Page after page, lustful thinking

The AIA report on how to spend billions and billions of federal money on local and state projects to help the building and construction trades, many of which no one will want or use (transit, model schools, etc.) or will forget about as it filters through the bureaucracy pipe line for several years (block grants to communities), was supposed to include a "tax cut for businesses." I searched and searched, and finally found it on the final (9th) page.

Repeal Section 511 of P.L. 109-222, which requires federal, state and most local government agencies to levy a three-percent withholding on all government contracts, grants and other payments.

Although this provision is not slated to go into effect until 2011, many businesses are in the process of developing their plans for the next few years and are having to invest funds already in preparing accounting systems to handle the new withholding. In addition, the withholding would come into effect around the time that many economists believe that the economy will begin to recover. It makes no sense to provide economic relief to businesses on one hand and yet punish them for
performing government work with the other.

This is an unfunded mandate from 2005 which could cost some of the building trades more than their margin of profit. Certainly worthy of cutting, but I doubt that it's enough to offset the huge gorging of green the architects are craving and the banquet table loaded with pork. The building trades have been under the thumb of the federal government for at least 30-40 years--not as long as the farmers, but they've lost control of their professions. Why are all these buildings, roads and bridges in such tough shape if the government knew how to do everything better 20-30 years ago?