perfect example. Politicians lusted for this boondoggle. It was built and nobody came! Light rail projects have worked almost nowhere they have been built, and yet, they are constantly proposed for cities as an alternative to road construction, as a means to aid the environment and lighten traffic loads. The goal is laudable, the reality and results are laughable.

The mismanagement of the Big Dig in Boston is another very visible example of government at work, or more accurately, not at work. This public works project was many years and billions of dollars over budget. Once finally completed, the tunnel, under the Charles River, sprung leaks. Lawsuits have been filed, fingers pointed, blame placed. I maintain that a private concern, contracted to perform the construction of the Big Dig tunnel in downtown Boston, given a profit incentive, would have finished on time (or sooner) and on budget (if not under). As it is, local, state and federal taxpayers have been forced to bite this smelly bullet.

The loss of life as a result of the I-35 tragedy is horrible. The failure of the span is a major commercial blow to the Twin Cities economy. The rebuilding will be a major inconvenience to commuters. However, the bridge did not fall because of a lack of public funds. The very agencies that are crying for more funds are directly responsible for the lack of maintenance, inefficiencies, bureaucratic bungling and mismanagement that results in such a debacle.

There are better ways to build and maintain infrastructure. Unfortunately, we, the taxpaying citizenry, are too complacent to demand the same level of competence and efficiency we expect when we buy a carton of milk, a sofa, or build a simple sunroom on a home. We have seen the enemy, and he is us.

Geoff Chocolate has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, Inc. ( duquesamarketinghttp://duquesamarketing) has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrep

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