The point I would make is that fixing a pothole improperly costs more in the long run then it does to do it right in the first place. A couple of 5 gallon buckets of Tack, A Broom, and a Plate compactor are going to cost less then continually having to redo the potholes, not to mention the damage done to vehicles which governments handily grant themselves immunity from financial responsibility! A plate compactor can be reused over and over again and costs around $800. Obregon is not that poor of a city!
Pointing to other poorly managed road repairs is not an argument to waste money elsewhere on EITHER side of the border. Defending waste and/or incompetence in any government boggles my mind.
Lastly if that 17 Trillion had been spent on our roads we would have the best roads on the planet. (But that's another discussion). I have never been a supporter of deficit spending......BAD things eventually happen and our day of reckoning is coming.