Unless you live in Gary, Indiana, you should be angry

The Indiana town of Gary is about to receive a $266,000 federal grant to ameliorate "water ponding" at the airport.

Gary is a nice enough place, I suppose.  I've never been there, but I know Michael Jackson was born in Gary.  I also had a colleague once named Gary and he was okay.  He had a border collie and listened to Phil Collins, which are harmless enough hobbies, I suppose.

But should the federal government be subsidizing airports at any level, even for such a small amount as this?

Shouldn't the airport authority be funding its own improvements?  Who made the decision that taking federal tax dollars from all of the country and sending them to Gary to address water ponding was the most effective use of resources?

More importantly, where in the Constitution does the federal government have the authority to improve airports?  I can see the argument that such airports, in particular the traffic originating from interstate or international airports, might be regulated by the USG- but that's entirely different from compelling the entire nation to foot the bill for drying out a runway.

I am about to get on a plane from Washington and head home to Reno.  This weekend I'll be at the Liberty Political Action Conference fist pumping in support of Ron Paul.  I'll try and keep notes on other unnecessary/unconstitutional projects I see between now and then and report back.