He saw this kind of problem down the road and wanted to do everything he could to insulate it.

I have not lost contact with him.

I don't think there's any question he did so reluctantly.

The money can then be used only for road resurfacing,

There's a lot of [unused] capacity on that road.

The behavior I'm seeing is typical of Mussolini. The chancellor means well, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.