Even before the bailout, a non-partisan initiative, Building America’s Future, had already called for a similar government expansion, but in funding infrastructure projects.

In Pennsylvania, there are nearly 6,000 bridges in disrepair – the most in the nation. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 39 percent of bridges in the state are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. In the first segment of a five part series on infrastructure in the U.S., NewsHour Senior Correspondent Ray Suarez reports with Blueprint America on Pennsylvania's aging bridges.

Gov. Ed Rendell (D., PA) is an advocate for reforming infrastructure policy and practice in both his state and throughout the rest of America. In Pennsylvania, Gov. Rendell has proposed varying measures to improve the state’s infrastructure, which rates particularly poor in road and bridge quality, from tolling to privatizing public roads.