The Internal Revenue Service touts the fact that it resolved 5.2 million delinquent employment tax cases in fiscal year 2007, an improvement over 2002, when 3 million cases were settled.

But at a time when it is estimated that U.S. bridges are in need of at least $140 billion in serious repairs or upgrades, it's eye-opening — and troubling — that more than 1.5 million businesses owe the federal government about $58 billion that they haven't paid up to now.

The funds are those that the businesses in question were supposed to withhold from emloyees' paychecks but never forwarded the money to the IRS.

Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, who requested the Government Accountability Office study that produced the $58 billion figure, said, "Over the past 10 years, $44 billion has been transferred from general tax revenues to cover shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare. That means these businesses are contributing to the bankruptcy and insolvency of programs that are designed to assist our nation's seniors."

Then there's the issue of the bridge needs. It was a report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials that produced the $140 billion figure.

"We need federal intervention, and federal intervention at a big level," said Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, after details of the report were released.

Pennsylvania has approximately 6,000 deficient bridges.

Pennsylvania and the other 49 states would have a bigger window for federal help regarding their bridge dilemmas if a big chunk of that outstanding $58 billion in taxes owed by businesses could be applied to that need.

However, the IRS, which says it has made collecting unpaid taxes supposedly withheld from payrolls a priority, has classified $30 billion of outstanding money uncollectible due to such factors as businesses' bankruptcies or businesses now being defunct.

Still, $28 billion — or some significant portion of that total — would be a meaningful injection into the fight against deteriorating bridges.

Stronger pressue must be applied against the offending businesses that the GAO identified — and those who run or ran them. Under no circumstances is there an acceptable excuse for failure to forward payroll withholdings to the IRS, as required by law.