One of the reasons it's so important to get your personal finance world in order is that you can only control so much. But, control what you can and the unexpected won't hurt as much. I'm reminded of this after reading this article that says the tragic collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis last week could lead to higher gas taxes, and thus higher gas prices.

What does the bridge have to do with gas prices? Nothing, at least not directly. However, the collapse is a sign of the nation's old infrastructure, an infrastructure that hasn't adequately been kept up. Most of us don't get all whipped into a frenzy over transportation bills in Congress, but after this, we can look back and see that our nation's highways have been getting horribly underfunded. That will likely change now, and the current suggestion is that the way to raise funds to fix all the bridges in danger is to raise the federal gas tax. That's how the bridge collapse ends up costing you money.

I don't usually like to get political, but I can't help but get a little political on this one. Read the article and you'll see that Alaska House rep and former House Transportation Committee head Don Young is quoted talking about the "potential deathtraps" and saying "May the sky not fall on me" for suggesting a tax might be in order to fix them.

It comes across as if Young has a deep concern, until you remember that this is the guy who threw his weight around when the last transportation bill was being debated in order to try to get a $223 million bridge built in Alaska to reach a small island with 50 people living on it. Read this article "Bridges to Nowhere" and you'll see why people die in bridge collapses and why you'll potentially be paying more to try to prevent such mishaps, while Congress wastes our money on new projects that have no purpose other than to get the Congressman who suggest them re-elected.