There's another example of cash-strapped public agencies entering into questionable deals with private sector opportunists. The horrific deaths of nine people in Washington DC last week, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and elsewhere, are at least indirectly linked to "tax advantage...

Americans tend to think about transportation in competitive terms: freeways versus subways, cars versus buses, rails versus airports. Certainly, the debate on economic stimulus spending has been argued along these lines. While state representatives and industrial groups advocate for "shovel-ready" projects such as new roads, bridges and tunnels, city planners...