The Federal Highway Act of 1956 had its roots in President Eisenhower's experiences as a participant in the Transcontinental Motor Convoy in 1919 as a Lt. Colonel (brevet) and in his observations of the benefits of the German autobahn system. He saw the need for a more developed national highway system to allow the efficient movement of men and materiel around the country in the event of a foreign invasion, as well as the ancillary possibilities in terms of urban/suburban commute times as local highway systems were incubated by the national project. Whatever one thinks of the outcome of the growth of highways, and there have certainly been some major downsides, the IHS unquestionably became one of the most significant federal programs of the 20th century.
With credit to Balloon Juice commenter Stevious, who got me thinking about it, I was wondering how our tea party friends would have reacted to the idea of the Interstate Highway System, had they been around in 1956. Here are a few possibilities. Please use the comments to add your own.
The Paul: "Who is the government to tell me I have to drive on a paved road?"
The Confederate: "Oh, an interstate highway system! Well, so much for state sovereignty!"
The Reason magazine pseudo-intellectual: "There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution giving the federal government the power to build highways. Don't you think that if the Founders of this nation had intended for the federal government to construct massive paved highways on which people could drive their automobiles, they would have included an explicit reference to it in our founding documents?"
(or, shorter, the O'Donnell: "Can you tell me where in the Constitution it says 'Interstate Highway System'?")
The Palin: "Gosh, we just need to send a message to Washington that we're not gonna let them interstaten our high roads, and forcing our children into the slavery, also too, and expanding that freedom of our foreframers as we so choose, also."
The Palladino: "Will it have porn on it?"
The D'Souza: "Clearly these dangerous programs reflect Eisenhower's Kenyan anti-colonialist leanings."
The Beck: "You know who else had a national highway system? HITLER, that's who!"