I asked Grok, and it's a pretty interesting answer:
If all the money sent to Ukraine by the U.S. during the past four years was used in the U.S. to repair roadways, how many miles of U.S. roadways could have been repaired with that money? 15 web pages Determining exactly how many miles of U.S. roadways could have been repaired with the amount of aid sent to Ukraine involves several assumptions about the cost of road repairs:
Total U.S. Aid to Ukraine: According to various sources, the United States has committed approximately $175 billion in aid to Ukraine since the start of the invasion in February 2022. However, not all this money goes directly to Ukraine; a significant portion is used within the U.S. for military production or other domestic expenses. For simplicity, let's assume the full $175 billion was available for road repairs. Cost of Road Repair: The cost to repair or resurface one mile of roadway can vary significantly based on the type of road, whether it's a rural road, urban street, or highway, and the extent of repair needed. According to some estimates, the average cost to resurface one mile of a two-lane road in the U.S. can be around $1 million to $2 million. Assuming $1 million per mile: With $175 billion, you would be able to repair 175,000 miles of road. Assuming $2 million per mile: With $175 billion, you would be able to repair 87,500 miles of road.
These estimates are rough and do not account for:
Variability in Repair Costs: The actual cost could be higher or lower depending on factors like terrain, traffic levels, and the need for additional infrastructure like drainage or utility adjustments. Efficiency and Overhead: The actual spending efficiency, including administrative overhead, could reduce the effective amount available for direct road repair. Type of Road: Highways or more complex urban road systems would be more expensive to repair than simple rural roads.
Therefore, with the $175 billion, if used solely for road repairs at an average cost of $1 million to $2 million per mile, the U.S. could have potentially repaired between 87,500 to 175,000 miles of roadways, although this number would vary based on the specifics of the road projects in question.
How many miles of U.S. roadways are currently in need of repair 6 posts 15 web pages According to various sources and reports, the number of U.S. roadways in need of repair has been consistently highlighted:
One in five miles of highways and major roads, which amounts to around 173,000 miles, are in poor condition.
However, if we consider broader sources and data:
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has reported that about 43% of America's public roadways are in poor or mediocre condition, which, given the total of about 4.09 million miles of roadways in the U.S., translates to roughly 1.76 million miles in need of some level of repair.
Another source mentions that nearly 2 million miles of roads in America need repair, although this might be an overestimation or could reflect a different metric or interpretation of "need of repair".
Given these numbers, it's reasonable to conclude that between approximately 173,000 to 2 million miles of U.S. roadways could be considered in need of repair, with the exact number dependent on how one defines "repair" and the standards applied to assess road condition.
My follow-up question was how many single family homes could have been constructed with that money: 500,000 homes
And Grok stated that the total number of homeless people in U.S. was estimated by HUD to be 653,104. Since there are many homeless families, it seems that the Ukraine money could have been used to build a house for every homeless person!
To build a fence across the entire U.S. - Mexico border:
If we use these figures:
At $6.5 million per mile: 1,954 miles x $6.5 million/mile = ~$12.7 billion At $25 million per mile: 1,954 miles x $25 million/mile = ~$48.85 billion At $46 million per mile (a higher estimate often cited): 1,954 miles x $46 million/mile = ~$89.884 billion
And the Ukraine money would have funded the entire U.S. Dept of Education for two years. There are so many things that money could have been used for (not that I think Dept of Education is a good expenditure :) )
Maybe even 1,000,000 units for the new 15 minute city.
Makes you wonder too. Why this Ukraine plan and not the prison city plan?
How much of that money would have been embezzeled by the state DOTs and the unions working on those roads where they will somehow take two years to do a single mile.
Yes, when it comes to tax money, I've found that it is either spent incompetently, or corruptly. And when it comes to most elected officials, they are either corrupt, or incompetent, and usually both.
Yeah, in my small city there was a quarter mile of road that sat "under construction" for nearly 4 years. When I did go by I never saw anyone working, just equipment parked there. Then one day it was suddenly finished.
I have come to the conclusion that all local governmental officials are stupid or corrupt. Or both.
"In the first place, God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made school boards."
Luckily :
"There is no sadder thing than a young pessimist‚ except an old optimist."
Both Twain-isms
Don’t forget, a lot of those road companies finance people onto the county/city/state boards to have “their guy” writing bond proposals.
The foreign owned company "working" to expand a road I travel for several years never completed the job. It's been re-bid I guess bc it set for awhile abandoned before work started again. An interstate highway. You go to a major city and that work is done within weeks ot seems.
Ask Grok how much money we have spent on the support of illegal aliens in the last 4 years, I bet it's also in the billions.
You asked, Grok answered:
Total for 4 years: Low estimate: $66.4 billion (2023) + $100 billion (2024) + $120 billion (2021) + $130 billion (2022) = $416.4 billion High estimate: $66.4 billion (2023) + $120 billion (2024) + $120 billion (2021) + $150 billion (2022) = $456.4 billion
So we should be happy such a small amount was spent on Ukraine :)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QPQwFFcCBXk
Arrgh, it's worse than I thought. It's about time for a Boston tea party, but instead of throwing tea overboard we throw I#egals
Don't forget about all the times US agencies have accidentally sent money to Ukraine that bypasses all the procedures and records that need to be documented
Grok corrected me when I said "sent to Ukraine" rather than "spent on Ukraine" :)
Raytheon et al Thank You
Short answer? ALL. OF. THEM.
Remember the money given out during the covid19 scam? Locally, they used the money to add a roadside curb on a road with wide shoulders at a junction with another road. When I say this stupid curb wasn't needed, believe me.🙄😡 They just wasted that money. Why not use it for something you really need? Most government officials are just dumb and corrupt.
all of them in perpetuity
About 3 in Oklahoma.
With DEI, about 6 miles of highway repaired, or zero homes as more land has to be burned out first.
But on a serious note, good post as leftists wasted American money on what could have been put to good use.
Shoukd have given it to japan, we'd have gundams by now
Wow I actually love facts like that. Who knew? At the same time it’s disgusting the choices made with our tax dollars and knowing it’s really not to help Ukraine but to feed the ever growing corruption. 2 Days!! LFG! 🇺🇸
Forget roadways, I wanna see a decent functional passenger rail network re-established. The railways which used to exist across America are one of the main reasons many small towns and rural communities even exist in the first place and their absence is the reason many of them are sadly in slow decline.
Re building the rail network could be such a massive boost to the economy as well. If all production was done domestically, not only could we revitalize the Rust Belt but could bring back a ton of manufacturing jobs to the US.
Yeah, but I'm not really buying the line by politicians that they need to raise taxes to repair roads an bridges. Isn't that supposed to be coming from the gas tax? If it's not then let's get rid of both state and federal gas tax.
Originally, California's gas tax was only used, BY LAW, for the roads.
That was changed decades ago. The tax now goes into the general fund.
SOP: Every government promise gets broken, and that is pre-planned.
Every homeless person in America could've had a new home and a new car.
I'll take 'ALL' for 1 Billion, Alex.
That's a lot of lost wages for the workers and lost money to the outfits that do the work. It would all stay in the US and taxes paid on it also. We're not talking chump change here. Can we do a class action suit against the democrats that took us to the cleaners?
The more you look into the waste, fraud, theft, and abuse of Federal tax money, the sicker you get!
How many houses could we have rebuilt for those that lost theirs thru no fault of their own? It's easy to say, "they should have had insurance" except insurance is a game and I personally know people who HAD full insurance when a hurricane hit, house was tore up and the insurance company went bankrupt a week later. Those people deserve to be made whole, especially places like East Palestine where the disaster wasn't even "where you live" and was wholly the fault of govt.
I'd much prefer rebuilding Americans homes than paying Ukraines govt salaries and pensions.
Just give me a simple number!!!