#45 hasn't produced an infrastructure plan because, just like his faux "health care plan" it does not exist and never will. In this regard, all we need to know that he has no plan whatsoever is contained in his recent statement in which he stated that he sits in the oval office all day with pen in hand waiting to sign legislation. Brilliant! And oh so very, very, very beautifully presidential!
34
Infrastructure remains stuck near the rear of the legislative line, according to two dozen administration officials, legislators and labor leaders involved in coming up with a "concrete proposal"......surely no pun intended. :-)
10
What is McConnell's reluctance to work with democrats? What is it about bipartisanship that scares him so?
33
Another policy failure for the failure that is Donald. There is no infrastructure plan coming from this White House because it doesn't have one. This the same reason there are no White House plans on taxes, healthcare and foreign policy. They just don't have any.
15
Trump is unable to fulfill his duties as President, everything is 'too complicated' my guess is he hasn't read or knows anything about the Health Care Bill. But Trump and his family are making a killing in profits while destroying our democracy and playing tough guy bully in the White House. Mitch McConnell better get a grip if he want's to save his Republican party because enabling Trump will not do it.
22
There is a terrorist at large poisoning our people and no one seems to care. A startling new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) – a leading environmental advocacy group – revealed that 77 million people across 50 states are being served by 18,000 water systems with 80,000 violations of the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). You do not want to know the toxic content of that ‘juice.’ Flint made the news and what should be the criminal behavior of the governor and water district revealed, but the policemen of the past – the local newspapers – are understaffed or simply disappearing so the stories go untold. Third world conditions abound and it’s not Trump’s fault so unmentioned. Need another headline America to wake up?
6
On the anniversary of the I 35 bridge collapse, when people start dying, perhaps they will take a closer look at the politicians they elect and wonder whether they are willing to ask for a tax cut so the next bridge can fall down.
10
A trillion dollars sounds like a lot of money. One hundred billion, not so much. When you then realize that it's really only $20B in actual federal spending, a paltry $66 per year per person, it becomes laughable.
But make no mistake, puny as it is in public investment, it's a very dangerous give-away to businesses. Generations of Americans will pay tolls to these companies to use public facilities.
But make no mistake, puny as it is in public investment, it's a very dangerous give-away to businesses. Generations of Americans will pay tolls to these companies to use public facilities.
13
So your recommendation is? It is always easy to criticize if you don't have to present an alternative
3
Trump interested in infrastructure? Why would he be? He has his own airline to get around to his golf courses. That seems to be his world.
Never mind ours.
Never mind ours.
15
With all this misfiring of the Trump "Make American Great" agenda, why was Schumer groveling on all the broadcast political talk-shows today? 2020 not a sure DNC thing--like Hillary 2016?
3
Terrible. Worst President ever. Can't even get funding from a Republican Congress. Your'e FIRED
16
I am amazed the Times would sensationalize a news story by showing a collapsed section of Interstate Highway in Atlanta when the collapse had nothing to do with infrastructure. A massive fire destroyed the bridge--not any failure to modernize the highway. This could easily have been a new Interstate--the resulting fire 's damage would have been the same.
1
Not all important infrastructure projects are based on modernization. NYC and New Jersey's infrastructure took heavy damage during Hurricane Sandy, these programs fall under infrastructure projects that this administration has to deal with. Same applies to that section in Atlanta, the flood gates in Louisiana, the crumbing bridges from Maine to California.
10
More pieces like this please. Expose the real failures in depth.
15
Another whopper swallowed by his gullible followers. The liar-in-chief needs to fix himself first. If we do see any improvements and that's highly doubtful, they will be privatized so his buddies can collect the tolls. In the meantime, we're
all on the road to oblivion.
all on the road to oblivion.
14
Trump never had any infrastructure project, he never laid out any plans during the campaign. It was nothing more than the PT Barnum barking snake oil and two headed pigs.
Trump's idea of infrastructure programs is selling off our highways and bridges to Trump affiliates while leaving tax payers indebted to these oligarchs. I have yet to see one thing out of this administration that didn't involve profiteering off tax payers.
Trump's idea of infrastructure programs is selling off our highways and bridges to Trump affiliates while leaving tax payers indebted to these oligarchs. I have yet to see one thing out of this administration that didn't involve profiteering off tax payers.
25
Examined closely, Trump's plan is nothing but a way to divest of public assets, privatize them, and give the investors tax credits for buying them. Trump wants to give away America's infrastructure, just as happened when the Soviet Union crumbled, and make it a tax advantage to the new oligarch he creates. One more way Trump is selling out those who he conned into voting for him... they'll be the ones paying the tolls, paying the bills for the new private water systems, roads, and infrastructure needed. Trump can't do anything without finding a way to funnel tax cuts to his cronies and enrich himself and his billionaire buddies.
69
Companies investing in American infrastructure may also be foreign companies such as Chinese companies. They might take on the investment risks and promise to do the work cheaper. If the projects work out to their advantage, they will reap profits from American citizens.
9
Headline: Making America Great, a Trump "priority" is pushed aside.
3
Not unlike congress' unfamiliarity with the reality of the void in health care for their constituents, this would-be monarch has never understood what it's like to wait for a delayed train home, hit a pothole, watch a bridge corrode, wait on a tarmac for 3 hours or find a clean restroom. We elected wolves and the sheep wear red hats, chant slogans, decorate their lawns with rude signs and blame the man who may have been our best chance at fairness in our lifetime.
15
Trump has been putting it all into the family business, interviewing personal attorneys, public relations, and marketing. He's total fraud and astonishingly a lot of people still haven't come to this realization.
What Trump is, is an expert "Thunder Stealer"- he takes credit for the rain, for Obama's recovered economy, for jobs that were committed and in the pipeline for years. He's a thief and a liar, who would throw his own son (everyone except, perhaps his own daughter) under the tires of an oncoming truck if he felt endangered.
Claire McCaskill and Rob Portman felt blindsided because Trump blindsided them. He's the worst president in our history, and the worst human being to ever sully the sheets of the White House.
What Trump is, is an expert "Thunder Stealer"- he takes credit for the rain, for Obama's recovered economy, for jobs that were committed and in the pipeline for years. He's a thief and a liar, who would throw his own son (everyone except, perhaps his own daughter) under the tires of an oncoming truck if he felt endangered.
Claire McCaskill and Rob Portman felt blindsided because Trump blindsided them. He's the worst president in our history, and the worst human being to ever sully the sheets of the White House.
24
It's almost too late for large infrastructure spending. The time was 2008-2011 when unemployment rate was at or near 10% and interest rates were effectively zero. Now the cost of labor is higher and the cost of money is higher. Had Republicans not been so anti-Obama, the country's infrastructure today would have been much better. And they call themselves the ones pro-business.
26
So let it all collapse. What a great idea
Our infrastructure desperately needs intervention. We're not only falling behind first-world countries but far less developed nations as well, and it looks as though "the American Century" is a thing of the past. On infrastructure as on health care Mr. Trump offers nothing but empty promises: a trillion dollar "campaign" rather than a plan underwritten by a federal government whose workings he has never even tried to understand. That his proposal includes "massive permit reform" would encourage contractors to do their work on the cheap, a practice that has bred health and safety problems at many of Mr. Trump's properties. I'm no fan of the claim that "running a government is like running a business"--government and corporations differ in how they work and what they do--but I'm appalled by the notion that America might be run like one of Mr. Trump's businesses. That would put us on a highway to Hell.
13
What Economic Advisor Peter Navarro and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had drafted, on October 27 of last year, was a complete scam--a corporate welfare gift, with American taxpayers paying all, but four percent of. Right now, he needs both hands free to crack the whip on Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, to pass his wonderful Health Plan, on a "Repeal Now, Replace Never" basis!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
5
NY and its neighbors should just forget about the Feds. With Republicans in charge nothing will move forward except selling everything to private investors.
They do not believe the government is capable of doing anything and they staff it accordingly.
Like David Brooks said no thinking ahead for this group - trains, electrical grid, bridges, water / sewage treatment - it may include raising taxes god forbid. We are in brain dead territory with the empathetic McConnell & Ryan in charge.
Only chance is local!!!!
They do not believe the government is capable of doing anything and they staff it accordingly.
Like David Brooks said no thinking ahead for this group - trains, electrical grid, bridges, water / sewage treatment - it may include raising taxes god forbid. We are in brain dead territory with the empathetic McConnell & Ryan in charge.
Only chance is local!!!!
7
Was there ever a doubt that this important and necessary issue would be addressed by this administration? After all, what do the 1% care about roads and public transportation when they have their private jets and helicopters to transport them wherever their whims might desire? Fact is that NO REPUBLICANS seem to care about the fact that our country is, literally, falling apart. Then again, I can't say the example of our own New York, run by Democrats, sets much of an example either because, aside from federal funding to offset costs, we have done a horrible job of keeping our infrastructure in proper working order - hear that Cuomo AND DeBlasio?
2
Where's the wall?
1
What wall?
2
Democrats missed this one last time, maybe single payer, roads etc can get squeezed into the limo next time, if Goldman handles the financing of course. Pass the caviar.
3
Just back from two weeks in Spain & Portugal. Infrastructurally, they're running rings around us, people. I really felt ashamed of our lack of vision and will to sacrifice for the greater good in this country. We seem to have bought into the cut taxes at all costs mentality of the Republican party. But, as another writer alluded to earlier, we have the prettiest aircraft carriers in the world.
24
When I add up the 15% my wife and I pay in Social Security/Medicare taxes (up to approximately $220,000 for us both), 8% in sales taxes (on the $120,000 we spend to live--no mortgage, no car payments), 5% in state income tax, 2% in residential and personal property taxes, and across-the-board 20% federal income tax, tack on 7% for medical insurance, I figure we are paying somewhere over 55% of our income for services and benefits we would be taxed for in Europe.
I can't speak for those couples who make more than $300,000 to $400,000 per year--but I am surprised when I hear how much a politician makes from book advances and realize I pay about the same across-the-board federal rate as they do and they made millions.
I don't know that we in the U.S. pay less in taxes than Europe (although their sales taxes are often over 20%), I think we just get a lot less. Health care alone eats up 20% of our GDP, twice that of Europe. Our defense and national security spending--that which we know about--must consume at least 5% of GDP so we can have $350 million fighters, $16 billion aircraft carriers, and spy on everyone.
As long as the government spends tons of money on things I do not support, like the war-of-the-month club, computer viruses it builds and loses so they can be used on us, and losing track of tens of billions it spends at home and abroad, I am not going to support raising my taxes.
I can't speak for those couples who make more than $300,000 to $400,000 per year--but I am surprised when I hear how much a politician makes from book advances and realize I pay about the same across-the-board federal rate as they do and they made millions.
I don't know that we in the U.S. pay less in taxes than Europe (although their sales taxes are often over 20%), I think we just get a lot less. Health care alone eats up 20% of our GDP, twice that of Europe. Our defense and national security spending--that which we know about--must consume at least 5% of GDP so we can have $350 million fighters, $16 billion aircraft carriers, and spy on everyone.
As long as the government spends tons of money on things I do not support, like the war-of-the-month club, computer viruses it builds and loses so they can be used on us, and losing track of tens of billions it spends at home and abroad, I am not going to support raising my taxes.
5
Trump has never had a "plan" much less a "strategy" for anything. Like his personal and business life, it's make-it-up-as-you-go and if things don't turn out swimmingly fine, then look for someone to bail him out of trouble, or point the finger of blame. 180 days in POTUS Trump's administration, Americans have witnessed an unhinged individual, a narcissist and megalomaniac personality, a pathological liar, and easily distracted (attention deficit disorder) individual who only perceives the world through his prism of "Will this enrich me personally?". United States Infrastructure and how to marshal vision into operable actions is so far-removed from anything POTUS Trump is capable of. Simply put, Trump lacks the managerial skills.
And this is why Trump supporters are a lost cause in my estimation. The very things which would benefit their communities - health care affordability, improved education and building the skills of K-12 students, and creating jobs across many sectors and states of America - tend to get lost in all of the chaff of their fixation on "fake news", xenophobia, and all-around preference for chaos and complaining (no accountability) vs. governing by facts, consensus to bridge political differences, and embrace diversity which makes America great.
Trump will not launch infrastructure programs because many other Americans - people outside core diehards - must share benefits, and ALL Americans (especially the top 1%) pay taxes to deliver a national benefit.
And this is why Trump supporters are a lost cause in my estimation. The very things which would benefit their communities - health care affordability, improved education and building the skills of K-12 students, and creating jobs across many sectors and states of America - tend to get lost in all of the chaff of their fixation on "fake news", xenophobia, and all-around preference for chaos and complaining (no accountability) vs. governing by facts, consensus to bridge political differences, and embrace diversity which makes America great.
Trump will not launch infrastructure programs because many other Americans - people outside core diehards - must share benefits, and ALL Americans (especially the top 1%) pay taxes to deliver a national benefit.
18
Priority? It seems the real Trump priority is Trump.
17
Trump is waiting on the congress to write an infrastructure bill, just like he waits for them to do everything else. He's a worthless jaw flapper.
The thing is the GOP isn't interested in fixing infrastructure unless someone they know can make a buck off it!
The thing is the GOP isn't interested in fixing infrastructure unless someone they know can make a buck off it!
20
If you believe this know-nothing , con artist president has a plan to improve infrastructure, then he has a bridge he'd like to sell you.
19
Whadda surprise. Probably just as well because Trump will try to subvert the bidding process toward his cronies.
9
Such a shame this is...imagine that. When you sign up
a deficit hawk like Mulvaney to run your OMB, what can you really expect when it comes to deficit spending?? Nothing. Zero. No way
What a shock.
Now the question is whether the russian notion of privatizing state
goods such as bridges or roads can work wonders without
anyone noticing the similarities whereby the loyalties
of an oligarchic class are insured/purchased for the right
to loot in a non transparent manner the public of what is its own by right of prior tax payments.
This will be a fascinating measure of how far down the road to
putin capitalism this country has sunk- if it ever gets started.
a deficit hawk like Mulvaney to run your OMB, what can you really expect when it comes to deficit spending?? Nothing. Zero. No way
What a shock.
Now the question is whether the russian notion of privatizing state
goods such as bridges or roads can work wonders without
anyone noticing the similarities whereby the loyalties
of an oligarchic class are insured/purchased for the right
to loot in a non transparent manner the public of what is its own by right of prior tax payments.
This will be a fascinating measure of how far down the road to
putin capitalism this country has sunk- if it ever gets started.
7
Here's a solution for increasing infrastructure spending without raising taxes:
Re-allocate at least $200B per year from the bloated defense budget. Our nation's transportation, communications, and energy infrastructure is more vital to our national defense (and economy) than overpriced and unnecessary weapons systems, the black hole known as Afghanistan, and a moronic border wall with Mexico.
Re-allocate at least $200B per year from the bloated defense budget. Our nation's transportation, communications, and energy infrastructure is more vital to our national defense (and economy) than overpriced and unnecessary weapons systems, the black hole known as Afghanistan, and a moronic border wall with Mexico.
20
The photo of the I85 bridge collapse in Atlanta is misleading. The bridge failed because of a massive arson caused fuel fed fire not because of any kind of wear and tear, overuse or deferred maintenance.
5
If trump were a REAL dealmaker he would wrap tax reform, repatriation of offshore corp funds, infrastructure, lower taxes, and maybe even healthcare into one deal. All or nothing. One fell swoop creating jobs, financed by offshore bought infrastructure bonds, increasing revenues to offset healthcare for as-is or better, he becomes the hero instead of the boob.
3
Trump's priorities:
1) Make money
2) Attain and hold power (to make money
3) Make MORE money
"Infrastructure"? Not on the list.
1) Make money
2) Attain and hold power (to make money
3) Make MORE money
"Infrastructure"? Not on the list.
9
Plan? What plan? Don the Con has, at best, wishful fantasies, but never an actual, thought-out, carefully considered plan.
13
It's not just the big stuff that needs attention. Have you seen our bathrooms in public places? Many sinks and toilets are broken, the hand dryers don't work and they are filthy. Escalators are broken. Try to find a working elevator. I travel often for business and these problems exist everywhere i.e. airports, train stations, convention centers, restaurants, parks, etc. I was just in Cleveland and every restaurant and store I went to was 80 degrees. Even third world countries have air conditioning. It's a miracle to find things that work properly in this country anymore. We are going downhill fast.
9
Project #1 - the NY metro area trains & roads. Trump could pose with his golden shovel tomorrow.
5
Sadly trumps only priority is trump
16
How much does the military invest in attempting to find the most effective means to getting men and equipment to their desired destinations in the most cost-efficient method? Delays cost money. If a government contractor is hamstrung until a needed component is delivered, how many people are just sitting on their hands - at taxpayer expense? One way to improve the use of our tax dollars s to improve and maintain our highways, electrical grid and water supplies.
4
If Trump was a dentist there would be a lot of patients leaving the office with little holes in their skulls.
Has this guy ever done anything well except boast about everything he does well?
Oh, but he's a master developer!
Well, here ya go…
“He didn’t have to manage—we managed. ... It was my company that built Trump Tower. All the design decisions were made by me and my associates. Donald talked pretty.” —Artie Nusbaum, a higher-up at the main construction firm for Trump Tower
Keep talkin' Pres!
Has this guy ever done anything well except boast about everything he does well?
Oh, but he's a master developer!
Well, here ya go…
“He didn’t have to manage—we managed. ... It was my company that built Trump Tower. All the design decisions were made by me and my associates. Donald talked pretty.” —Artie Nusbaum, a higher-up at the main construction firm for Trump Tower
Keep talkin' Pres!
7
The idea that Republicans were about to build infrastructure in this country never occurred to me unfortunately.
7
Infrastructure. Hahahahahaha! Did you really believe Republicans would spend money on something useful? How does linking this to tax-cuts-for-the-rich work as a strategy? There is no link. Let's get on with some big tax cuts before the economy collapses so I can make a killing in the market.
6
Infrastructure comes in many forms and the Flint water disaster is just one part of the equation and although not publicized, it is happening in other American communities as well. While several red states continue to cut taxes to high earners, i.e. Kansas, Oklahoma etc., massive cutbacks in important services and projects are occurring, education and budgets are in a crisis state. I visited a relative in Oklahoma 2 yrs. ago and it reminded me of a 1960s black and white movie with the worst roads I have ever travelled on.
In 6 days of travelling around Oklahoma City, I never saw anything that ressembled public transit. If only Americans, whom have lived only in their own community, had the opportunity to visit other parts of the industrialized world, this important issue and its concerns, would come into focus.
Other than for the very rich who can deal with business on a global basis, not just America, failure to generate the necessary revenue to bring the countries infrastructure up to date will be a long-term economic catastrophe for America.
With their never ending mantra that "government and taxes are evil", to think even for a moment that a Trump/Republican administration will take this issue seriously, is an exercise in utter futility.
In 6 days of travelling around Oklahoma City, I never saw anything that ressembled public transit. If only Americans, whom have lived only in their own community, had the opportunity to visit other parts of the industrialized world, this important issue and its concerns, would come into focus.
Other than for the very rich who can deal with business on a global basis, not just America, failure to generate the necessary revenue to bring the countries infrastructure up to date will be a long-term economic catastrophe for America.
With their never ending mantra that "government and taxes are evil", to think even for a moment that a Trump/Republican administration will take this issue seriously, is an exercise in utter futility.
11
Flint is happening in thousands of water supplies across the country. HR1430, which t rump will sign, is designed to weaken lead (among other) regulations.
8
Does anyone really expect an infrastructure plan out of this banana republic? It's all a lie, along with the rest of "presidente" trump's shtick.
19
How unfortunate and dangerous for this country that infrastructure upgrades are stalled. Take Portland Oregon with:
1) its many bridges crossing the Willamette river and Columbia river, most of which are in dire need of repair or upgrade,
2) the high probability of a powerful earthquake within the next couple of decades that would bring down much of the city's transportation infrastructure (ditto Seattle), including most of the school buildings and older downtown office buildings,
3) the likely massive radioactive spill into the Columbia from the Hanford nuclear reservation adjacent to the Columbia River, following an earthquake.
1) its many bridges crossing the Willamette river and Columbia river, most of which are in dire need of repair or upgrade,
2) the high probability of a powerful earthquake within the next couple of decades that would bring down much of the city's transportation infrastructure (ditto Seattle), including most of the school buildings and older downtown office buildings,
3) the likely massive radioactive spill into the Columbia from the Hanford nuclear reservation adjacent to the Columbia River, following an earthquake.
11
Don't hold your breath. trump doesn't like the west coast
8
I doubt that this incoherent, vapid, policy-clueless "President" even knows how to spell "infrastructure". As they say, all hat (MAGA) no cowboy.
17
Of course a Republican administration will ignore our crumbling infrastructure! Don't just blame Trump for his "pass the buck-ism", he has lots of support in Congress. Why do Republican ignore pressing public projects? #1: they involve government spending (the "problem" in the Republican world view) and #2: it's not for profit. Infrastructure spending is the perfect way to put people back to work at really good jobs that help neighbors and spur economic growth, but that's not part of the Republican game day sales pitch.
10
Just ask Chris Christie how to make a mess with infrastructure. Canceling Hudson tunnel to divert Port Authority funds to replace a bridge not part of Port Authority. Last thing Republicans would do would be to raise gas taxes to do both.
Finally had to raise gas tax but leaving a mess with New Jersey Transit & unfunded new tunnel.
Could have happened with Obama / Democratic congress - no chance now.
Finally had to raise gas tax but leaving a mess with New Jersey Transit & unfunded new tunnel.
Could have happened with Obama / Democratic congress - no chance now.
I saw Chuck Schumer on ABC this morning.. and what do you know. He vociferously proclaimed the Democrats will announce a "new plans" to address the issues Americans care about: Infrastructure, Jobs and Healthcare. Where were these plans during the Hillary campaign? They were so confident Hillary would win- they swept these issues under the rug and double downed on LGBT car dealerships and amnesty for undocumented workers. Don't get me wrong- these are extremely important issues [for liberals with tons of money] but not ones blue collar Americans want to hear. The DNC is ineffectual, disorganized and has no clear plan. Chuck also had an opportunity to give his opinion on single payer coverage and he side-stepped it all together. So now- we will wait for tomorrow- Perhaps tomorrow may be the start of something different- but I doubt it. As much as I detest Trump, the Democrats deserve to lose. Unless Pelosi and Schumer embrace single payer healthcare- the DEMS will fail in 2018, and Trump will be elected again in 2020. They have nobody to blame but themselves.
5
If we could have elected a Senate and House with Democratic majorities, and if we could have elected Hillary (or any other Democrat) as president, I think they would have already begun to pass infrastructure bills. Somehow, the republicans have convinced people that it is they who favor infrastructure, but actually most of them would rather have a tax cut for the wealthy, increased spending on the military, and less regulation for businesses.
The media spent too much time talking about polls and too little time talking about what the candidates would do if elected. And Hillary could discuss job training for miners to help them get new jobs, but the sound bite on TV would be her comment criticizing Trump.
The media spent too much time talking about polls and too little time talking about what the candidates would do if elected. And Hillary could discuss job training for miners to help them get new jobs, but the sound bite on TV would be her comment criticizing Trump.
11
US will be having a going out of business sale with your help.
1
Sorting the federal budget into two main categories -- capital spending and current operations -- would bring some clarity to the issue of how to finance and maintain unmet infrastructure needs.
One of the big accounting firms should take this on as pro bono work and produce a financial history of federal infrastructure work that dates to the start of the "National Interstate and Defense Highways", their proper name.
A modern, more secure electrical grid merits a high priority in an infrastructure plan and like the Interstates has a national security component.
One of the big accounting firms should take this on as pro bono work and produce a financial history of federal infrastructure work that dates to the start of the "National Interstate and Defense Highways", their proper name.
A modern, more secure electrical grid merits a high priority in an infrastructure plan and like the Interstates has a national security component.
With regard to the electrical grid, I would like to see EMP protection addresses.
2
"On a train journey from Helsinki to St. Petersburg, I not only saw the transition from a gleaming modern infrastructure to a rusting decaying time warp. I saw America in Russia." - DJ of NJ
Ironic. On a train journey from Leningrad to Helsinki in January 1975, one traveled from the rusting, decaying time warp that was the Soviet Union to gleaming modern America.
Ironic. On a train journey from Leningrad to Helsinki in January 1975, one traveled from the rusting, decaying time warp that was the Soviet Union to gleaming modern America.
5
Stalled? Surely you don't actually believe that he ever had a plan, any more than he had a "secret" plan to eliminate ISIS, or a healthcare plan. Lies, lies and more lies. Please, stop enabling him.
20
We may have to "hold off" a bit on US infrastructure rebuilding. We are currently rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan - now comes rebuilding Syria. We have to "act fast" before Russia gets there first and gets credit for rebuilding Syria. No one does it like the good old USA!
9
Hopefully there's a plan for what to do with that Solyndra facility.
When 8 long years as the party of No- how does one make a u-turn and legislate? How many new Republican members of Congress since 2008? No one was provided rudimentary *training* on how to legislate; why bother when all you have to do is get up-- go to your office and make calls all day begging for money? Donald Trump has slogans and the GOP has nothing. No one else who works for a living would survive two weeks on the job functioning like Congress: Do we not deserve better?
12
Trump should start off by repairing the disastrous train wreck he is!
9
Ike told us we need good infrastructure to assist in our national defense - the two are symbionts. His brilliance was instrumental in advancing our interstate highway system and accelerating military projects. How much time and money is wasted in logistics - developing and maintaining our military forces and equipment by decaying infrastructure?
8
I will be more worried if national infrastructure program moves fast with current cabinet members ( Secretary of State; former CEO of ExxonMobil, BS degree in civil engineering, Secretary of the Treasury; former investment banker and hedge fund manager, Secretary of the interior; history of opposed various environmental regulation, Secretary of Commerce; former banker, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; former pediatric neurosurgeon, Secretary of Education; Bachelor of Arts Degree). Some people in cabinet don't have expertise in their field and the others know exactly what they are doing. Infrastructure program is good for Trump family's business because, since they don't have expertise in their positioned field, they are less likely opposing the direction of Trump family's desire but I don't think it will be good for American public.
National infrastructure program is one of fields how they, who have power, make a lot of money in Third-world country. I don't have any problem for waiting until new decent president, who works for American public's best interest, for national infrastructure program.
National infrastructure program is one of fields how they, who have power, make a lot of money in Third-world country. I don't have any problem for waiting until new decent president, who works for American public's best interest, for national infrastructure program.
9
If DeBlasio were really a politician, he would get Trump to fix the subway problem in NYC.
3
I agree that infrastructure policy should have been Mr. Trump's first priority. Repairing the existing transportation infrastructure to a safe and reliable condition is essential for our modern economy to perform well. Much of the new US economy is based on trucking enormous quantities of food and goods to our urban population areas and providing efficient and safe commuting access to our places of work. Economic historians know that the US has prospered because of continuous improvements in efficiency -- rivers and trails, postal roads, canals, railroads, airplanes, auto/trucks and the Interstate Highway network. Efficiency of the various modes of travel in the US has been the driver for the success of these modes since the founding of the United States.
President Trump and the Congress have both expressed bi-partisan agreement on a goal to improve the growth rate of the economy from its current average rate of 2% to 3%. This goal is achievable if we keep our wits about us and initiate an EFFICIENT, all electric, intercity and urban mass transit system. This should bump up the growth rate if done properly.
One of the great ideas of the last century that has not been implemented is the Interstate Maglev System, which the Senate led by the late Patrick Moynihan of NY introduced on a bipartisan basis in 1992. The Senate idea proposed using existing rights-of-way of the highway and rail infrastructure to build a 300 mph Maglev Network for passengers and trucks.
President Trump and the Congress have both expressed bi-partisan agreement on a goal to improve the growth rate of the economy from its current average rate of 2% to 3%. This goal is achievable if we keep our wits about us and initiate an EFFICIENT, all electric, intercity and urban mass transit system. This should bump up the growth rate if done properly.
One of the great ideas of the last century that has not been implemented is the Interstate Maglev System, which the Senate led by the late Patrick Moynihan of NY introduced on a bipartisan basis in 1992. The Senate idea proposed using existing rights-of-way of the highway and rail infrastructure to build a 300 mph Maglev Network for passengers and trucks.
3
Dr. James Powell wrote a letter to President Trump on May 12. He also sent a copy to Secretary Chao. Fortunately, Secretary Chao testified before the Moynihan Maglev hearings and she knows the benefits of the Interstate Maglev idea. www.magneticglide.com
From the letter, "The investment level to begin a U.S. superconducting Maglev industry begins with a government investment in a 5-year program estimated to cost $600 million. Every person in the US would invest about 40 cents per year for 5 years to test and certify prototype guideways, vehicles, and control systems. Assuming that this system performs well, private investors could provide the funds to build a national guideway and the manufacturing capability to establish a national Maglev network with operating carrier vehicles. The return on the initial 40 cents per capita for 5 years would return about $1,000 per capita, yearly, for a person’s lifetime, in reduced cost of goods delivered and reduced travel costs."
Powell also explained to the President the potential use of Maglev to propel payload to space orbit for less than 1% of chemical rocket launch.
We are nuts to NOT allow this American invented system which can make our old commuter rail systems a lot quieter with lower fares, provide solar electric power for 2 cents per kilowatt hour, and carry highway freight and trucks for 10 cents a ton mile. This system really could make America great again.
The US should start testing this system, it is the future.
From the letter, "The investment level to begin a U.S. superconducting Maglev industry begins with a government investment in a 5-year program estimated to cost $600 million. Every person in the US would invest about 40 cents per year for 5 years to test and certify prototype guideways, vehicles, and control systems. Assuming that this system performs well, private investors could provide the funds to build a national guideway and the manufacturing capability to establish a national Maglev network with operating carrier vehicles. The return on the initial 40 cents per capita for 5 years would return about $1,000 per capita, yearly, for a person’s lifetime, in reduced cost of goods delivered and reduced travel costs."
Powell also explained to the President the potential use of Maglev to propel payload to space orbit for less than 1% of chemical rocket launch.
We are nuts to NOT allow this American invented system which can make our old commuter rail systems a lot quieter with lower fares, provide solar electric power for 2 cents per kilowatt hour, and carry highway freight and trucks for 10 cents a ton mile. This system really could make America great again.
The US should start testing this system, it is the future.
1
You really think this government has any plans other than cutting taxes to the rich?
We have one party & voters who do not believe in government doing anything.
This is a very depressing time in our history where reality does not exist for too many of us.
Having unqualified individuals in most of our cabinet posts will probably lead to another disaster like Katrina. Last time Repubs ran the government led to 2008 meltdown and not that positive we will not be there again soon on this groups weaves there magic.
We have one party & voters who do not believe in government doing anything.
This is a very depressing time in our history where reality does not exist for too many of us.
Having unqualified individuals in most of our cabinet posts will probably lead to another disaster like Katrina. Last time Repubs ran the government led to 2008 meltdown and not that positive we will not be there again soon on this groups weaves there magic.
2
Public infrastructure should be run by the government not private enterprise. Period. For-profit businesses (and a lot of non-profits too!) are in business to make money. Turning public infrastructure over to private investors just adds yet another level of profit making. Republicans will say that private firms are more efficient. Sorry, they are not likely to be more efficient. They will achieve their profits like most government outsourcing (see prisons, tollways and public parking meters sold to for profit companies) by reducing salary and benefits of employees. In the case of investors, they often put things out to bid absent the controls that governments use to ensure integrity, bidding transparency, etc. Since most infrastructure projects use contractors, how is this helping? The US can borrow funds at almost zero interest rates. Please tell me why this is a good idea? It is just another giveaway to equity markets so they can make even more money off the government.
14
I find it surprising that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon against public partnerships with the private sector, when NYC would not have a subway system without the private sector. How long has the Big Apple waited for the public sector to upgrade the darn thing? How long will the Big Apple continue to wait?
In a dazzling bid for peace and prosperity in our time, Trump will unveil his plan to build the border wall out of the new breed of highly efficient solar panels. This will not only generate energy for the arid southwest but also produce enough revenue for the wall to pay for itself, thus letting the beleaguered Mexicans off the hook as well as scoring points with environmentalists. Look for Al Gore to speak at the dedication, with his words faithfully translated into Spanish by Jeb Bush.
1
FAKE NEWS! 45 only cares about Russian infrastructure; the infrastructure of the USA has never mattered to 45 beyond that which he can steal from the citizens and grift to his rich buddies.
10
Of course, tax cuts for the richest is the big priority for the GOP.
After that big, juicy tax cut for the richest is draining our revenue stream, there will be no money left for infrastructure investment,or for any safety-net programs, either.
Republican priorities.
After that big, juicy tax cut for the richest is draining our revenue stream, there will be no money left for infrastructure investment,or for any safety-net programs, either.
Republican priorities.
9
Beware! The only way Republicans can do infrastructure is by selling our roads and waterways to corporations, and then average income people will pay, everyday, to use them.
12
From Dec. 4, 2015: The House and Senate send President Obama the largest transportation package in more than a decade, costing $305 billion over five years.
So, what has become of those funds and projects? Republican obstruction to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was in full swing. Can't allow the Obama administration to succeed in anything, now can we? Now it Trumps turn- but he wants to privatize the effort to channel billions to his pals.
GOP malfeasance on full display and as usual, nobody in the "base' calls out the hypocrisy.
So, what has become of those funds and projects? Republican obstruction to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was in full swing. Can't allow the Obama administration to succeed in anything, now can we? Now it Trumps turn- but he wants to privatize the effort to channel billions to his pals.
GOP malfeasance on full display and as usual, nobody in the "base' calls out the hypocrisy.
14
It seems as if everything important has been pushed aside under Trump's reign. The biggest casualty is democracy. I wonder if it will come back, or is it receding over the horizon, never to be seen again? I'm seriously considering moving back to the home of my ancestors who came here before 1800 ... those places are doing much better now. Maybe it's time to go back home.
8
I think the Republicans are hoping "Infrastructure" will be their winning issue in 2018. They also hope to tell us there's a plan to fix healthcare, improve education, and that Donald Trump will grow into the leader he was always meant to be.
2
He's been in office for six months. Obama had eight years to deal with the problem, but it only got worse. But this article is not really about the substance of the matter at all but is just another pretext to bring Trump down. So he's not only a mentally ill Russian colluder, but now the bridges and highways are suddenly collapsing beneath our very feet.
1
Obama did not fail; the congress that dedicated themselves to making him a one term president failed in their responsibility to the nation. We must block 45 on this, as he will only do what oligarchs always do; privatize the gain and socialize the risk.
12
Politically, Trump and the Republicans made an error by not tackling infrastructure first. This would have been a bipartisan win - win, quickly passed, creating jobs, fulfilling lots of political promises. The political dialogue would have been much more positive. instead or fighting over taking away Healthcare from 20 million people and giving tax breaks to the rich.
8
Another one bites the dust.
5
"House conservatives remain hostile toward any big, new federal funding program." How exactly do they think trains and bridges SHOULD be paid for if not by the government?? Perhaps the uber rich should just pay for them and skip making a fortune on just this one thing since they are the reason the rest of us can't get a job or live on our retirement. You know, that trickling down business we've been hearing about for most of my life. Let's see some of it, finally.
7
While Washington dithers and pundits blather about public-private funding, places like Northeastern NC are hurting. We need roads and bridges fixed, Internet access, public transportation, airports upgraded, and jobs damnit! There is no profit to be made in these projects in rural places like here, except in the intangable betterment of people's lives, and that does not seem important to the GOP.
5
Counties that voted for 45 should be excluded from all Big Government benefits.
5
Except for his trade policy Trump is a class warrior and right-wing extremist, and right-wing extremists in this country do tax cuts, not infrastructure. His $1T infrastructure promise never had any details behind it because it was a sham. He'll be promising it again in 2020.
6
The geniuses in this administration have already announced their infrastructure program - it's building a wall and digging more coal mines. Isn't it great to be an American?
4
Oh, don't forget all those solar panels that will line the transparent wall between here and Mexico ... you know, see-through so that the border patrol can avoid being hit over the head with bags of drugs catapulted over the top ... maybe he'll build tunnels for them instead ... the would be a great infrastructure project and would protect the border patrol!
1
Roads and bridges are currently financed 70% by the states and another 25% by user fees in the form of federal excise taxes. More money is required, but anything that has a federal component (including the 25% financed by federal user fees and 5% financed by the federal contribution plus the state and local match of 30%: total 60%) is hampered by the Davis-Bacon Act that requires tribute to the unions. The tribute, in union dues and work rules, raises the cost by 30%, at a minimum. Repeal Davis-Bacon, and the $0.60 per dollar invested becomes $0.78, an increase in value received to of 18% for the total dollars spent. No increase in taxpayer dollars, no reduction in construction worker wages.
Transit is a purely local matter, with some cooperation required between states. No federal contribution should be provided or allowed, particularly in areas that Democrats claim will be underwater before the 40 year bonds are paid off. If there is valuable real estate that Democrats want to preserve value for the wealthy, let the states and cities pay to fund their cronies.
Waterworks and sewage treatment are exclusively local responsibility. If there are insufficient funds available to repair, maintain and expand the systems, put a ban in place on additional development or charge new development the costs. See how fast local forces come up with the money. Any federal money will be squandered.
The power grid is paid for by electric utility users, as it has always been.
Transit is a purely local matter, with some cooperation required between states. No federal contribution should be provided or allowed, particularly in areas that Democrats claim will be underwater before the 40 year bonds are paid off. If there is valuable real estate that Democrats want to preserve value for the wealthy, let the states and cities pay to fund their cronies.
Waterworks and sewage treatment are exclusively local responsibility. If there are insufficient funds available to repair, maintain and expand the systems, put a ban in place on additional development or charge new development the costs. See how fast local forces come up with the money. Any federal money will be squandered.
The power grid is paid for by electric utility users, as it has always been.
Your comment contains more helpful information than the article itself which is just another tedious broadside against Trump. Unfortunately the NYT has descended to the level of the cable news shows which endlessly churn out propaganda pieces designed to please the prejudices of their viewers. Time and time again the NYT attacks Trump in every conceivable way which results in the same predictable chorus of heated comments and hysterical laments from the readers. They hate Trump. Ya, we know that already. We then have ignorant attempts to make fun of his name, e.g Drump, Dump, etc. Isn't there any editorial control? It's the crude equivalent of playground bullying. Is this what liberalism has descended to? Oh, but Trump "started it," didn't he? There we go again with Immature playground thinking coming from those who should know better.
1
I don't see this article as a slam on Trump. I think the article points out the delay as a political miscalculation, as also noted by Senator Collins.
A little too defensive there, Ed.
A little too defensive there, Ed.
6
Why are you wasting time on fake news? You will be welcome to Fox News.
1
I wish so much that Paul Krugman would write and op ed about economic fascism. In Russia, all the oligarchs have swarmed in to buy what used to belong to the people and are reaping monstrous profits. This is just exactly WHY Trump has hired only the RICH to run our country. He wants, like Putin, to privatize what we all, as Americans, own (eg. Air Traffic Control). Now he wants private money for infa-structure. Just wait until the poor among us will not even be able to use the roads built by the RICH for the RICH. Fascism is NOT just about killing those we do not like. It is about the privatization of everything. Just keep watching.
7
Privatize the gain, socialize the cost and risk. Classic kleptocracy.
7
Don't look for Oklahoma to kick in any funds, they are broke.
2
200 billion over several years? We spend three times that on the military and wars in just one year alone.
4
Our Lucky sperm neurologically deficient President is stalled therefore anything associated to him is stalled. In order for the U.S.A. To make progress first we have to give Trump the Heave Ho.
2
Trump's plan stalling is good news for every American. As reported all over, it's a privatization plan, not an infrastructure plan - in more or less the same way the R "health care" bill is/was actually no more than a tax cut bill.
12
The only infrastructure Trump is now interested in is his own since he is pretty much fighting for his short political life. The question is whether he will resign before he is impeached because of his wrong doings.
8
The infrastructure is a priority and deserving of bi partisan support however I balk at the notion private enterprise should be the main financier.
I favor paying for our infrastructure program with an infrastructure tax on all imports of about 3 percent. This will yield around $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
Imports benefit from our Infrastucture and should pay their fair share.
Any inflationary effect most likely will be offset by a rise in the US$ and as the largest import is petroleum products it may encourage greater efforts to make us energy independent, a strategic and economic goal.
I favor paying for our infrastructure program with an infrastructure tax on all imports of about 3 percent. This will yield around $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
Imports benefit from our Infrastucture and should pay their fair share.
Any inflationary effect most likely will be offset by a rise in the US$ and as the largest import is petroleum products it may encourage greater efforts to make us energy independent, a strategic and economic goal.
5
Nothing like a trip to Seoul and Shanghai to reveal how jaw-droppingly terrible our infrastructure is. Did any of you watch the Jetsons way back when? It feels like a trip to the future...and the return trip to NYC a rerun of the Honeymooners. This is hardly an exaggeration.
13
Trump voters will never believe that ... they think America does everything better than anyone else. They're probably still telling their kids to clean their plates because there are so many starving children in China. Clueless.
South Korea has the fastest broadband speeds on the planet and cheapest service (standard is approaching 1 GB per second) and it's ubiquitous. But here? We're a backwater. Some areas are still reduced to using dialup. Meanwhile, everyone in Africa has a cellphone ... but we want to put people into coal mines? How stupid is that?
South Korea has the fastest broadband speeds on the planet and cheapest service (standard is approaching 1 GB per second) and it's ubiquitous. But here? We're a backwater. Some areas are still reduced to using dialup. Meanwhile, everyone in Africa has a cellphone ... but we want to put people into coal mines? How stupid is that?
11
At what point will the president truly realize that every issue--whether health care, infrastructure, or tax reform--is complicated. The Republicans refused even to consider President Obama's desire to spend on infrastructure. Maybe the president considers the solar-paneled wall along the Mexican border a "great" infrastructure project. If the Congress goes for that, the rest of us will be left with potholes.
7
Stop spending the money on illegal aliens - that $100 BBN per year wasted on them could fix a lot of roads.
3
My comment providing comparison of Chittenden County VT USA and Linköping County Sweden started out by noting that I have previously written exactly what Readers/Times Pick no. 1 N. Bolton from Canberra so this time I would be more concrete.
No one found my comment to be of interest but replier N. Smith wrote "It's beyond me why you keep comparing Sweden and the USA when they differ in every way."
I had offered an hypothesis for N. Smith perhaps to examine - why the fundamentally different mind set in the two places where I have lived a long time? Smith did not answer.
So just for the record, N. Smith, country MANHVT is not so different from country SE. Similar climate and vegetation, well educated population in both, average income probably higher in MANHVT enormous difference in asylum-seeking population per 100,000 population - SE at the top.
So N Smith here a similarity with a difference. My city Linköping (and others) are heated by incinerating solid waste a renewable energy fuel. Landfills are banned. By contrast MANHVT builds giant landfills, my favorite being the Springfield masterpiece. Up in VT Burlington trucks its solid waste + garbage all the way to the Northeast Kingdom.
So N Smith and others, tell me why you love landfills so much? I see nothing beautiful about that Springfield monster. But apparently the residents of MANHVT do.
Why?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
No one found my comment to be of interest but replier N. Smith wrote "It's beyond me why you keep comparing Sweden and the USA when they differ in every way."
I had offered an hypothesis for N. Smith perhaps to examine - why the fundamentally different mind set in the two places where I have lived a long time? Smith did not answer.
So just for the record, N. Smith, country MANHVT is not so different from country SE. Similar climate and vegetation, well educated population in both, average income probably higher in MANHVT enormous difference in asylum-seeking population per 100,000 population - SE at the top.
So N Smith here a similarity with a difference. My city Linköping (and others) are heated by incinerating solid waste a renewable energy fuel. Landfills are banned. By contrast MANHVT builds giant landfills, my favorite being the Springfield masterpiece. Up in VT Burlington trucks its solid waste + garbage all the way to the Northeast Kingdom.
So N Smith and others, tell me why you love landfills so much? I see nothing beautiful about that Springfield monster. But apparently the residents of MANHVT do.
Why?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
3
Many of us read your comparison with interest yet saw no specific reason to comment because the comparison is both relevant and right-on. As for grumbles that comparisons of Sweden and the USA should be avoided because the countries are different.....we should be asking as to the significance of those differences when data suggest the US is at a disadvantage vis-a-vis Sweden. Does it have to do with political culture, the policy importance of wealthy citizens, notions of individual vs. collective consumption? President Trump claims to want infrastructure construction yet leaves it to the private sector to be as selective as it wishes while Trump pursues tax cuts and spending more on defense hardware. Currently New York City faces incredibly complicated commuting conditions because some years ago Chris Christie was in a position to kill needed tunnel construction for reasons of personal political ambition. Do similar conditions exist in Sweden or do Swedish politicians seek to make socially-beneficial policy choices?
Please do not go all Trump on us, expecting attention and praise for your constructive insights on ways borrowing from Swedish practice might improve American society. Ain' gonna happen. But please recognize many of us do appreciate the ways in which innovations and experience abroad could greatly improve performance here. We should be emphasizing performance criteria when we do your comparisons, not lament differences in Sawfish and US meatball preparation.
Please do not go all Trump on us, expecting attention and praise for your constructive insights on ways borrowing from Swedish practice might improve American society. Ain' gonna happen. But please recognize many of us do appreciate the ways in which innovations and experience abroad could greatly improve performance here. We should be emphasizing performance criteria when we do your comparisons, not lament differences in Sawfish and US meatball preparation.
4
I always appreciate your posts. I think Scandinavia does most everything much better than we do, but we are up against millions of hard-headed people walking around pulling on their bootstraps who have been brainwashed to believe that a social democracy takes away their freedom ... you know, their freedom to be uneducated, poor, unhealthy, drive on bad roads, eat poisoned food, breathe dirty air, drink dirty water, fill the air with fossil fuel emissions, sing the national anthem all day long, hate people who don't speak English (not that theirs is anything to be proud of), listen to garbage propaganda on television, load up on firearms and kill each other, have lots of babies because contraception is hard to come by or just too much trouble to bother with, overdose on opioids, etc ... you get the picture. Oh, yea, and the freedom to work in coal mines, because that's what every working-class American wants to do. Spend 8 hours a day underground and die from black lung. We have a saying in the South (which many of us escaped as soon as we could): You can't help stupid.
9
Ultimately, the differences lie in the generation of adequate revenue and the political will to understand the importance of completing vital infrastructure projects, not differences in countries or construction challenges. That excuse is a red herring that has been tossed around by Americans for decades and frankly, 35 yrs. of tax cuts for the wealthiest at the expense of everything else has now created the inevitable situation of the "chickens coming home to roost".
You want minimal government and taxes? This is the price you pay.
You want minimal government and taxes? This is the price you pay.
4
I thought that infrastructure was the reason the Goldman Twins, Cohn and Mnuchin signed on. No doubt Goldman Sachs would be handling much of the "public-private" finance, skimming off obscene fees in the process. The prospect of such a windfall would have overcome whatever antipathy these two might have for Trump. It would be a tragic mistake though to follow through on such a plan because whatever money remained after these vultures were finished wouldn't be enough to pave a slice of toast.
5
Here in the small Mexican pueblo of Patzcuaro, Michoacan, there have been significant public works projects completed by the municipal government, in the same time that DJT has been in office and without ANY accomplishments! Streets and sidewalks completely renovated, almost entirely by hand (hand set volcanic stones for the roadways and concrete tiles for side walks), employing large numbers of laborers, and resulting in beautiful public passage ways! Buenas obras publicas! Viva Mexico y Patzcuaro!
17
Question: Did anyone actually believe President Trump's "Great National Infrastructure Program" was anything more than blue smoke and mirrors... a ruse? The sad irony regarding the Trump Administration's six-month anniversary: Had his agenda hinged strictly on deceit and lies, thus for the Trump Administration would have been a smashing success.
4
All announcements, edicts, letters of intent, executive orders and instructions, legislative proposals, press releases, tweets, interviews, position papers, policy or project guidelines, international protocols and invitations, and all personal correspondence issued by Trump or anyone in his family, or anyone in his cabinet are essentially simply lies. The Times is simply documenting what was a foregone conclusion: there is no infrastructure program. There never was such a thing, just as there never was Trumpcare, there never were any jobs being created, there never was going to be an effective tax cut, there never was going to be an attempt to balance the budget, there never was going to be any winning, any yuge, any great again, anything except cartoon drivel and insulting mindless rhetoric totally divorced from reality. Pretty much standard GOP fare for the last 8 years. And a third of the United States with no intelligence, no education and little skin pigmentation absolutely loves this because he represents brainless twits perfectly.
8
The picture of the Atlanta bridge had nothing to do with the failing infrastructure. It was caused by a purposeful set fire. There are better examples to show like the 100 year old water system in Atlanta
1
Republicans in Congress will never agree to spend money on improving people's lives unless their billionaire buddies and bribers get the lion's share of the contracts and, maybe, a monopoly on the fees the projects will have to produce.
Trump, well, he's a con man and his objective will be to figure out a way to make sure his family profits from government construction projects.
The Democrats don't have a message and can't see to figure out what they want to stand for, so they aren't in a position to do much to block the profiteering and graft.
So the best outcome would probably be, for now, no infrastructure bill at all.
Trump, well, he's a con man and his objective will be to figure out a way to make sure his family profits from government construction projects.
The Democrats don't have a message and can't see to figure out what they want to stand for, so they aren't in a position to do much to block the profiteering and graft.
So the best outcome would probably be, for now, no infrastructure bill at all.
4
Reform NEPA and the Endangered Species Act. Eliminating costly environmental reviews that do nothing to help the environment, subsidize consultants, and delay projects through litigation will cost nothing.
Re-building the Nation should be a no brainer. It is old-style pork barrel politics where everyone can get a share and credit. It is also solely a governmental responsibility and should be free of private sector control and tolls so that taxpayer can avoid paying many times over as New Yorkers have paid for generations for bridges and tunnels that, apparently, can only cost more and more money.
4
President Trump leads a GOP that is interested in destroying rather than building. They are on the record about this. A vivid demonstration of this is by showing they have no replacement for Obamacare nor do they want to fix it (Trumpcare is about removing care, not providing it).
As a nation we worry about the danger of external enemies when the real danger is ourselves. Unfortunately, recognizing this does not mean there is a way to stop the self-destruction.
As a nation we worry about the danger of external enemies when the real danger is ourselves. Unfortunately, recognizing this does not mean there is a way to stop the self-destruction.
8
Privatizing public infrastructure projects and selling them off to foreign investors would be a disgrace but also a security issue. Infrastructure is a basic need. Safe roads, bridges, airports and ports are needed by virtually every American. These should not be profit centers.
Republican government is a contradiction in terms. Orwell's doublethink prevails with the GOP who promise cheap healthcare but want to repeal it for 32 million Americans, who claim that regulations are job killing but have no problem with rejoicing for ending regulations that don't let companies spew carcinogens in the air or the water that will kill actual people, who say they are concerned with national security but yawn at the Russian collusion of the Trump people during the election, and basically do almost nothing for the good of the country.
But if Trump doesn't care that 32 million Americans would lose their healthcare (his recommendation last week), he doesn't care about safe roads and bridges, safe working conditions or a clean environment, or anything that he cannot personally profit from somehow.
Republican government is a contradiction in terms. Orwell's doublethink prevails with the GOP who promise cheap healthcare but want to repeal it for 32 million Americans, who claim that regulations are job killing but have no problem with rejoicing for ending regulations that don't let companies spew carcinogens in the air or the water that will kill actual people, who say they are concerned with national security but yawn at the Russian collusion of the Trump people during the election, and basically do almost nothing for the good of the country.
But if Trump doesn't care that 32 million Americans would lose their healthcare (his recommendation last week), he doesn't care about safe roads and bridges, safe working conditions or a clean environment, or anything that he cannot personally profit from somehow.
7
What is so sad about this bizarre scenario is two fold: First, DT made restoring the crumbling infrastructure of the country a bulwark of his MAGA campaign, and was in fact one area of policy support that seemed to cross all political lines. Next, and perhaps of even more long term consequence, is Trump Inc's weasel way of attempting to get the States to shoulder the expense of rebuilding what had once been,this, our nation's most prominent physical legacy- which, after all we inherited from previous generations of Americans who considered our highways, bridges, rail lines and electrical grid precious gifts to our nation's future.
One would think that after encountering such deep and wide spread resistance to this scheme, Trump couldn't possibly come-up with anything more hair brained or potentially conflicting then forcing the States to foot the bill for updating our nation's infrastructure, but Donald Trump manages to do just that. Trump now seemingly is floating the idea of privatizing choice structural projects in lucrative and growing areas of the country; resulting, in effect, of having foreign banks and multi-national corporations financing and building US infrastructure projects, and then issuing private bonds to pay for them. No one has mentioned in the Trump Administration, BTW, what would happen if these projects or financial institutions would fail (or projects be constructed with less then adequate care) and who would bail them out, if they did so.
One would think that after encountering such deep and wide spread resistance to this scheme, Trump couldn't possibly come-up with anything more hair brained or potentially conflicting then forcing the States to foot the bill for updating our nation's infrastructure, but Donald Trump manages to do just that. Trump now seemingly is floating the idea of privatizing choice structural projects in lucrative and growing areas of the country; resulting, in effect, of having foreign banks and multi-national corporations financing and building US infrastructure projects, and then issuing private bonds to pay for them. No one has mentioned in the Trump Administration, BTW, what would happen if these projects or financial institutions would fail (or projects be constructed with less then adequate care) and who would bail them out, if they did so.
5
Infrastructure should have been his first project as Prez. Our borrowing costs were at an all time low, and it was a way to really stimulate the economy, help jobs, etc. Would have been a good bipartisan project.
Our roads and bridges desperately need work, Our seaports need help since so many cannot handle the mega ships. Some of the airports are deplorable--including those of NYC, which are really second and third rate now.
And we desperately need infrastructure work to make our cyber security better!!
Our roads and bridges desperately need work, Our seaports need help since so many cannot handle the mega ships. Some of the airports are deplorable--including those of NYC, which are really second and third rate now.
And we desperately need infrastructure work to make our cyber security better!!
8
The whole Trump proposal was absurd from the start. It is supposed to be based primarily on private enterprise funds. But private enterprise will expect to make a profit. This means we will be paying large fees and tolls for more and more "public" goods. What it really means is that a lot of existing infrastructure is to be privatized, the public then being individually charged for the maintenance, along with additional, monopoly profits.
And when I say the public will pay, that means the money will come mostly from middle income Americans. UNLESS: If infrastructure is to be market based, to get more money from the wealthy, they'll have to be given something for it. This leads me to a vision of Trump's real goal -- a country in which everything is streamlined for the rich: traffic lights turn green for them, streetlights will turn off when no rich person needs them, etc.
And besides, this article explains that "American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $4.6 trillion is needed". 23 times what Trump proposes the federal government spend over the next 10 years. Even if you believe he'll get 800 billion from the private sector, it's still about 20%, barely enough to maintain the existing infrastructure at the current level of decrepitude.
And when I say the public will pay, that means the money will come mostly from middle income Americans. UNLESS: If infrastructure is to be market based, to get more money from the wealthy, they'll have to be given something for it. This leads me to a vision of Trump's real goal -- a country in which everything is streamlined for the rich: traffic lights turn green for them, streetlights will turn off when no rich person needs them, etc.
And besides, this article explains that "American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $4.6 trillion is needed". 23 times what Trump proposes the federal government spend over the next 10 years. Even if you believe he'll get 800 billion from the private sector, it's still about 20%, barely enough to maintain the existing infrastructure at the current level of decrepitude.
9
Private enterprise also means uneven quality of construction, maintenance, and who pays (like Trump's great idea for turning our national highways into toll roads built by private companies who would literally profit).
Infrastructure is a desperate need, but if it is only about profit centers then this can quickly turn into a slumlord scenario or abusive use of eminent domain or no public input even when the impact on a town, community or farmers is negative. He has also suggested foreign investors such as Saudi Arabia, and why give our public infrastructure over to those who don't care about the public good of Americans or who could use this as pressure on the American government or bribery targets to get contracts?
Infrastructure is a desperate need, but if it is only about profit centers then this can quickly turn into a slumlord scenario or abusive use of eminent domain or no public input even when the impact on a town, community or farmers is negative. He has also suggested foreign investors such as Saudi Arabia, and why give our public infrastructure over to those who don't care about the public good of Americans or who could use this as pressure on the American government or bribery targets to get contracts?
8
Trump's agenda was never about infrastructure. Never. It was about tax cuts, and most importantly, enriching himself and his family. Trump does not care about our nation or our citizens. He is incapable of doing so. He is a complete narcissist. He cares about only what is about him. So please, stop the lines that Donald J. Trump cares about any of us. He cares about his ego and his wealth.
9
Well Ya. And it isn't 1945. It's a great endeavor but to push like an FDR Employment Program after the War is ridiculous. Come into 2017 Donald.
1
We could laugh if we wren't crying. China has started its Silk Road Project to build new roads and rail lines both within china and also to connect it to the whole world. Millions of miles of rail and roads. Lots of jobs. Meanwhile here we pollute our land and let bridges rust out. Not a thought to anything new, just a futile and inadequate effort at bare preservation. Why should we be suprised in 20 years when the US is Nowheresville. That will be our Exceptionalism.
8
If your business is small or if you are not wealthy and without many assets to secure loans to promote your businesses or cannot afford to buy your way to work and back and be left with any surplus to buy more things or to save up to prepare for opportunities, then a robust and well maintained public infrastructure and public institutions are what give you the means to prosper. Trump will never support the kind of infrastructure building that will help you prosper, he will create a kind that enables the rich to turn you into a cash cow who is stuck in the circumstances in which you find yourself. The conservative mentality that represents his mentality is at the core promoting policies which enable them to retain what they have accumulated and to perpetuate the circumstances which will assure keeping it.
6
Just another public responsibility that Republicans managed to turn into a private/public debate like health care and education. I am afraid that has become their schtick to bring everything to a standstill since they are not really interested in government doing anything.
4
The main reason there's been no infrastructure bill is Trump is incompetent. Turns out whatever talent he may have had running a private real estate business doesn't transfer to being president. And he doesn't like to do the hard work of educating himself. He's lazy. Yet he also likes to follow his own counsel (which seems to come from whatever he just saw on Fox), and rejects the expertise of people who have spent years studying the issues.
It's a lose-lose-lose situation.
It's a lose-lose-lose situation.
5
"pardon" him for not getting around to infrastructure yet
2
Trump's programs fail because of the way he wants to cheat Americans to make them happen.
Healthcare failed because he wanted to eliminate it and reduce Medicaid for 22 million Americans-- after 10 years, 32 million--in order to give a tax break to the super wealthy.
With his proposed public/private infrastructure partnership, he again cheats American workers. Jobs given to private contractors, as they have been with prisons and Middle Eastern oil security contracts, result in negative impacts for the U.S. budget and for American workers.
Private contractors go for the profit. They use the most slipshod to illegal techniques to save a buck. They never hire union workers, preferring unskilled, illegal or foreign workers, because they're cheap. Mistakes are frequently made, and the U.S. just pays them more to fix them.
I cannot see how cost-effective and safe infrastructure can be built when lives of people don't matter, just the value of stockholders' shares, yet this is Trump's proposal. Plus, It's another way to lower government spending and give tax breaks to the wealthy.
Privitization is not sound economic When toll roads and bridges built by private contractors crumble and collapse, who pays for that?
We do. Give me the Army Corps of Engineers and American labor any day.
Healthcare failed because he wanted to eliminate it and reduce Medicaid for 22 million Americans-- after 10 years, 32 million--in order to give a tax break to the super wealthy.
With his proposed public/private infrastructure partnership, he again cheats American workers. Jobs given to private contractors, as they have been with prisons and Middle Eastern oil security contracts, result in negative impacts for the U.S. budget and for American workers.
Private contractors go for the profit. They use the most slipshod to illegal techniques to save a buck. They never hire union workers, preferring unskilled, illegal or foreign workers, because they're cheap. Mistakes are frequently made, and the U.S. just pays them more to fix them.
I cannot see how cost-effective and safe infrastructure can be built when lives of people don't matter, just the value of stockholders' shares, yet this is Trump's proposal. Plus, It's another way to lower government spending and give tax breaks to the wealthy.
Privitization is not sound economic When toll roads and bridges built by private contractors crumble and collapse, who pays for that?
We do. Give me the Army Corps of Engineers and American labor any day.
5
There was supposed to be an effort to help infrastructure when 750 billion was allocated to help us out of recession.What came of that? Now we have the same vow. The absolute failure of the Senate to come up with a new and better health program. At the same time there has been an all out assault on Trump. The FBI, Congress, and now a special prosecutor have been trying to find out if there was any collusion between Trump and Russia to affect the election. Nothing has indicated Trump is involved . Nothing has been reported. Instead they are now trying to link a beauty contest years ago to this election. We need to move on.
1
Not sure you noticed, but we did recover from the recession. At least the stock market and most areas of the country.
I will believe that Trump will produce a viable, intelligent plan for infrastructure when his family's businesses manufacture their goods in the USA to make American Great Again or when DT releases his tax returns... or even if his administration can go a whole week without a scandal or a lie.
Never gonna happen
Never gonna happen
5
Actually following through on this issue would be the best thing Trump could possibly do for himself. It would help more people, create jobs, build national morale and present himself in an improved light. Up to this time he has done nothing but dig his own grave with pick and shovel and tweet.
2
Not everyone agrees. When infrastructure came up as Obama shovel ready projects the GOP was very much against. McCaskill/Portman effort is just one of many ideas that 45 wants to steal and the GOP promote as something that could not have been done before. As with all things 45 can't get out of his own way and GOP so far are enablers.
Let's get specific. There's great need for upgrading wastewater infrastructure, but that falls into the environmental category which DJT deplores, so forget that. How about water system infrastructure? Nope, that's public health, which isn't an administration priority. Then there are existing institutions long responsible for multi-functional infrastructure planning and development, namely metropolitan planning organizations and the Appalachian Regional Commission. DJY is doing everything possible to gut them.
So just what is the National Infrastructure Program and who will be responsible for its implementation.
Maybe it just means a border wall paid for by Mexico, huh?
So just what is the National Infrastructure Program and who will be responsible for its implementation.
Maybe it just means a border wall paid for by Mexico, huh?
2
$200B over 10 years with $800B from sources to be named later is a joke. A trans-Hudson Tunnel and related items will cost $25B alone. Existing national infrastructure repair needs today easily run to $5-10 trillion, to say nothing that would be new.
1
Good luck with the infrastructure bill if you ban / limit imports of rebar and other necessary steel products in the name of "National Defense".
2
I'm shocked that infrastructure was not Trump's first priority. With his longstanding ties to organized crime, he could be collecting a generous kickback on every single project. Illegally diluted cement doesn't mix itself, you know.
3
It was a lie like everything else he says. All made up. Never going to happen.
2
Mr Trump doesn't have a plan, he saw an opportunity for a slogan. He is just as likely to say he wants to go to Mars or make adoption of Russian children easier. The NYT needs to stop acting as if what he says has rational thought behind it.
2
As long as someone, somewhere can be persuaded that the money to do something as small as repave local streets belongs to him or instead in the form of yet another tax cut, Congress will not be allowed to spend a penny on infrastructure. If you want paved streets, vote Democratic in 2018.
3
We should drown Alec in a bathtub
They are a terrorist organization that blocks all reasonable investment and regulations
They are a terrorist organization that blocks all reasonable investment and regulations
10
The only way Republicans will spend a dime on infrastructure is if they can figure out how to turn this into another opportunity to enrich their wealthy friends while cutting their taxes. Doing what's right is completely out of the question.
15
During the great depression FDRs New Deal put millions of Americans to work building infrastructure all around the nation. In addition to the short term benefits to workers, almost every community in the US has a Post Office, Courthouse, school, city hall, community center, park or the like that is still in use from this effort. Almost every National Park benefitted from new trails, campgrounds, etc. that are still in use. The TVA brought electricity to much of the rural south and raised standards of living. NYC has literally thousands of New Deal projects that are still in use. They even employed artists whose murals adorn New Deal buildings throughout the land. The country was never in worse shape, but never responded with more determination to overcome adversity and control our destiny.
(Check out the "Living New Deal" website for New Deal projects in your area.)
(Check out the "Living New Deal" website for New Deal projects in your area.)
15
I see the only chance for this country to move forward when Dems will have Presidency and super majority in Congress. Otherwise, we will only see the promise of trickle down, relaxation of gun laws, voter suppression, etc.
9
This need and the jobs that went with it was part of what was sold to Trumps' minions in the poor and white regions of the Country. Now, yet another of his promises falls by the way side. Oh well, go play some golf!
Please *45... Go blame Obama, Hillary and all the Dems during your rallies. The number of people who attend those is disappearing quickly.
Loser! Sad!
Please *45... Go blame Obama, Hillary and all the Dems during your rallies. The number of people who attend those is disappearing quickly.
Loser! Sad!
9
Make America wait again!
5
instead of allocating 4.5 trillions to fix infrastructure, the government uses it to destroy two countries and waste money on sands.
2
Trade? Health care reform? Infrastructure? Really?
Trump has no clue what those mean and GOP will not support any of those if taxes for the rich are not cut.
Trump has no clue what those mean and GOP will not support any of those if taxes for the rich are not cut.
5
I keep telling people on comment boards what have we been doing for the last 50+ years all we have been doing is conducting one war after another and see what it has gotten you. Nowhere while the infrastructure of America is crumbling beyond belief and I don't blame just the Republicans and Democrats. Guess what folks it is all our faults we should have been maintaining our infrastructure because that is what is going to propel American economy forward. You wonder why our economy is barely growing it is because of the infrastructure. We should have been like China you don't see them wasting trillions of dollars in endless wars they are building up countries and creating trade relations and it is working very well for them.
8
Infrastructure? Nope. Healthcare? Nope. Tax cuts? Nope. Tax reform? Nope. The Wall? Nope. So much winning ! I'm getting tired of so much winning!
5
With interest rates so cheap currently, and for the past decade and a half, we have squandered a great opportunity to do infrastructure in a fiscally conservative manner. President Obama and the Dems clearly wanted to do this, and of course, McConnell and the GOP didn't want to help him.
As several others have pointed out, our leadership continues to push military spending and tax cuts for the wealthy. Infrastructure is clearly a matter of US defense, and the public needs to let the GOP know to get this done now, and without excessive profit to the 1%. I'd propose a type of federal infrastructure bonds available to the public, akin to the war bonds of the past, than the average Joe could purchase. And let an independent commission of state, federal, and business leaders prioritize the contracts.
Let's get moving!
As several others have pointed out, our leadership continues to push military spending and tax cuts for the wealthy. Infrastructure is clearly a matter of US defense, and the public needs to let the GOP know to get this done now, and without excessive profit to the 1%. I'd propose a type of federal infrastructure bonds available to the public, akin to the war bonds of the past, than the average Joe could purchase. And let an independent commission of state, federal, and business leaders prioritize the contracts.
Let's get moving!
4
"Senator Mitch McConnell ... is skeptical of ... any deal that would require him to compromise with Democrats."
This is the Senate Leader, the same guy who famously announced that making Barack Obama a one term President was his fondest wish. I guess they did not have kindergarten in the part of Alabama where Addison was raised, and it shows.
(Wikipedia says Mitch had polio as a 2 year old, and that in 1990, McConnell said his family "almost went broke" because of costs relating to his medical treatment. But health care for YOU? Don't make Mitch laugh.)
Guess what, Mitch? You do not have the votes to pass any bill under "regular order" with only 52 Republicans in the Senate, some of whom disagree with other Republicans on just about anything.
McConnell is a shrewd tactician? On what planet does THAT happen?
This is the Senate Leader, the same guy who famously announced that making Barack Obama a one term President was his fondest wish. I guess they did not have kindergarten in the part of Alabama where Addison was raised, and it shows.
(Wikipedia says Mitch had polio as a 2 year old, and that in 1990, McConnell said his family "almost went broke" because of costs relating to his medical treatment. But health care for YOU? Don't make Mitch laugh.)
Guess what, Mitch? You do not have the votes to pass any bill under "regular order" with only 52 Republicans in the Senate, some of whom disagree with other Republicans on just about anything.
McConnell is a shrewd tactician? On what planet does THAT happen?
13
I was amazed that Wall Street actually believed Trump would make good on his infrastructure promises - the stock market rised after the infrastructure promise. How naive are this hedge fund/stock broker guys? They seems as intelligent as the president himself. Hopefully there will be a long time before another fake entrepreneur will occupy the White House again.
3
What else do you expect? How many times have we seen the "wisdom" of Wall Street revealed to be nothing but a bunch of hooey? Whenever there is a Republican President and Congress they are bullish, simply bullish, that taxes are getting cut and business will boom. Whenever there is a Democratic President and Congress they are very anxious and "uncertain" (Don't you just love that one - players in a speculative market complaining about uncertainty?) because they think taxes and regulations are going to increase.
They are perennially amazed and perplexed that runs of low taxation, deregulation, lax oversight, and rampant speculation lead to spectacular crashes, no matter how many times the same pattern repeats itself. And, regardless of what carnage and chaos they leave in their wake, they always make sure they get paid a nice, fat bonus at the end of the year. They are largely wizards at playing with other peoples' money.
They are perennially amazed and perplexed that runs of low taxation, deregulation, lax oversight, and rampant speculation lead to spectacular crashes, no matter how many times the same pattern repeats itself. And, regardless of what carnage and chaos they leave in their wake, they always make sure they get paid a nice, fat bonus at the end of the year. They are largely wizards at playing with other peoples' money.
4
Every President since Reagan has pledged to do something about the infrastructure. To be fair, Obama's stimulus included a number of infrastructure projects. But that bill was geared towards an immediate crisis; most large-scale infrastructure projects are years in planning and execution. Politicians are usually only focused on the next election cycle, & American voters have notoriously short memories. Also, people tend to regard infrastructure projects as a nuisance while they're being built, then simply accept them as a given once they're completed.
There is another force at work that folks who see impressive works abroad and wonder why we can't accomplish the same don't grasp: federalism (in fairness, the President doesn't seem to have much of a grasp of it either). Most infrastructure projects represent a combination of state, federal, and local funding, planning, and execution. This system, however unwieldy, is deeply woven into the fabric of our Constitution, and must be taken into consideration in any large scale infrastructure program.
Related to this is the old maxim that all politics is local. One man's vital highway project is another man's bridge to nowhere. Then there's the great rural-urban divide: Urban voters think too much of their tax dollars go to rural areas, while rural voters often feel neglected or ignored.
Lastly, nearly every "public-private partnership" aimed at reducing costs and increasing efficiency appears to accomplish precisely the opposite.
There is another force at work that folks who see impressive works abroad and wonder why we can't accomplish the same don't grasp: federalism (in fairness, the President doesn't seem to have much of a grasp of it either). Most infrastructure projects represent a combination of state, federal, and local funding, planning, and execution. This system, however unwieldy, is deeply woven into the fabric of our Constitution, and must be taken into consideration in any large scale infrastructure program.
Related to this is the old maxim that all politics is local. One man's vital highway project is another man's bridge to nowhere. Then there's the great rural-urban divide: Urban voters think too much of their tax dollars go to rural areas, while rural voters often feel neglected or ignored.
Lastly, nearly every "public-private partnership" aimed at reducing costs and increasing efficiency appears to accomplish precisely the opposite.
Can "We The People" sue the President for lying? It is misleading, inflamatory, disruptive and causes crimes and mental anguish.
3
The biggest handicap which the republican party has is that it is both lazy and dumb. Believe me, if the Democrats ever get the numbers in the House and Senate, and a Democrat in the White House, the assembled talent, along with the cooperation of our allies overseas in Europe, and the stalwarts in the technology industry here will take about a month to draft and implement the work which will never come to birth with the stooges attempting these things now. And these numbers are just around the corner, as Trumps' voters see him for what he is- a self-dealing traitorous crook.
4
Isn't it an awful lot to expect that any of the other trains stay on schedule after the first one out of the station is stopped dead in its tracks? Unfortunately the Congress has no switches and only a one track mind. But one glimmer of hope is that at least this piece was about something other than Russia, which has been all it's been about for weeks.
1
The problem, I think, is that Mr. Trump hasn't a clue. It's one thing for the executive to delegate, but doing that requires some sort of vision and thinking. One would imagine that "financing and building stuff" is a particular Trump strength, but he has no idea about how to get it done at this scale.
Voters -- including Trump fans -- will do well in future elections to consider that setting and executing public policy is a unique skill. Even if we cringe at the darker side of institutional politics (I do!), we should also be aware of its necessity. To fantasize that we can run our country like a business is the height of folly.
Voters -- including Trump fans -- will do well in future elections to consider that setting and executing public policy is a unique skill. Even if we cringe at the darker side of institutional politics (I do!), we should also be aware of its necessity. To fantasize that we can run our country like a business is the height of folly.
2
we are going to have "beautiful" and "tremendous" infrastructure like those cheap casinos that he built in Atlantic City.
4
All roads lead to for-profit bridges, highways and rail systems. Our travel will soon be brought to you by Verizon and Wells Fargo. After all, for profit has worked so well for health care.
4
It's inevitable that thinking people will try to understand Trump's meaningless blather within a rational framework. Thus we speak of "plans" proposed during the campaign and "put on a back burner" now. But there never was even a shred of a plan, just the shallow, droning patter of the snake oil pitchman.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress can't begin to get their heads around the idea of spending government money to hire Americans to do jobs that provide income, experience, buying power and increased quality of life while establishing a grand and shining new infrastructure on which this country can build its amazing future. Instead they dedicate themselves to simply handing that money over to the wealthiest, in the tired old form of so-called "trickle down" tax cuts.
It's ironic that Republicans, who so disdain government, are the ones who make it worthy of disdain. A Democrat-controlled Congress already would have handed up magnificent bills to create jobs and infrastructure, to remedy the flaws in current health care policy, to integrate "green" energy fully into the economy, and on and on. And a President Hillary Clinton would have contributed to their development and would sign them.
Instead, we have Republican-controlled executive and legislative branches that produce only childish tweets and garbage bills that sink like stones.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress can't begin to get their heads around the idea of spending government money to hire Americans to do jobs that provide income, experience, buying power and increased quality of life while establishing a grand and shining new infrastructure on which this country can build its amazing future. Instead they dedicate themselves to simply handing that money over to the wealthiest, in the tired old form of so-called "trickle down" tax cuts.
It's ironic that Republicans, who so disdain government, are the ones who make it worthy of disdain. A Democrat-controlled Congress already would have handed up magnificent bills to create jobs and infrastructure, to remedy the flaws in current health care policy, to integrate "green" energy fully into the economy, and on and on. And a President Hillary Clinton would have contributed to their development and would sign them.
Instead, we have Republican-controlled executive and legislative branches that produce only childish tweets and garbage bills that sink like stones.
3
You know who had an infrastructure plan? Hillary Clinton. But America thinks girls can't build things. Sadly, that's the truth.
8
Two recent trips to Europe have shown me how badly we're performing. Both counties I visited - Spain and France - have done a very good job improving their infrastructure. Last time I was in either country was at least a decade ago. The difference is amazing. At the same time, I'm driving here on roads that have a patch here, a patch there for potholes etc. And planning leaves something to be desired. Even when a road is repaved or improved, the next thing you know, it's getting dug up to put in utilities! More patches! We need to be smarter about our infrastructure as well as do it right.
2
The US spends 40% of its infrastructure funding 0m highays. The Germans spend 50% on their autobahns. ith the remaining funds, the US mostly upgrades its drinking water and wast water transport. The Germans do that and also fund a nationwide railroad transport system. I seems like the Germans get more for their money. What else is new?
3
The state of US infrastructure is abysmal, that's for sure. Will anything get done with lier in chief and traitor at the helm? Unless there is some reason that wealthy people need it, no.
According to a recent article in the New Yorker, those who voted for Don the Con will continue to blame anyone else for their and the nation's problems. These dupes continue to be confused and are redirected to blame Obama, Hillary and anyone other than the republicans and trump for the situation -- great propaganda by trump, the republicans and Fox.
Until then, nothing will change. Unfortunately, this is likely at least four years that will go without until the "base" who fell for the con see the light, if ever.
Keep the Russia investigation NY Times! Let's see those tax returns.
According to a recent article in the New Yorker, those who voted for Don the Con will continue to blame anyone else for their and the nation's problems. These dupes continue to be confused and are redirected to blame Obama, Hillary and anyone other than the republicans and trump for the situation -- great propaganda by trump, the republicans and Fox.
Until then, nothing will change. Unfortunately, this is likely at least four years that will go without until the "base" who fell for the con see the light, if ever.
Keep the Russia investigation NY Times! Let's see those tax returns.
4
The infrastructure plan is a lie, hung out like a carrot by Trump and Republicans, to keep their gullible voters hoping for an easy paycheck out of this administration--one which they do not have to improve their skills or education for.
Now it sounds as if Trump has invented the "infrastructure bill" idea.
Never mind Obama/Democrats have proposed specific legislation several times only to be blocked by GOP.
Never mind Obama/Democrats have proposed specific legislation several times only to be blocked by GOP.
2
At first blink, I am inclined to support "infrastructure."
But most of that work seems to be directed at roads and bridges--infrastructure for private vehicular transportation.
I would rather see that effort invested in rail.
China presents a fine example of a rail network. It is remarkably cheap and easy to travel anywhere in the country. The Chinaman does not need a personal motor vehicle to get around.
The rail system speaks volumes for the PRC's intention to serve their people, rich or poor.
But most of that work seems to be directed at roads and bridges--infrastructure for private vehicular transportation.
I would rather see that effort invested in rail.
China presents a fine example of a rail network. It is remarkably cheap and easy to travel anywhere in the country. The Chinaman does not need a personal motor vehicle to get around.
The rail system speaks volumes for the PRC's intention to serve their people, rich or poor.
3
A big new program would be nice. And interest rates are low.
BUT ... they is a donkey in the room. Its called Obamacare/medicaid
and it will eat all possible programs by devouring so much tax money.
BUT ... they is a donkey in the room. Its called Obamacare/medicaid
and it will eat all possible programs by devouring so much tax money.
If infrastructure gets done at all, Trump and the GOP will surely screw it up. The private entities in public / private "partnerships" will do what most businesses seek to do -- extract extraordinary profits.
For too long, the right has been peddling the illusion that governments and businesses should work in the same way. One problem with that is that infrastructure is a public good; it is designed to serve the citizenry -- including businesses. In that sense, it is an *investment,* not an expense.
The U.S. should follow the lead of many other advanced countries: borrow now at very low rates to finance infrastructure that will make our country even more attractive for conducting business (including the manufacturing that Mr. Trump has promised to revive.) Today's conservatives are so anti-debt that they are missing the true opportunity to make our country greater.
For too long, the right has been peddling the illusion that governments and businesses should work in the same way. One problem with that is that infrastructure is a public good; it is designed to serve the citizenry -- including businesses. In that sense, it is an *investment,* not an expense.
The U.S. should follow the lead of many other advanced countries: borrow now at very low rates to finance infrastructure that will make our country even more attractive for conducting business (including the manufacturing that Mr. Trump has promised to revive.) Today's conservatives are so anti-debt that they are missing the true opportunity to make our country greater.
2
Trump and infrastructure? What a joke and we idiots believed him. Why would a man with his own glitzy plane and his own helicopter bother about crumbling bridges, archaic subways and roads with sinkholes in it? Maybe if his toupeé got disheveled he might notice it. It's time we idiots stop expecting anything from this Man!
1
Trumps plans for rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure are about as carefully considered and well thought out as his plans for healthcare reform. Meaning there never was a plan and he has no idea on how to proceed. One can only hope that the people who voted for him are paying attention and recognize how abysmal he has been. Nah, they only watch Fox News and reading is too much like hard work. What a great country.
10
It is really quite simple: Trump has not yet found a way to siphon funds from needed infrastructure programs for himself or his family, so infrastructure rebuilding consequently holds no interest for him. The same could be said for any other urgent priorities that he promised to the voting public. If there is no financial benefit for Trump and his family, the issue is no longer a priority for his administration.
13
"Trump has not yet found a way to siphon funds from needed infrastructure programs"
Impossible. Trump inherited strong ties to organized crime in the construction industry from his father, and in his own career he's only made those ties bigger and better!
Impossible. Trump inherited strong ties to organized crime in the construction industry from his father, and in his own career he's only made those ties bigger and better!
1
One thing he could do to prime the pump on infrastructure is to get some changes to the laws that allow every project to be tied up in the courts for years with lawsuits over harming various bugs and lizards, toads, field mice, etc. that are alleged to live on the shoulders of major highways and underneath failing bridges.
2
Another thing he could do is have a plan.
9
Sorry, ed — are the courts holding up your kickbacks?
1
Trump has only one priority: avoid impeachment and removal and get reelected.
9
Are we really that gullible? It was a vote grabbing pitch. No value now.
12
Well, when a large uneducated swath of Americans are fooled by empty promises and manipulated into voting for a failed steak salesman - wealthy only by way of inheritance, successful only by way of graft and corruption, and surviving by way of a brand built on make-believe - Trump and his dumpster-fire administration is what you get. The sooner he's gone America can begin the long process of mending the damage done by the Republican anti-patriots.
12
pilliage and plunder - those are the Republican values.
1
So, Mr. McConnell doesn't want to compromise with Democrats. No wonder nothing gets done. I thought the people in Congress were supposed to work for the common weal- not just screw the opposition and often the populace as collateral damage. Fixing our failing infrastructure should not be a partisan issue- teaparty/GOP and Democratic as well as Independent voters all drive on the roads and bridges and ride the rails. And how are private investors to get paid back except for tolls?
11
Infrastructure is a big deal. I look forward to 2020, when (maybe) two guys from Queens can fight it out on the national stage each trying to out-do the other w their infrastructure creds.
2
Trump, the puppet of Wall Street and Very Big Business, coudn't care less if you or your loved ones die in a catastrophic bridge failure or in a vehicle crash on ruinously un-maintained roads.
He was "hired " by his billionnaire Koch/Mercer funders to divert money from human needs to corporate profits and he is doing a great job. That job is to follow the instructions of his puppet-masters to outsource or privatize crucial GOVERNENT functions, like maintaining or replacing decaying infrastrcture. They
He was "hired " by his billionnaire Koch/Mercer funders to divert money from human needs to corporate profits and he is doing a great job. That job is to follow the instructions of his puppet-masters to outsource or privatize crucial GOVERNENT functions, like maintaining or replacing decaying infrastrcture. They
12
It appears Trump is impotent in his efforts.
8
Little hands, too.
9
Each and every time I drive over the Bourne or Sagamore (sagging more) Bridges on or off of Cape Cod, I say a little prayer.
They both are being held together by paint and rust.
And they've both received Grade Fs by state inspection engineers for many years.
Waiting for one of them to go down one of these days. After this happens maybe then there will be a new one built. Maybe.
They both are being held together by paint and rust.
And they've both received Grade Fs by state inspection engineers for many years.
Waiting for one of them to go down one of these days. After this happens maybe then there will be a new one built. Maybe.
9
Much of that funding would be spent on equipping every American with an oxygen meter so that a private company (Breath of Life Corp?) can bill us properly for the air we breathe.
7
Trump could become a national hero if he would just bail out the MTA!!!!
2
Maybe a NY hero?
Our crumbling/sick infrastructure needs it's own Healthcare bill -- Greatly !!
3
Don the Con has no infrastructure "plan". He never had a "plan". He never will have a "plan".
He has applause lines. He loves pointing out OBVIOUS problems, but real solutions that require thought, negotiation, planning and funding, not so much,
He's a classic demagogue.
He has applause lines. He loves pointing out OBVIOUS problems, but real solutions that require thought, negotiation, planning and funding, not so much,
He's a classic demagogue.
13
Has anyone done the math, here? If you have a trillion dollars, and have millions of jobs (say 2,000,000), that means that everyone will get paid $500.00! And that does not include supplies like asphalt & steel. If the private sector is going to step in, they will be responsible for the lion's share of the expenses.
1
Trump has to delay big initiatives because he is spending a lot of his time trying to figure out how he is going to pardon his family members, fellow co-conspirators and himself from all the innocents that he claims is fake news.
5
We went back to visit Hong Kong ten years or after we moved back to the Bay Area. In those years, the reconstruction of the Bay Bridge was finally underway, BART was extended by one or two more stations, and Oakland Airport now was connected to BART by a monorail. The roads got more congested, BART stills stall and sees delays everyday.
On the other hand, Hong Kong was like another city. They had added three or four entirely new subway lines that ran smoothly, quickly, and on time. During the ride from the airport to Central, my kids were in awe to see all the new construction and the cleanness of the city. Japan is the same way. Every time I go there, I discover brand new subway lines in Tokyo or Kyoto. I've given up memorizing them.
When I talk to Europeans and Asians that visit the US with roads full of pot holes and lacking efficient public transportation, they all say the US resembles Third World Countries. I have to agree with them.
Had Trump been smart, he would have made good on his promise for the infrastructure before trying to overthrow ACA, aka Obamacare. What a disaster of a country we have now.
On the other hand, Hong Kong was like another city. They had added three or four entirely new subway lines that ran smoothly, quickly, and on time. During the ride from the airport to Central, my kids were in awe to see all the new construction and the cleanness of the city. Japan is the same way. Every time I go there, I discover brand new subway lines in Tokyo or Kyoto. I've given up memorizing them.
When I talk to Europeans and Asians that visit the US with roads full of pot holes and lacking efficient public transportation, they all say the US resembles Third World Countries. I have to agree with them.
Had Trump been smart, he would have made good on his promise for the infrastructure before trying to overthrow ACA, aka Obamacare. What a disaster of a country we have now.
10
Dont you know the US is officially the largest 3rd World country? The president hires his daughter and in-laws, channeling money to his own business, with sons and in laws making both State and private deals and no one can stop them.
Welcome to The Banana Republic of America.
Welcome to The Banana Republic of America.
4
The problem with infrastructure is the same as with the social safety net. When a mile of road is built, there is a fixed cost associated with its maintenance. Despite GOP beliefs to the contrary, this has been well known since the Greeks and Romans. The same is true with social programs. There is a fixed cost associated with a good health care system. In all the cases like this, the politicians in DC and the states have failed to recognize future problems and deal with them. For example it did not come as a surprise that the Baby Boomer crisis was coming. We have known since the first boomer children were being born. But we failed to prepare for it. Politicians just kicked the can down the road for their successors to deal with. If you add to this a constant narrative of cutting taxes and shifting the tax burden downwards and you have a "perfect storm" of civic irresponsibility.
9
We have needed mass transit, high speed trains, interlocking and interconnecting transportation options for years. In 1970 when returned from my first trip in Europe, I thought how great to have transportation like that. - At the time I was thinking Cleveland to NY or Chicago. Today - some projects are going on within larger cities, but nothing really in the way of connecting major hubs- even on the east coast. It has taken years for mass transit to get from DC to Dulles, for example. As a resident of Indianapolis, I would welcome high speed trains connecting this Heartland City to Chicago, Columbus, Louisville, for example. If you take a train to Chicago from Indy, forgeddaboutt it - faster to drive. I am tired of hearing that people won't take mass transit - well - not the poorly run systems we now have. So while it is important to get roads and bridges in shape, let's increase our transportation efficiency: build it and they will ride.
5
Continual tax cuts are undermining the country and a root cause of the failure of our infrastructure.
The rich are running the country, and will alway make choices that will benefit themselves over the needs of the country.
Never trust anyone around money.
The rich are running the country, and will alway make choices that will benefit themselves over the needs of the country.
Never trust anyone around money.
8
it's likely that Trump never understood the country's infrastructure problems, never intended to develop a way to deal with them, never cared a bit about the issue. His espousal of anything - infrastructure reform, adequate health care, fair treatment of immigrant children, a sane foreign policy - is simply a PR ruse intended to draw votes and attention to him. We have no president. We have only a hollow man in the White House whose sole interest is in serving his own ego by drawing attention to himself. Count on him for nothing but chaos and disappointment, because that's all he's capable of providing.
6
The US Public should be extremely wary of any "hybrid" infrastructure plan pushed by Mr. Trump. Nothing is life is free. You pay one way or another.
If the majority of Trump's plan is financed by private funding, that means but one thing: Tolls on everything from roads, to bridges to any infrastructured paid with private money.
This has been tried with disastrous results in Texas. Governor Perry expanded the highway system in Texas to alleviate traffic BUT it was privately financed and built by a Spanish firm [who donated money to Perry's campaigns]. The result: all the new highways are toll roads which are underutilized because few want to pay the toll, have not cut down on traffic on the free highways and are now going bankrupt.
WEB: http://www.statesman.com/news/local/bankruptcy-will-bring-new-ownership-...
If the majority of Trump's plan is financed by private funding, that means but one thing: Tolls on everything from roads, to bridges to any infrastructured paid with private money.
This has been tried with disastrous results in Texas. Governor Perry expanded the highway system in Texas to alleviate traffic BUT it was privately financed and built by a Spanish firm [who donated money to Perry's campaigns]. The result: all the new highways are toll roads which are underutilized because few want to pay the toll, have not cut down on traffic on the free highways and are now going bankrupt.
WEB: http://www.statesman.com/news/local/bankruptcy-will-bring-new-ownership-...
3
I find it amazing that our legislators have been unable to get this going. It's classic pork barrel, with the huge exception that it's a good idea for everybody. Local construction jobs, money flowing into your district, local businesses are happy, constituents are happy, what could be better? I guess doing nothing and cutting taxes yet again. That's never worked except for the top. Trump was elected, in large part, because the American public had been told since at least 1980 that things are going to be different this time and they almost never are. Gee, I wonder if this is going to make people even more cynical about their government?
3
One thought is that FDR's infrastructure programs were prioritized --- done in stages keyed to Keynesian economics. One is that Eisenhower's programs were done by means of grants to states who carried out the programs according to contracts managed by the states --- not by Washington. The Eisenhower paradigm comports with the Tenth Amendment of the constitution. If Team Trump intends to carry out the president's alleged program, it would do well to, first, select an order of priority, and, second, promote in Congress a series of block grants to the separate states, then get out of the way.
1
" “Our work on infrastructure is continuing to move as planned,” Ms. Strom wrote in an email this past week. "
Sign O' times: I don't believe you, and am already ready to hear the excuses and 'blame game' later this year.
Sign O' times: I don't believe you, and am already ready to hear the excuses and 'blame game' later this year.
2
As Senator Thune of South Dakota mentioned, "We're sort of waiting on the administration to tell us what it is exactly they want to do."
This, coming from the person leading infrastructure efforts in the Senate. Even he has no idea what and even worse, when they expect to hear about it.
This brief quote truly sums up the Trump White House methodology agenda as a whole.
This, coming from the person leading infrastructure efforts in the Senate. Even he has no idea what and even worse, when they expect to hear about it.
This brief quote truly sums up the Trump White House methodology agenda as a whole.
4
Infrastructure was the only positive promise of his campaign.
But his administration is clueless on how to proceed, public-private partnerships have become caricatures of piracy over public funds, and the extremists of the Republican Party are allergic to any spending however obviously necessary the us needs.
But anyway, Trump, failure except for the Trump empire income.
But his administration is clueless on how to proceed, public-private partnerships have become caricatures of piracy over public funds, and the extremists of the Republican Party are allergic to any spending however obviously necessary the us needs.
But anyway, Trump, failure except for the Trump empire income.
1
"Public-private partnership?" You mean winning bids by Trump Construction, Inc., right?
1
Yeah, but TCI will subcontract the work out and then refuse to pay up.
It seems that infrastructure is on every presidential candidate's front burner during his or her campaign and then put on the back burner after the election.And members of congress don't seem to grasp the gravity of our crumbling infrastructure situation. And, yes, a robust infrastructure program will create jobs in this country but are our elected representatives really interested in jobs?
5
Ohhh they grasp it very well. They just want the money to go to their favorite companies.
I guess that this is another method of birth control: let us drive, ride, or fly with inadequate or antiquated infrastructures in place and if we have an accident and can't get medical care when we need it we might die and decrease the surplus population.
8
Excellent way to turn lemons into lemonade. Just imagine what you can do with sour grapes!
1
trump wine. the finest on earth.
1
A concrete proposal? I see what you did there
5
Too busy destroying Obama's legacy. He is an utterly despicable man surrounded by equally despicable men & Betsy deVos. Shame on the people who put this narcissistic sociopath in the White House.
23
Donald Trump's only priority is Donald Trump, end of story!
15
And he never will deliver, never. Not his way unless there's something in it for him and the rest of his Mafia family and chums.
15
Nobody really expects any real action from this fake president, do they? What you see is precisely what you get with this clown. You get nothing.
The United States of Stupid.
The United States of Stupid.
22
Add to the list ridiculously old and obsolete airports, talked about but never built fast train service between city centers, stupidly slow and ancient credit / debit card systems, the list goes on and on. America has never graduated into the millennium. It is rather stuck in the 80s or 90s. Trump will do nothing about it nor is he doing anything about anything.
7
And so Trumpfrastructure goes the way of all other Trumpian schemes and dreams, all made of smoke and mirrors and (most of all) hot air
9
When was the last time you heard Trump say anything about the American people or an agenda. He is consumed by his own political position, angry at every one, can't even get his own team on the same page.
Need I say more.
Need I say more.
10
So much winning.
10
In 2018, the Democrats should run by pledging to actually do the things that Trump promised.
8
How can this administration engage the country in infrastructure programs when, according to this article, it is so far unable to put forth a "concrete" proposal. If one can't produce figurative concrete, what are the odds of coming up with real concrete?
The rush to reduce regulatory restrictions results in bias favoring optics. It would seem there will be a bonanza of sweetheart deals for the private sector with poor or eliminated legal and technical oversight.This will magnify the risks of inferior as well as dangerous outcomes.
Don't worry about results, just get it done, there's money to be made.
The rush to reduce regulatory restrictions results in bias favoring optics. It would seem there will be a bonanza of sweetheart deals for the private sector with poor or eliminated legal and technical oversight.This will magnify the risks of inferior as well as dangerous outcomes.
Don't worry about results, just get it done, there's money to be made.
38
As long as roads, bridges and airports near Trump properties are well maintained with public funds, who cares?
22
@Lew
Trump doesn’t care about roads and bridges as he flies on Marine One and Air Force One now.
The first thing he had built was a helipad at Mar-A-Lago so he wouldn’t have to be driven from the South Beach airport to his “Winter White House.” The community was against it, but hey, he’s the president.
I still get terribly nauseated saying that last phrase...
Amazing that President Obama never even considered having a helipad built at the Kailua Beach Park near where he RENTED a vacation home on Oahu. Probably because it was against the law...which doesn’t seem to bother the Trump family...doing things that are illegal.
Trump doesn’t care about roads and bridges as he flies on Marine One and Air Force One now.
The first thing he had built was a helipad at Mar-A-Lago so he wouldn’t have to be driven from the South Beach airport to his “Winter White House.” The community was against it, but hey, he’s the president.
I still get terribly nauseated saying that last phrase...
Amazing that President Obama never even considered having a helipad built at the Kailua Beach Park near where he RENTED a vacation home on Oahu. Probably because it was against the law...which doesn’t seem to bother the Trump family...doing things that are illegal.
2
The stock market is run by oligarchs.
Energy is owned by oligarchrs.
Prisons are being privatized.
Education under TrumpDeVos is being privatized;
Under Trump/Pruitt air and water are in the control of "private enterprise"
Health insurance companies make obscene profits from disease, injury, pain and dying.
Why would the infrastructure be any different?
Energy is owned by oligarchrs.
Prisons are being privatized.
Education under TrumpDeVos is being privatized;
Under Trump/Pruitt air and water are in the control of "private enterprise"
Health insurance companies make obscene profits from disease, injury, pain and dying.
Why would the infrastructure be any different?
17
Trumps 2018 budget also has him eliminating funding for our modern day WPA, AmeriCorps.
Eliminating AmeriCorps is the exact opposite of creating infrastructure- it is the destruction of human capital, as many AmeriCorps members are learning job skills for the first time while supporting low-income communities to rise.
#letUSserve
Eliminating AmeriCorps is the exact opposite of creating infrastructure- it is the destruction of human capital, as many AmeriCorps members are learning job skills for the first time while supporting low-income communities to rise.
#letUSserve
9
“Right now, it doesn’t appear that they have a plan,” said Richard L. Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., who is pushing for more federal spending. “The president doesn’t know what his own party wants, and he’s not sure what he wants. He can’t get his own party to pony up the money for infrastructure ...” A White House official directly involved in the process said Mr. Cohn’s team was hashing out a “declaration of legislative principles” but would most likely leave much of the bill drafting to House and Senate Republicans ... Someone simply forgot to give the two senators a heads-up — and the president veered off script to make the project seem as if it were his idea.
By now it should be patently obvious - Trump is the Man with No Plan. All legislation has to be written by Congress because aside from having "pen in hand," he has no idea what to do. Slapdash is the *best* these guys will be able to come up with.
By now it should be patently obvious - Trump is the Man with No Plan. All legislation has to be written by Congress because aside from having "pen in hand," he has no idea what to do. Slapdash is the *best* these guys will be able to come up with.
12
The Great National Infrastructure Plan was in the same folder as the Beautiful, Affordable Healthcare for Everyone plan, the folder labeled, For the Rubes, Burn on 10 November.
20
Don't forget the secret plan to quickly destroy IsIs.
5
Perhaps while traveling one of his frequent highways, a large sink hole will appear...perhaps...at that moment, he may consider the infrastructure...perhaps.
4
Infrastructure improvements require money. Right now it's about repealing Health Care so that the savings from denying affordable health care to those that need it most can go to the rich. Then it will be tax reform which means tax breaks for the privileged, the wealthy and the campaign donors. What does that leave for neglected infrastructure - not much! The only way this can be done is if Trump sets up a deal whereby those that profited from repeal and replace and tax reform invest in infrastructure, which will probably be another tax write off for the wealthy. However, that won't happen unless there is something more in it than more tax relief. So folks, instead of paying your local government for publicly used infrastructure, you will be paying the wealthy to get wealthier. Sound like a plan? However, this means that cities and towns will have even less money for other things like schools, policing and social services. Oh, I forgot, isn't it the Republican strategy to reward private school as superior and neglect public schools as inferior, leave social services to charities, and pour whatever is left into policing?
I guess everything is going according to plan, if you are a Trumpite.
I guess everything is going according to plan, if you are a Trumpite.
9
Not fixing the roads is expensive too. Only the costs are more spread out and borne by every driver and every business that makes use of the roads. Report after report, including from the American Society of Civil Engineers, states that collectively it costs us billions per year in worsened fuel economy, tires, alignments, and reports, and broken and prematurely worn parts of our cars and trucks as a result of our failing roads.
I've experienced this personally as well as many others I know. Personally I'd rather pay a little more in taxes on gas or something else to save thousands on the expensive components of my cars.
I've experienced this personally as well as many others I know. Personally I'd rather pay a little more in taxes on gas or something else to save thousands on the expensive components of my cars.
12
He had to set infrastructure aside so he could concentrate on more important issues like his war on the media and yanking healthcare away from 22k+ American citizens.
9
Trump is not keeping his promises to his voters to drain the swamp. . He was going to get rid of the fat cats in Washington, He was going to fix the infrastructure, he was going to deliver thousands of new jobs. He was going provide health insurance for the needy and it would be bigger, better and cheaper than Obama care He has no idea what he's doing on the Health care Bill . He depends on McConnell and Ryan to get it done. - So far they've made sharp cuts in public insurance - what it will cover.. And the cost is more.
Right now he's courting Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, and Russian Billionaires .He parades the rich and famous before the cameras at Mar Lago and his other private Golf courses in the U.S. and around the world. Which costs we taxpayers millions for all the security for him, his family and his toadies.
He's made huge cuts in taxes for the wealthy under McConnell and Ryan's lead- while cutting Medicaid and public health insurance to the bone. Planned Parenthood who offers free mammograms and limited medical for the poor. now gets no public funding .
Still his supporters think he's great and vehemently defend him. I don't get it ? If any reader can enlighten me why this is, would be so appreciative.
Right now he's courting Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, and Russian Billionaires .He parades the rich and famous before the cameras at Mar Lago and his other private Golf courses in the U.S. and around the world. Which costs we taxpayers millions for all the security for him, his family and his toadies.
He's made huge cuts in taxes for the wealthy under McConnell and Ryan's lead- while cutting Medicaid and public health insurance to the bone. Planned Parenthood who offers free mammograms and limited medical for the poor. now gets no public funding .
Still his supporters think he's great and vehemently defend him. I don't get it ? If any reader can enlighten me why this is, would be so appreciative.
7
Further evidence of trump and Republican congressional swagger without the ability to form logical plans and to implement them.
4
All of Trump's priority agenda items have more to do with his ego than actually accomplishing anything that would benefit the country. His first and only goal is to undo everything Obama. Obviously, the GOP isn't far behind. Please remind me how these people keep getting elected. Oh, that's right, gerrymandering and dark money.
6
"Trump's 'Great National Infrastructure Program'? Stalled"
When Trump was campaigning against Clinton he told the people that he was going to repair the infrastructure of the nation. People are starting to doubt that he even has a plan to rebuild the infrastructure of the nation since he still has shown no effort to repair the city. People are not happy and asking for answers. With all the complains Trump has came up with plans to raise money to repair the buildings it is conflicting with his second promise during his campaign, tax cuts. If he were to cut taxes he will not be able to raise enough money to repair the city but if he were to raise the taxes to repair the city he would have to break his promise of cuttting the taxes.
Trump has also tried other ways of raising money such as searching for investors and asking local governments for help which both has not worked out. For him to make decisions he still needs the approval of the Congress and Trump can only appeal to the republican side, and Trump's conservative republican nature makes it really hard for him to work together with the democratics. Some people have already lost their patience and called this National Infrastructure Program a scam and a lie to gain more approval from the people. Since Trump has already failed to build a wall between the United States and Mexico and failed to cut taxes "successfully", most people think that this new infrastructure project will result in a failure too.
When Trump was campaigning against Clinton he told the people that he was going to repair the infrastructure of the nation. People are starting to doubt that he even has a plan to rebuild the infrastructure of the nation since he still has shown no effort to repair the city. People are not happy and asking for answers. With all the complains Trump has came up with plans to raise money to repair the buildings it is conflicting with his second promise during his campaign, tax cuts. If he were to cut taxes he will not be able to raise enough money to repair the city but if he were to raise the taxes to repair the city he would have to break his promise of cuttting the taxes.
Trump has also tried other ways of raising money such as searching for investors and asking local governments for help which both has not worked out. For him to make decisions he still needs the approval of the Congress and Trump can only appeal to the republican side, and Trump's conservative republican nature makes it really hard for him to work together with the democratics. Some people have already lost their patience and called this National Infrastructure Program a scam and a lie to gain more approval from the people. Since Trump has already failed to build a wall between the United States and Mexico and failed to cut taxes "successfully", most people think that this new infrastructure project will result in a failure too.
1
The "Great On Polemics" people will never pass anything without Presidential (none) or Congressional (weak) leadership. The GOP has wasted the 2016 victories. They are essentially useless as a government starting with the Apprentice. Their only hope is to get a politician in the Presidency and void the Apprentice mistake.
1
I have no issue with a public/private partnership as long as new toll roads are not part of the agreement.
3
Trump has only one priority in his life: Trump. And nothing he does, or tries to do, fills the aching void of his darkest fear--that he is, in his own internal eyes, a loser. As Gertrude Stein said, there isn't any there there.
5
[[Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, is skeptical of any deal that would require him to compromise with Democrats.]]
That just about sums up what's wrong with politicians in this country. Arrogant and ineffectual.
That just about sums up what's wrong with politicians in this country. Arrogant and ineffectual.
2
Trump might as well start on the infrastructure project and forget about the wall that Mexico will not pay for since the new Ford Focus being made in Mexico have been taken over by the drug cartels and now hide drugs as they roll into the US. So much for making Fords in Mexico!
2
There were no real "promises". Trump is a con artist who will say anything to the audience in front of him to get their approval in order to feed his narcissicism. You cannot believe a single word he says.
4
What has worked really well in California is a tax that all goes to infrastructure improvements. Orange County's Measure M has upgraded roads and highways in the county, improved the bus system, and the measure has also purchased and preserved wild lands for the migratory movement of endangered native species. Even conservative voters were willing to pay a tax that was very specific in where the money was going.
The difference between OC and LA County roads is dramatic, so much so that LA County recently passed the same sort of measure. The Feds could do likewise, if only the GOP donor class had some semblance of patriotism, and would allow it.
The difference between OC and LA County roads is dramatic, so much so that LA County recently passed the same sort of measure. The Feds could do likewise, if only the GOP donor class had some semblance of patriotism, and would allow it.
127
"What has worked really well in California is a tax that all goes to infrastructure improvements."....It is called a gas tax and the Federal gas tax has not been readjusted for inflation in more than 20 years, thanks to the third world Republicans.
1
The Poet McTeagle, thanks for the LA Orange County comparison. Thanks for the publicity on the results of fenced money.
Even so, the Howard Jarvis Tax Association, John Coupal, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Sullivan James Gallagher, Senator Neilson, Herger, McClintock, Aanstead, and John Mistler have convinced the "base" that government is bad, government can't do anything right, don't let government have any money, ever for anything.
Even so, the Howard Jarvis Tax Association, John Coupal, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Sullivan James Gallagher, Senator Neilson, Herger, McClintock, Aanstead, and John Mistler have convinced the "base" that government is bad, government can't do anything right, don't let government have any money, ever for anything.
2
In line with what you are saying we should pass a federal gas tax that languishes at $0.184 per gallon. In Europe you might pay $4.00 per gallon to buy gas at the pump or more, typically double what we pay in the US. The last time we raised the federal gas tax was two decades ago. How much of an increase that federal fuel tax should be can be debated but it is an extremely effective way of making those that burn more fuel pay more to benefit from our transportation infrastructure; it is equitable. For example if you drive a larger heavier vehicle that causes more wear and tear on the roads and burns more gas (causing more pollution as a byproduct) then you will contribute more to the transportation infrastructure funding. Conversely, if you drive a heavy vehicle and invest in fuel saving technology or simply drive less or use an efficient vehicle you will pay less. Now the most important part: make it so the money can only go to transportation infrastructure.
1
I'm still not convinced that selling off our infrastructure to private capital for pennies on the dollar is in America's best interests.
113
Sort of like having insurance companies run healthcare. But you have to admit there is a nice middle man profit.
1
Private ownership is not in the country's best interest. Early America purchased the old colonial toll roads because the means of connecting the States for interstate commerce and defense purposes is a basic responsibility of Government. Even Government created Authorities like the MTA etc. do a poor job in that they are merely shills to hide government's failure to do its maintenance job.
trumpo's friends (russian and rich americans) do not want to put a cent into infrastructure, and with trumpo giving astronomical tax breaks to the uber-rich, there just isn't any money!
Let them eat cake!
Let them eat cake!
7
From High Noon:
We've been payin' good money right along for a marshal and deputies. Now the first time there's any trouble, we're supposed to take care of it ourselves. Well, what have we been payin' for all this time? I say we're not peace officers. This ain't our job!
Infrastructure:
We've been payin' good money right along with gas taxes and all to maintain the infrastructure. Well, what have we been payin' for all this time?
We've been payin' good money right along for a marshal and deputies. Now the first time there's any trouble, we're supposed to take care of it ourselves. Well, what have we been payin' for all this time? I say we're not peace officers. This ain't our job!
Infrastructure:
We've been payin' good money right along with gas taxes and all to maintain the infrastructure. Well, what have we been payin' for all this time?
4
We haven't, actually. The tax (18.4 cents/gallon) has not been raised since 1993. So it has been eroded by inflation. It has also been eroded by higher-mileage vehicles and electric vehicles.
So in answer to the question: We're getting what we pay for.
So in answer to the question: We're getting what we pay for.
Tax cuts gor the rich.
If your goal is to cut taxes and there is no "road fairy" to wave a wand over our transportation systems and Federation-style transporters are still a few years away than where do infrastructure improvements come from?
You'd think that infrastructure would be something that we could call be in agreement on, rich or poor we use the same roads (even private aircraft aren't immune from deteriorating airports and air traffic control systems). Except well the well off can avoid some of the discomfort. Mercedes-Benz $100K+ S550 has an option, "MAGIC BODY CONTROL" [their caps] that uses cameras to see bumps ahead on the road and set the suspension "to quell them in real time" that is a big step ahead of even the electronic reactive suspensions that have been trickling down. If you don't feel the bumps in the back seat of the Benz can the roads be that bad?
You'd think that infrastructure would be something that we could call be in agreement on, rich or poor we use the same roads (even private aircraft aren't immune from deteriorating airports and air traffic control systems). Except well the well off can avoid some of the discomfort. Mercedes-Benz $100K+ S550 has an option, "MAGIC BODY CONTROL" [their caps] that uses cameras to see bumps ahead on the road and set the suspension "to quell them in real time" that is a big step ahead of even the electronic reactive suspensions that have been trickling down. If you don't feel the bumps in the back seat of the Benz can the roads be that bad?
8
The American Society of Civil Engineers recently reiterated its nearly failing grade for the country’s vital infrastructure: a D+.
But the state of the country’s roads were the standout piece of bad news this year—the report found that $2 trillion would be needed over the next 10 years to get U.S. roads back in fighting shape.
But the state of the country’s roads were the standout piece of bad news this year—the report found that $2 trillion would be needed over the next 10 years to get U.S. roads back in fighting shape.
8
Republicans have a way to solve this problems:
More tax cuts for the rich !!
Problem solved !
More tax cuts for the rich !!
Problem solved !
2
Also for years now - our Defense Department sees Infrastructure repair/improvement/innovation as our country's top priority along with Global Warming/climate change.
It would make us a stronger and much safer country !
Especially our ancient spaghetti-like/codgered-up electrical grid. Foreign nations/enemies are testing hacking security and soon would be able to shut it down/limit it.
Even have capability to control our Nuclear plants and private/corporate manufacturing facilities.
Cyber warfare could destroy us and all our planes, tanks, carriers and soldiers will be of little help.
Flooding/water rise - would impact greatly our coast lines and major cities and ports.
It would make us a stronger and much safer country !
Especially our ancient spaghetti-like/codgered-up electrical grid. Foreign nations/enemies are testing hacking security and soon would be able to shut it down/limit it.
Even have capability to control our Nuclear plants and private/corporate manufacturing facilities.
Cyber warfare could destroy us and all our planes, tanks, carriers and soldiers will be of little help.
Flooding/water rise - would impact greatly our coast lines and major cities and ports.
1
Establishment GOPer "elites" always were going to be Mr. Trump's biggest obstacle -- it's time voters continued house cleaning in Congress. Voters can put a stop to this; we can drain the swamp, if we want to.
2
Coming soon to a White House Press Briefing near you.......
PRESIDENT TRUMP'S HUGE, COLOSSAL INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN
Fall, 2017 (earlier than any other president, ever)
*Build huge, beautiful bridges. The biggest and beautifulest.
*Expand broadband bigly, everywhere. Everyone will have it.
*Make the most powerful power grids anywhere in the world. Millions of miles of wires.
*Build new, beautiful highways. The most fantastic.
*Cut regulations.
*Get rid of rules.
*Build the fasted transit systems in the world. Super speedy.
*Build new, super tall air traffic control towers. The tallest.
*Find new water, that's right, new, and make the biggest, cleanest water systems in the world. It'll be amazing.
*Cut taxes to the middle class (those making more than $10,000,000/yr) to create jobs and pay for it.
*Won't cost a cent.
*Employ millions of Americans in fantastic jobs. We will have zero unemployment. The lowest ever.
*It will be fantastic. The best. Amazing. Just wait.
*Democrats will beg to be part of it. But we won't let them take credit. We will, however, blame them if it fails.
I had no idea infrastructure would be so difficult, but I did it. Here's the plan to prove it. Aren't I amazing!
PRESIDENT TRUMP'S HUGE, COLOSSAL INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN
Fall, 2017 (earlier than any other president, ever)
*Build huge, beautiful bridges. The biggest and beautifulest.
*Expand broadband bigly, everywhere. Everyone will have it.
*Make the most powerful power grids anywhere in the world. Millions of miles of wires.
*Build new, beautiful highways. The most fantastic.
*Cut regulations.
*Get rid of rules.
*Build the fasted transit systems in the world. Super speedy.
*Build new, super tall air traffic control towers. The tallest.
*Find new water, that's right, new, and make the biggest, cleanest water systems in the world. It'll be amazing.
*Cut taxes to the middle class (those making more than $10,000,000/yr) to create jobs and pay for it.
*Won't cost a cent.
*Employ millions of Americans in fantastic jobs. We will have zero unemployment. The lowest ever.
*It will be fantastic. The best. Amazing. Just wait.
*Democrats will beg to be part of it. But we won't let them take credit. We will, however, blame them if it fails.
I had no idea infrastructure would be so difficult, but I did it. Here's the plan to prove it. Aren't I amazing!
12
Trump runs the White House as if the US is his private family business. We can conclude that the plan to improve the national infrastructure offers nothing personal in it for Trump, or this would be a top priority. Now if it could be subcontracted to Russian developers, the story would be different.
10
Yes, and I don't understand the commentators (journalists) saying
they wished we'd pay more attention to Russia. I AM. Russia is
taking over our government means all bets are off - 1) No infrastructure
(unless the republicans give major tax breaks to the oligarchs here) 2) No unhealth-care (who wants to take care of people getting sick anyway unless they're making money off of us).
Nada will progress until this regime is gone. I said that in January and so far, it's true.
they wished we'd pay more attention to Russia. I AM. Russia is
taking over our government means all bets are off - 1) No infrastructure
(unless the republicans give major tax breaks to the oligarchs here) 2) No unhealth-care (who wants to take care of people getting sick anyway unless they're making money off of us).
Nada will progress until this regime is gone. I said that in January and so far, it's true.
1
Trump was elected not because he ran against the establishment, but because he cherry picked the most popular pieces of the partisan establishment and "championed" them in his campaign. From the right he choose big military budget, tax cuts, regulatory cuts, scrapping the ACA, from the left he said he would protect Medicare and Social Security, spend big on infrastructure, and enact protectionist trade policies. The left has rejected these ideas because they don't like Trump, and he hasn't been able to do much with his ideas from the right because even though all the ideas may sound good they aren't really needed (e.g., more military spending doesn't necessarily produce a more capable military).
He remains and ineffective leader with no ideas of his own or ability to manage the government. His administration's goals aren't to improve the country but to get the highest TV ratings and most retweets. From a political capital perspective he is bankrupt.
Senator Collins said it best, he should have started with infrastructure - this would have given him political capital and bipartisan credibility which is what he won the election with.
He remains and ineffective leader with no ideas of his own or ability to manage the government. His administration's goals aren't to improve the country but to get the highest TV ratings and most retweets. From a political capital perspective he is bankrupt.
Senator Collins said it best, he should have started with infrastructure - this would have given him political capital and bipartisan credibility which is what he won the election with.
1
Why can't this be done through the government with our tax dollars? It would be a job creation engine and would stimulate our economy more than any trade deal or sanctions that the GOP or Trump have in mind. Why should our government allow private industry to take over most of this? Will any private industry build, improve, or update roads, tunnels, railways, airports, etc., in areas where it benefits the residents but not them? Will these structures be built to the correct specifications, be properly maintained, and be affordable for all Americans? Given the track record that private industries have in this country I don't think that's so. If we want an example of an industry that operates solely in its own interests we have the so-called health care industry to look at.
With health care the pharmaceutical companies are driving up prices to the point where even cheap medications are unaffordable. They pay their CEOs outsize salaries with perks that cost more than they're worth. Having health insurance in America is no guarantee of coverage or being able to get care when and where it's needed. Trump, for a self proclaimed savvy businessman seems completely unaware of how avaricious our cutthroat capitalist CEOs are and how little they'd care if passengers or drivers were injured on roads or railways or airports that they'd built as long as they make a profit.
For our safety and the country's safety and business infrastructure should not be privatized.
With health care the pharmaceutical companies are driving up prices to the point where even cheap medications are unaffordable. They pay their CEOs outsize salaries with perks that cost more than they're worth. Having health insurance in America is no guarantee of coverage or being able to get care when and where it's needed. Trump, for a self proclaimed savvy businessman seems completely unaware of how avaricious our cutthroat capitalist CEOs are and how little they'd care if passengers or drivers were injured on roads or railways or airports that they'd built as long as they make a profit.
For our safety and the country's safety and business infrastructure should not be privatized.
10
"Why can't this be done through the government with our tax dollars?"
Well - there are the federal and state mandated gas taxes that should be used just for that. However the buying power has been reduced through inflation as some taxes have stayed the same for decades and then the volume has decreased as cars have used less gas and some cars use no gas - even in the face of increased vehicle counts. No one wants to raise taxes to pay for roads even though wear and tear continues on roads even when gas consumption per vehicle decreases.
Well - there are the federal and state mandated gas taxes that should be used just for that. However the buying power has been reduced through inflation as some taxes have stayed the same for decades and then the volume has decreased as cars have used less gas and some cars use no gas - even in the face of increased vehicle counts. No one wants to raise taxes to pay for roads even though wear and tear continues on roads even when gas consumption per vehicle decreases.
1
When they privatize everything, the rich will have the American taxpayers just where they want them.
4
Do we want to have a country and a government or throw everything to corporate profit? Trump is touting the public-private partnership route on infrastructure. To me that is putting the future of our country even deeper into danger. The public funds should be raised by taxing overseas corporate profits and other sources such as a small tax on gas or stock market transactions. Control and responsibility should be kept in the hands of government. Private money was earned and made possible through the use of public infrastructure - roads, trains, airports, etc. Corporate or Wall Street control ensure higher prices and lack of maintenance to ensure corporate profit. Now it the time for corporate payback of a fair share into the tax pool. Infrastructure represents the "full faith of the US government." Improving our water mains, roads and collapsing bridges should offer decent-paying, not "cheap labor" jobs that can boost the middle class and keep the US from its present slide into obsolescence.
12
This regime wants US to slide into obsolescence. That's the goal.
1
The fraud isn't tackling his "big, great" infrastructure plan. As Gomer Pyle would say to Sergeant Carter: "surprise, surprise, surprise" BTW Gomer would be a far more dignified president than the creep currently sitting in the oval office.
15
A federal bank, supported by Taxpayers money.Money loans for projects at interest rate that goes back to the bank. The bank takes shares of the projects and shares in the profits (toll roads hydroelectric, airports etc.) All this goes back to the "peoples "bank not to wall street. 60% of the worlds countries have a national government for profit bank owned by the taxpayers.
see letusbeawarefolks.blogspot.com- would a national bank lower taxes?
see letusbeawarefolks.blogspot.com- would a national bank lower taxes?
3
You would think that if the two wings of the Republican Party--the plutocrats and the nativists--could get together on anything it would be infrastructure.
Sooner or later they will have to satisfy their voters with something tangible , particularly something that Trump, McConnell, et al can point to as addressing the economic doldrums of the vast decaying areas of rural America. Symbols like border walls and immigration bans can't be taken to the bank.
Sooner or later they will have to satisfy their voters with something tangible , particularly something that Trump, McConnell, et al can point to as addressing the economic doldrums of the vast decaying areas of rural America. Symbols like border walls and immigration bans can't be taken to the bank.
40
There is no alignment between the Wall Street Republicans and the Wall-Mart Republicans. The former only acts like they care about abortion and guns to foll the later out of their votes.
Establishment Democrats and Republicans are plutocrats, looking to gain money and power to favor their friends. Barriers to progress in both parties are the result of crony socialism.
Republicans are not nativists which implies that they favor native born over foreign born. Republican policy is to favor citizens and legal residents, regardless of country of birth, over illegal aliens.
The only Republicans who support the notion that illegal aliens deserve American resources are part of the plutocrats who, like their Democrat brethren, want to exploit illegal aliens and depress wages for citizens and legal residents.
Republicans are not nativists which implies that they favor native born over foreign born. Republican policy is to favor citizens and legal residents, regardless of country of birth, over illegal aliens.
The only Republicans who support the notion that illegal aliens deserve American resources are part of the plutocrats who, like their Democrat brethren, want to exploit illegal aliens and depress wages for citizens and legal residents.
So the Federal judge who ruled against Trump in one of his myriad lawsuits and was subsequently demeaned by Trump for his Mexican heritage was an immigrant?
On the Sunday shows I heard the president's reps repeatedly chide the media for not covering "what's being done."
Nothing significant is being done by this president.
Although, thanks to Mr. Scaramucci, we now know Mr. Trump can "sink a three foot putt."
Nothing significant is being done by this president.
Although, thanks to Mr. Scaramucci, we now know Mr. Trump can "sink a three foot putt."
11
Senator Chuck Schumer on This Week with George Sephanopoulis just laid out a coherent, sensible Democratic legislative agenda to address the economy, healthcare, and the other major concerns of the American people. This is what every sensible political pundit has bee urging the Democrats to do. Why is this not on the front page of The Times?
19
Great question! Too bad the editors for the Times cannot see past there zeal to topple Trump. The reporting of news has always been subjective especially at the Times!
Do we really need to read another article on Russia and a pre election meeting? There are many, many news worthy issues that fail to make it into the paper.
Do we really need to read another article on Russia and a pre election meeting? There are many, many news worthy issues that fail to make it into the paper.
1
George, thanks for your reply. What troubles me is that helping the Democrats put forward a cogent economic agenda will win elections. Kvetching about Trump will not.
1
"This is what every sensible political pundit has been urging the Democrats to do. Why is this not on the front page of The Times?"
Good point! Why aren't Democratic proposals also headlined in the NY Times to counterbalance the daily failings of trump and his henchmen?
Good point! Why aren't Democratic proposals also headlined in the NY Times to counterbalance the daily failings of trump and his henchmen?
Republican infrastructure is something like improvements to private yacht berths at public expense.
9
Bwahaha -- that is hysterical.
(I wonder if any infrastructure projects do get done - will Trump be able to put his name on them and charge the US Government trademark leasing fees ?
Can see it now here in the NYC tri-state area.......
*The Trump 87 Thruway
*The Trump Jersey Turnpike
*The Trump International Airport
*The Trump Subway System
*The Trump Theater District
*The Trump Port of Authority
(I wonder if any infrastructure projects do get done - will Trump be able to put his name on them and charge the US Government trademark leasing fees ?
Can see it now here in the NYC tri-state area.......
*The Trump 87 Thruway
*The Trump Jersey Turnpike
*The Trump International Airport
*The Trump Subway System
*The Trump Theater District
*The Trump Port of Authority
U.S. News gives a very different account, noting sincere efforts on Trump's part and obstruction by both parties of Congress:
"the Trump proposal quickly drew bipartisan opposition, and there were few signs it would get far on Capitol Hill. "All but our largest airports nationwide stand to be hurt by this proposal," said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas.
When two reputable publications give such different accounts,at least one is not motivated to tell the truth.
"the Trump proposal quickly drew bipartisan opposition, and there were few signs it would get far on Capitol Hill. "All but our largest airports nationwide stand to be hurt by this proposal," said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas.
When two reputable publications give such different accounts,at least one is not motivated to tell the truth.
1
Michjas
Trump may have made "sincere efforts" at his infrastructure plan. Though that is hard to imagine. The "sincere" part I mean.
But if his efforts consisted, which they do, solely of schemes to give away America's infrastructure to private corporations for a pittance, sincere efforts at resistance are not obstructionism, they are a patriotic duty.
If indeed Trump gave it a shot, its clear he lost.
Let him go away and come up with a Plan B that will actually benefit the nation.
I suggest he run over to Europe and look at the bridges, tunnels, freeways, mass transit and get some workable ideas to bring back home. He could take a gander at the schools, too.
First step would be to grab a hefty portion of the "Here you go, rich guys, more free money for you!" tax strategy and apply it where it would do the most good for everybody, including the rich: infrastructure.
Trump may have made "sincere efforts" at his infrastructure plan. Though that is hard to imagine. The "sincere" part I mean.
But if his efforts consisted, which they do, solely of schemes to give away America's infrastructure to private corporations for a pittance, sincere efforts at resistance are not obstructionism, they are a patriotic duty.
If indeed Trump gave it a shot, its clear he lost.
Let him go away and come up with a Plan B that will actually benefit the nation.
I suggest he run over to Europe and look at the bridges, tunnels, freeways, mass transit and get some workable ideas to bring back home. He could take a gander at the schools, too.
First step would be to grab a hefty portion of the "Here you go, rich guys, more free money for you!" tax strategy and apply it where it would do the most good for everybody, including the rich: infrastructure.
The only positive initiative this dysfunctional White House has ever suggested is being put on hold in favor of the most draconian measures favoring not the citizens, but the plutocrats now in charge.
4
National infrastructure is the one thing that no-one should be against. And it shouldn't be paid for with tolls, but with gasoline taxes and user fees for things like airports. It's time for Trump to do something that has a chance at passing and that is actually good for the country, not just good for the Democrats or good for the Republicans. Non-partisan.
6
The US is slowing rotting to death. We squandered an opportunity to address our infrastructure needs during the aftermath of the recession and now we will pay a lot more money to do something that could already be almost done if our politicians had put country before party squabbles. Trump represents everything that is wrong with our country right now. We're all talk, no action, and too cheap and disorganized to invest in ourselves.
6
Trump is only good at selling Trump. When the time comes to keep his promises, all we get is excuses and buck passing.
6
The majority leader doesn't want to work with Democrats? McConnell is poison and exemplifies just about everything wrong with Congress.
5
Totally agree !!
Imagine him saying he does not want any Democrat input/support on an infrastructure bill. (Always was bi-partisan and wanted).
How outrageous! He has accomplished nothing as Senate Majoriy Leader except for obstruction and looking for old laws/loopholes to limit Democrats from participating as a needed Minority Party as was defined and wanted in the Constitution by our Founding Fathers !!
McConnell needs to be booted from leadership and the Senate all the way back to KY. (guess he equates Republicans/Democrats to the Hatfield's/McCoy's !! No middle ground)
Imagine him saying he does not want any Democrat input/support on an infrastructure bill. (Always was bi-partisan and wanted).
How outrageous! He has accomplished nothing as Senate Majoriy Leader except for obstruction and looking for old laws/loopholes to limit Democrats from participating as a needed Minority Party as was defined and wanted in the Constitution by our Founding Fathers !!
McConnell needs to be booted from leadership and the Senate all the way back to KY. (guess he equates Republicans/Democrats to the Hatfield's/McCoy's !! No middle ground)
1
Elect a majority party in Congress that has by choice been a Party of No for eight straight years and what do you get?
A Congress of do nothings. They don't know how to do more.
Elect a President who is a bully and a liar and what do you get? An Executive administration of bullies and liars that has no clue about leading or working together as a more perfect government for We the People.
What does that get us? Nothing, except scandals, scams and division.
Why would you expect anything else?
We are getting what we voted for. Get used to it...or get rid of it... in 2018...if it's not too late by then.
A Congress of do nothings. They don't know how to do more.
Elect a President who is a bully and a liar and what do you get? An Executive administration of bullies and liars that has no clue about leading or working together as a more perfect government for We the People.
What does that get us? Nothing, except scandals, scams and division.
Why would you expect anything else?
We are getting what we voted for. Get used to it...or get rid of it... in 2018...if it's not too late by then.
7
Infrastructure schminfrastructure, it is of course much more important to spend 50 billion dollars on 3 new aircraft carriers, instead. Freeway overpasses may rot and begin collapsing in cities nationwide but everyone will marvel at American power gleaming shiny & fabulously on the high seas !
5
It's Trump. Anything he comes up with is his idea, and he has followers who believe that.
I agree with Senator Collins, that Trump should have focused on building a viable infrastructure plan, difficult enough, but is relevant in our now growing economy. Everyone understands something like that, unlike confusing healthcare, and, who know, fixing the infrastructure could be preventative health if cars don't suffer dramatic blow-outs.
My Republican father used to say that if you act because of anger instead of rationality, you'll suffer. Voters elected Trump with their anger and they are now suffering. Anger fueled the decision to focus on that failed healthcare bill instead of rationally looking at infrastructure improvements. Here we are.
It would be nice to get that new tunnel between NY and NJ.
I agree with Senator Collins, that Trump should have focused on building a viable infrastructure plan, difficult enough, but is relevant in our now growing economy. Everyone understands something like that, unlike confusing healthcare, and, who know, fixing the infrastructure could be preventative health if cars don't suffer dramatic blow-outs.
My Republican father used to say that if you act because of anger instead of rationality, you'll suffer. Voters elected Trump with their anger and they are now suffering. Anger fueled the decision to focus on that failed healthcare bill instead of rationally looking at infrastructure improvements. Here we are.
It would be nice to get that new tunnel between NY and NJ.
1
The fact that the "Great National Infrastructure Program" is stalled shouldn't be a surprise to Trump. As this article notes, Mulvaney and Cohn are at odds with each other about what they want. Mulvaney would be happy to cut DOT funding and let fuel taxes remain as they are, but deep down, Cohn knows that Congress will probably need to raise fuel taxes and increase general-revenue funding for infrastructure.
32
They will remedy the funding problem by putting up more and more toll booths. One of the many problems with toll roads is the paucity of on and off ramps so they can effectively control money collection. So now these roads become barriers to local travel but it is worth it so the rich can have even more.
Why isn't it a good idea to leave the federal fuel tax alone, and let the states raise their own fuel taxes, or impose other user fees, or assess other taxes instead?
The federal fuel excise tax was imposed during the 1950's to fund the building of the interstate system, which was officially completed in 1993. There may be some extensions or widenings that conceivably could be construed as continuations, and there could be some state border areas where federal funds might ease disputes, but the states are responsible for the repair and maintenance of the system.
Democrats want the continuation and increase in the federal fuel tax because they love the notion of taking one dollar each from Tennessee and NY and giving back $0.80 to Tennessee and $1.20 to NY. Enough. Tennessee just raised the state fuel tax, and it will get to keep all of the revenue rather than subsidizing NYS.
The states already pay 70% of road and bridge maintenance out of state funds and the federal excise tax collects enough revenue to cover an additional 25%, leaving only 5% contributed from general federal revenues. Let the states cover the 5% through additional state excise taxes or otherwise, and let the DOT become a purely advisory agency and continue with only the current 25% that it collects from drivers and divvies out per its formulas.
More funds should probably be spent, but how does flowing those funds through a corrupt and biased federal bureaucracy add efficiency or effectiveness?
The federal fuel excise tax was imposed during the 1950's to fund the building of the interstate system, which was officially completed in 1993. There may be some extensions or widenings that conceivably could be construed as continuations, and there could be some state border areas where federal funds might ease disputes, but the states are responsible for the repair and maintenance of the system.
Democrats want the continuation and increase in the federal fuel tax because they love the notion of taking one dollar each from Tennessee and NY and giving back $0.80 to Tennessee and $1.20 to NY. Enough. Tennessee just raised the state fuel tax, and it will get to keep all of the revenue rather than subsidizing NYS.
The states already pay 70% of road and bridge maintenance out of state funds and the federal excise tax collects enough revenue to cover an additional 25%, leaving only 5% contributed from general federal revenues. Let the states cover the 5% through additional state excise taxes or otherwise, and let the DOT become a purely advisory agency and continue with only the current 25% that it collects from drivers and divvies out per its formulas.
More funds should probably be spent, but how does flowing those funds through a corrupt and biased federal bureaucracy add efficiency or effectiveness?
Making the rich richer is the Republican goal, and a price that the American people are apparently willing to pay.
The infrastructure program is a con, like everything else. It's all about "privatization" of everything.
The goal is to make the rich richer. And it will drive more of the country into desperation.
The infrastructure program is a con, like everything else. It's all about "privatization" of everything.
The goal is to make the rich richer. And it will drive more of the country into desperation.
14
Take to the boats, I guess, right!
Yeah, but just like on the Titanic, byvdesign, most ppl can't make it to the boats, by design, and you can only get on board if your jewels rattle loud enough to overcome the cries of help of the less fortunate.
A few weeks ago I drove I-40 from Southern California to Northern New Mexico. It's a shame our interstate system is in disarray. It's inconceivable that we spent a heck-of-a-lot of money the last 20 years on wars, bailouts, gridlock and empty promises and we can't get an infrastructure plan passed. Meanwhile it has gotten warmer out there (up to 119 degrees on my drive) and highway traffic is increasing putting these roadways at greater risk.
8
Please read about Carrier, and the tax breaks, trickle-up monies, and job losses before dreaming about the existence of any competence, motivation, or long-term planning and drive to repair our country's infrastructure. Remember this when Pence aspires to higher office - this Carrier deal was broken promise number one.
Our nation can't be rebuilt when there is no honesty, goodwill, compassion, honesty, goodwill, or compassion among our nation's top leaders. They're also dishonest about our nation's goals and future orientation.
Our nation can't be rebuilt when there is no honesty, goodwill, compassion, honesty, goodwill, or compassion among our nation's top leaders. They're also dishonest about our nation's goals and future orientation.
10
"Stalled?" How is that possible? Trump issued his legislation to congress---all one page of a Powerpoint. If I recall it simply said "privatize everything to foreigners"
Luckily Trump and his Keystone Kop team cannot get out from underneath themselves or we'd really be in a crisis. Plan on more Potemkin White House gatherings with new announcements. Tired of so much "winning" my fellow Americans?
Luckily Trump and his Keystone Kop team cannot get out from underneath themselves or we'd really be in a crisis. Plan on more Potemkin White House gatherings with new announcements. Tired of so much "winning" my fellow Americans?
8
We need a NEW, New Deal. With infrastructure the priority, Nationwide.
4
You cannot square the circle. Cut taxes (again) for the rich and corporate America, up military spending, retain the biggest and most expensive entitlement programs (Medicare and Veterans' benefits), and then find funds for infrastructure? Like trickle-down (voodoo) economics, Republican love for public-private partnerships is another fraud. Private sector companies make a fortune and the taxpayer gets hosed -- whether prisons, or contracting out military activity, or building airports and hospitals, the results are always the same. Meanwhile, the US has third-world airports and city infrastructure, decrepit and dangerous subways and railways, dirty cities and badly maintained roads and parks. A quick comparison with western and northern Europe or even China is highly embarrassing. Clean streets, no potholes, no crumbling sidewalks, spectacular clean, modern, safe airports, rail and bus stations, lovely parks, modern comfortable high-speed trains (to say nothing of universal free healthcare in state of the art facilities). The price of civilization? Reasonable and fair personal and corporate taxation supporting national, regional and municipal spending. It's not magic, it's not "socialism", it's common sense.
290
Excellent and truthful post. The US (and Canadian) government moans that it never has sufficient funds for public works, education and health care because of its neo-liberal and corporate values, i.e. cutting taxes. I remember as a youth experiencing that many government services in Canada such as entry to parks and national monuments were free or low cost, but for at least thirty years they have not been. Indeed, at some parks, you have to pay for parking in addition to an entry fee. All this in the wake of globalization and neoliberalism.
1
As a member of NATO, Canada has a treaty obligation to spend 2% of its GDP on national and common defense. It spends 1%, and has agreed to ramp up to 1.7% by the end of 2027. We understand that you are not rich enough to adequately fund your share of the collective defense.
In contrast, the US spends 8.4% of GDP. You are welcome, and we haven't forgotten that Americans stranded in Iran after the revolution were smuggled out by Canadian diplomats at personal risk with Canadian passports.
In contrast, the US spends 8.4% of GDP. You are welcome, and we haven't forgotten that Americans stranded in Iran after the revolution were smuggled out by Canadian diplomats at personal risk with Canadian passports.
If there was one thing I thought a Trump Presidency could be positive for, it was infrastructure. It's his background, its his business. What a wasted presidency so far (and don't blame the press).
154
His main business was selling his name.
4
His background is not "infrastructure", it was/is casinos, reality TV, branding. The only things he was involved with building were co-development of luxury hotels, condominiums, or golf courses. Infrastructure? Hardly.
3
Don't worry. Trump still has this in mind, but it will come only after it is clear there is no money to pay for it. This is when he will come up with a brilliant plan to ask the rich to finance infrastructure improvements for profit. Yes, you will get a shiny new airport, but there will be fees to access it.
1
Infrastructure was never going to happen.
The sole reason that Obamacare reform came first was to find the money for fat cat tax cuts as part of "tax reform". The plan was to cut $800 billion or so on health care for the working poor and disabled and older Americans, give 60% of that to the fat cats immediately, and save the rest so that "tax reform" can happen.
After "tax reform" there would be no money left for "infrastructure" (except maybe the wall) because deficit hawks would kill any infrastructure bill.
The sole reason that Obamacare reform came first was to find the money for fat cat tax cuts as part of "tax reform". The plan was to cut $800 billion or so on health care for the working poor and disabled and older Americans, give 60% of that to the fat cats immediately, and save the rest so that "tax reform" can happen.
After "tax reform" there would be no money left for "infrastructure" (except maybe the wall) because deficit hawks would kill any infrastructure bill.
14
The "Great National Infrastructure Program" will almost certainly involve bonds floated with the aid of the "Big Banks", and it will almost certainly provide jobs for Unionized Construction Workers.
The "Big Banks" will be able to give Trump kickbacks in some devious way (or perhaps they will just pay him to deliver a private speech to them?), and the Unionized Construction Workers will be happy to give Trump votes in return for pulling this off.
And it won't just be Trump - all our other politicians will be able to get in on the act, both on the Federal Level, and our super greedy big city mayors, as well.
Even "Big Media" will benefit, when the banks take out full page ads to sell the bonds, and phony "Interest Groups" take out TV spots to plug the projects.
Will there be a loser? Yes - the environment. Watch as Trump and Company lead the way, since they never cared about the environment anyway. And watch everyone else step into line, as they are blinded by visions of Shiny Gold Coins falling into their hands.
Even Putin will be allowed to get in on the graft in some way, in this "Mother of All Projects". After all, what are friends for?
The "Big Banks" will be able to give Trump kickbacks in some devious way (or perhaps they will just pay him to deliver a private speech to them?), and the Unionized Construction Workers will be happy to give Trump votes in return for pulling this off.
And it won't just be Trump - all our other politicians will be able to get in on the act, both on the Federal Level, and our super greedy big city mayors, as well.
Even "Big Media" will benefit, when the banks take out full page ads to sell the bonds, and phony "Interest Groups" take out TV spots to plug the projects.
Will there be a loser? Yes - the environment. Watch as Trump and Company lead the way, since they never cared about the environment anyway. And watch everyone else step into line, as they are blinded by visions of Shiny Gold Coins falling into their hands.
Even Putin will be allowed to get in on the graft in some way, in this "Mother of All Projects". After all, what are friends for?
3
Let's not forget that our demagogue in chief has promised many things as a candidate, empty promises that, hopefully, will come back to bite him. Trump is utterly incompetent, his bluffing just a facade to give us the appearance of competence...where none exists. Meantime, he will continue to appropriate other's ideas and hope it'll work. A liar for good, a crook by nature, so full of himself he remains blind to the evidence, a fraudster, and seemingly proud of it. Infrastructure revival sounded good, hence, his embracing of unending offers to make things up. Too bad he has his 'base' of supporters, willfully blind, encouraging this vulgar bully to display his wares, 'thin air'.
4
The Trumps have the BEST infrastructure. The little people are on their own. Bigly.
7
Prediction: If Trump does prepare a plan, the states that didn't vote for him in 2016 will get short shrift.
6
To some, instantly recognizing the signs of cognitive dissonance is easy. So is it a failed education system that allows for people to ignore an individual's propensity for being a pathological liar, even when proven time and again over a period of years? All the Trumps and their sycophants have visible signs of being liars. So why on earth do we continue to give them credit for anything?
3
Guns or butter. The obvious place to get funds for infrastructure rehab is the gigantic war budget. But most Republicans and many Democrats, including the 5 liberals representing Connecticut, just voted to increase the military budget by $70 billion, even greater than Trump’s proposal. The militarized state is not likely to agree to reducing its power just to create a secure US. Guns not butter is the agenda of conservative and liberal alike. The United States of Kill.
2
Two things! Just two things need to be delivered and the GOP will consider the Trump Presidency a success. The first has already happened. Appointment of ultra conservative Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. And second is finally eliminating "the death tax". This has been the Holy Grail for the political donor class pretty much essentially forever.
Abolishing just that one tax would bestow members of the billionaire class worth $50 million (of which there are many) a gift worth something like $20 billion. The fact that these folks are doing just fine the way things doesn't spill into their repeal narrative nearly as much as their claims that it is all for saving the small farmers or small business owners, or a number of other small (fill in the blanks).
Just those two things and the GOP will consider this a stellar inning.
Abolishing just that one tax would bestow members of the billionaire class worth $50 million (of which there are many) a gift worth something like $20 billion. The fact that these folks are doing just fine the way things doesn't spill into their repeal narrative nearly as much as their claims that it is all for saving the small farmers or small business owners, or a number of other small (fill in the blanks).
Just those two things and the GOP will consider this a stellar inning.
3
Infrastructure, which could put tens of thousands of people to work, will always wait behind tax cuts and health care "reform"--and any other legislation that allows the wealthy to feed at the government trough.
4
While I am not a fan of the President, how come our elected leaders in the Congress can't do this?! Why? Why is this not a priority for them? Again, I'm no fan of Trump but once again the people on either end of the political spectrum hold middle America hostage! I will remember this at every single election I vote in! If you aren't doing your best to expand and support the middle class I'm not voting for you! Infrastructure surely helps everyone but more so the middle class in this country. The best example to illustrate this is NYC, a mass transit system that is collapsing, roads still full of potholes from last winter. Sewer projects stalled because of inept contractors. Brownouts because the electric grid can't handle the loads! This is in NYC, what about the rest of America!
The pols need to get to work or perhaps they need to become unemployed!
The pols need to get to work or perhaps they need to become unemployed!
McConnel doesn't want to advance a plan that has a hint of Democratic participation. What a complete distortion of our constitution. How is this man different from any other petty political operative vying for power? It's extremely upsetting and does not bode well for this country as a whole.
6
No one wants Tax increase. yet everyone wants our Infrastructure rebuilt. Americans will balk at any tax increase but will get over it if they see where the money is going. It's time for Congress and the Administration to take the bull by their horns. It's only a matter of time when more bridges will fall, and people injured. Not to mention the frustration they will endure. JFK said we will put a man on the moon in Ten Years and we did. He believed it and pushed. Trump needs to believe in infrastructure and push it. The problem is America really does not know What this President Believes in.
3
Frank, I wish I could believe you. I think we've been told for so long that ANY tax increase is unamerican, treasonous, probably an idea that the devil wants that our brave leaders are just terrified of even talking about it. Even mr hope and change left Ws tax cuts in place. We're also told that tax cuts will solve everything. Funny how that never works but we believe what we want to.
As Paul Krugman said in his piece on November 19th of last year:
Again, all of these questions could be avoided by doing things the straightforward way: if you think we should build more infrastructure, then build more infrastructure, and never mind the complicated private equity/tax credits stuff. You could try to come up with some justification for the complexity of the scheme, but one simple answer would be that it’s not about investment, it’s about ripping off taxpayers. Is that implausible, given who we’re talking about?
GIVEN WHO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
A Manhattan real estate huckster who is too busy tweeting about perceived insults from celebrities and Congressional Republicans who are hell-bent on depriving millions of health care and cutting taxes at the top.
Again, all of these questions could be avoided by doing things the straightforward way: if you think we should build more infrastructure, then build more infrastructure, and never mind the complicated private equity/tax credits stuff. You could try to come up with some justification for the complexity of the scheme, but one simple answer would be that it’s not about investment, it’s about ripping off taxpayers. Is that implausible, given who we’re talking about?
GIVEN WHO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
A Manhattan real estate huckster who is too busy tweeting about perceived insults from celebrities and Congressional Republicans who are hell-bent on depriving millions of health care and cutting taxes at the top.
3
During WW II, General Eisenhower saw how a country needed a good transportation system to move troops and supplies around. Once he returned home, and was elected president, he championed the building of what has become our interstate highway system. Infra-structure is a matter of defense.
Much of the money we now earmark for defense goes to defending our allies. President Trump has been telling our allies to spend more of their own money on their own defenses.
Despite Trump’s demand, many of our allies do not plan to increase their defense spending. Right after Trump’s recent visit to France, Macron announced a cut in defense spending. Germany complains that it has been taking in so many illiterate and otherwise needy refugees that it cannot afford to increase defense spending.
Trump should direct the Pentagon to spend money from its current budget to upgrade our own country’s infra-structure, as a matter of defense. If our allies think this would leave the Pentagon with less money for us to defend them, they should feel welcome to spend their own money to make up the difference.
Much of the money we now earmark for defense goes to defending our allies. President Trump has been telling our allies to spend more of their own money on their own defenses.
Despite Trump’s demand, many of our allies do not plan to increase their defense spending. Right after Trump’s recent visit to France, Macron announced a cut in defense spending. Germany complains that it has been taking in so many illiterate and otherwise needy refugees that it cannot afford to increase defense spending.
Trump should direct the Pentagon to spend money from its current budget to upgrade our own country’s infra-structure, as a matter of defense. If our allies think this would leave the Pentagon with less money for us to defend them, they should feel welcome to spend their own money to make up the difference.
71
Our allies can just cut off the use of our forward deployed bases on their lands for replenishing, refueling, repairs, and fast response to world's hot spots. If Japan closed off our naval bases the USS Fitzgerald would have been towed to Hawaii. USS Reagan would be home ported on west coast instead of Japan. All of our destroyers run on fossil fuel. I do believe the US Navy does not have the capability to refuel their ships and planes without help for our allies. Even though our submarines and carriers are nuclear powered, we still need to replenish food to sustain continuous operations. I would say we need are allies more than are allies need the United States.
2
Extremely little money we waste on defense actually goes to defending out allies. It goes to projecting US influence. Defending out allies would be altruistic. The US spends its "defense" dollars on selfish projection.
3
It was world war 1.
1
In the past when infrastructure needed repair,Congress raised the gas tax a few cents.
Raise the gas tax 10 cents and there will be monery to finance repairs.
But the Republican Ultraconservatives are insane about raising any taxes-so America physically crumbles away.
Conservative Ideology can warp the judgement of the brightest people(and some not so bright people).
Raise the gas tax 10 cents and there will be monery to finance repairs.
But the Republican Ultraconservatives are insane about raising any taxes-so America physically crumbles away.
Conservative Ideology can warp the judgement of the brightest people(and some not so bright people).
19
Dear uncleDflorida,
I agree that a tax increase is needed to fund infrastructure, but a 10 cent gas tax is regressive. How about a temporary 5% tax on capital gains over 250 thousand? After all, few of those gains are being used to stimulate the American economy!
I agree that a tax increase is needed to fund infrastructure, but a 10 cent gas tax is regressive. How about a temporary 5% tax on capital gains over 250 thousand? After all, few of those gains are being used to stimulate the American economy!
2
How about a tax on stock exchange transactions. Kills two birds with one stone. Raises revenue and makes gambling on Wall Street more expensive.
Of all the failures of this administration, pushing infrastructure aside is one of its worst. Our great nation's roads, tunnels, airports, trackbeds and bridges are crumbling and restoring them requires only a simple two step process which should have immediate bipartisan support in both Houses:
1) Bring several trillion dollars of expatriated corporate funds back into the U.S. in the next two months by temporarily reducing the tax rate on these funds to 15% and earmarking the proceeds for infrastructure renewal;
2) Answer the basic business question about all infrastructure components -- fix or replace -- and get to work.
1) Bring several trillion dollars of expatriated corporate funds back into the U.S. in the next two months by temporarily reducing the tax rate on these funds to 15% and earmarking the proceeds for infrastructure renewal;
2) Answer the basic business question about all infrastructure components -- fix or replace -- and get to work.
14
John
You really are kidding, right?
Have you been out of the US. Ever?
All over Europe, all over Asia, are highways, bridges, roads, communities of stunning beauty and quality. Creative approaches to reducing weight and cost while increasing capacity and durability. Concentration on efficiently (and comfortably) moving populations and goods.
All exactly the opposite of the too-long delayed, utterly boring and pedestrian, and typically compromised into oblivion infrastructure we get around here, when we get any at all.
Trump can get away with Make American Great because he is speaking to to an audience that mostly has never been anywhere else.
If we could bus all the good old Republican boys of Alabama to Holland for week, they'd come back here and demand Trump's head on a plate.
You really are kidding, right?
Have you been out of the US. Ever?
All over Europe, all over Asia, are highways, bridges, roads, communities of stunning beauty and quality. Creative approaches to reducing weight and cost while increasing capacity and durability. Concentration on efficiently (and comfortably) moving populations and goods.
All exactly the opposite of the too-long delayed, utterly boring and pedestrian, and typically compromised into oblivion infrastructure we get around here, when we get any at all.
Trump can get away with Make American Great because he is speaking to to an audience that mostly has never been anywhere else.
If we could bus all the good old Republican boys of Alabama to Holland for week, they'd come back here and demand Trump's head on a plate.
4
Tax cuts first. Tax cuts second. Tax cuts third. Tax cuts seventy fifth. Infrastructure, seventy six, or maybe seventy seventh after, you guessed it, tax cuts.
10
The non-stop train from Beijing South to Shanghai is expected to finish the 1,305 kilometres (811 mi) journey in 3 hours and 58 minutes.
On the 372 km (231-mile) section from Boston's South Station to New York's Penn Station, the scheduled time is 3 hours and 40 minutes. Acela Express trains are the fastest trainsets in the US.
On the 372 km (231-mile) section from Boston's South Station to New York's Penn Station, the scheduled time is 3 hours and 40 minutes. Acela Express trains are the fastest trainsets in the US.
4
NG NY - Oh if only the Times would present such comparative data and then give us graphics to drive home the difference between the USA and every other advanced country.
Round off those numbers to see that the average speed (including stops) for the Boston to New York train is 60 mph!
When I was in the US I would have liked to take the train from Boston - my point of arrival - to two places, Albany, NY and Saco, ME. I won't even bother to tell you the sorry story.
Is it still the 18th or 19th century in my USA? It would be interesting to know how long it took the first train to make the Boston - Albany run but I have better things to do. To make matters worse, there is no Albany train station.
Only-In-America
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
Round off those numbers to see that the average speed (including stops) for the Boston to New York train is 60 mph!
When I was in the US I would have liked to take the train from Boston - my point of arrival - to two places, Albany, NY and Saco, ME. I won't even bother to tell you the sorry story.
Is it still the 18th or 19th century in my USA? It would be interesting to know how long it took the first train to make the Boston - Albany run but I have better things to do. To make matters worse, there is no Albany train station.
Only-In-America
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
1
I would think that infrastructure would be more of a priority than tax cuts.
10
One would think.
But other ones do not, clearly. First gotta give trillions of tax cuts to ppl who don't need them, to then complain about spending too much because of budget deficits.
Makes sense? To some it does.
But other ones do not, clearly. First gotta give trillions of tax cuts to ppl who don't need them, to then complain about spending too much because of budget deficits.
Makes sense? To some it does.
Unless Trump is willing to work with the Democrats, he has little chance of getting the Republicans to back any massive spending plans. They remain the party of no. The only chance he has, perhaps, is by massive giveaways to the private sector, like the Republicans of the 19th century gave the railroads huge tracts of federal land in the West, supposedly to get them to build.
7
Trump has no "great national infrastructure plan". That was just one of his sound bites- intended to stir up the masses. The man is a blowhard, evident by his never ending pleas to "believe me". He is a first class liar and anyone who can't see that is a sucker. There are 63 million of them somewhere in the country.
17
hear, hear
2
Get used to the fact that Trump's number one priority, by far, is Trump. Everything else is just a means to an end.
8
I live in Emporia, KS., about 120 miles southwest of Kansas City. Last Thursday morning, July 20, about 2 a.m., a water main broke. It left the entire city -- population 25,000 -- without water for most of the day, a day when the high temperature was 100 degrees. No water for cooking, bathing, or for restrooms. Every restaurant in town closed, from Mom-and-Pop diners to the chain restaurants like McDonald's and Subway. Other businesses closed or cut back hours. The courthouse, the schools and Emporia State University closed for the day. Essentially one day of lost sales and productivity in both the private and public sectors of the city. And while the water is back on, as of Sunday morning, we are still under a boil order -- you are not supposed to drink tap water or use it for cooking unless its been it boiling temperature -- 212 degrees -- for at least one minute.
The exact cause of the water main break hasn't been determined, but the water mains and pipes are at least 30 years old -- and probably older. They are wearing out. The Topeka Capital Journal addressed the issue today: http://cjonline.com/news/local/2017-07-21/epidemic-aging-water-lines-mak...
We have to address the infrastructure issues. Trump isn't the person to do it; he's a con man, and as we're finding out with health insurance and health care, completely incompetent. But this has to change.
The exact cause of the water main break hasn't been determined, but the water mains and pipes are at least 30 years old -- and probably older. They are wearing out. The Topeka Capital Journal addressed the issue today: http://cjonline.com/news/local/2017-07-21/epidemic-aging-water-lines-mak...
We have to address the infrastructure issues. Trump isn't the person to do it; he's a con man, and as we're finding out with health insurance and health care, completely incompetent. But this has to change.
22
Terrible story. We here in NYC can relate to it well. Water mains (and roads, and bridges, and subways, and rail tracks) keep on breaking all the time -- the city is old, there's too many people and no maintenance until it's too late...But they still keep on building multi-billion dollar apartments. Go figure.
I've certainly noticed that on my trips to NYC. I love your city, but, yeah, a lot of it is old and broken down from what I've seen. But what can I say? It's no better in Kansas, that's for sure.
One of your photos sums up American infrastructure for this century; the ability to dig trenches and put "broadband" cable into it. What is driving these projects? Cable companies are on the cusp of changing laws that will make the internet even more tiered and increasingly more expensive.
If Trump voters experienced the systems already in place throughout Europe for example, and the prices citizens paid for access, it might open their minds to greater possibilities but they don't seem to get out much.
If Trump voters experienced the systems already in place throughout Europe for example, and the prices citizens paid for access, it might open their minds to greater possibilities but they don't seem to get out much.
6
It could could have been a start to expand his base by encouraging democrats to join him in a $1T infrastructure project. It is much needed and borrowing at historically low interest rates would have been easy.
But Trump squandered this opportunity. Instead of expanding his base, it is slightly shrinking and now, many of his promises seem to those of a con artist. It won't take too many of his followers to peel off to justify a rationale for republicans in Congress to remove him from office. The Russian winter is approaching.
But Trump squandered this opportunity. Instead of expanding his base, it is slightly shrinking and now, many of his promises seem to those of a con artist. It won't take too many of his followers to peel off to justify a rationale for republicans in Congress to remove him from office. The Russian winter is approaching.
4
There are a few issues that were brought up in this article that seriously need to be addressed by the federal politicians:
1. The overall outline mentioned in the article for this administration is "ON TARGET". The policy for infrastructure from previous administrations has been "third worldish". Rural America where there is a lack of over $100,000 per year salary earners like in NY, NY needs broadbrand and clean water.
2. There is a fear regarding the response to Senator Collins' comments quoted in the article. The Administration did. And, the administration is dealing with the items that fell through the cracks by the previous administrations, like the track work at NYC Penn Station.
Broken items don't fix themselves.
3. The third quarter has just begun.
4. Some of the States who have representatives that want to cut infrastructure spending may have the most infrastructure work.
The previous administrations haven't spent anything or have had any real plans in place to maintain existing infrastructure needs and provide infrastructure to areas that require it. This administration was thorough in finding the wants of the nation as a whole.
Clean drinking water for the dishwasher was a big issue brought in front of the house committee hearings this past week. This country still has places that time forgot.
1. The overall outline mentioned in the article for this administration is "ON TARGET". The policy for infrastructure from previous administrations has been "third worldish". Rural America where there is a lack of over $100,000 per year salary earners like in NY, NY needs broadbrand and clean water.
2. There is a fear regarding the response to Senator Collins' comments quoted in the article. The Administration did. And, the administration is dealing with the items that fell through the cracks by the previous administrations, like the track work at NYC Penn Station.
Broken items don't fix themselves.
3. The third quarter has just begun.
4. Some of the States who have representatives that want to cut infrastructure spending may have the most infrastructure work.
The previous administrations haven't spent anything or have had any real plans in place to maintain existing infrastructure needs and provide infrastructure to areas that require it. This administration was thorough in finding the wants of the nation as a whole.
Clean drinking water for the dishwasher was a big issue brought in front of the house committee hearings this past week. This country still has places that time forgot.
This you can bank on: Whatever infrastructure program (a longshot bet at best) emerges from this Congress and this president, an exponential increase in the number and size of the fees of toll roads, toll bridges, toll parking and toll toilets.
It's not the Republican idea of a perfect tax. The rich, too, will have to pay, but it will fall heaviest on those too dumb or too unlucky to fall in the sub-90%.
It's not the Republican idea of a perfect tax. The rich, too, will have to pay, but it will fall heaviest on those too dumb or too unlucky to fall in the sub-90%.
1
Yeah, if you can't exempt the rich...
- but how about a toll-exclusion for cars with a blue book value >$100k? Should be doable, in the internet age -
...then at least make it painfully regressive, and preferably have the sideways clogged by Mexican gardeners right parallel and in full sight of the empty express tollways.
I like it.
- but how about a toll-exclusion for cars with a blue book value >$100k? Should be doable, in the internet age -
...then at least make it painfully regressive, and preferably have the sideways clogged by Mexican gardeners right parallel and in full sight of the empty express tollways.
I like it.
Another failure from the team Bannon Trump Pence. No doubt the reality of lowering tax revenue in the form of tax reform would leave Federal agencies unable to pay off bonds needed to finance infrastructure projects is recognized at some level in the WH.
The WH's recycling of Reagonomucs, the ecpnomic model Greenspan acknowledged to Congressman Waxman's committee is "flawed" remains flawed. Until the American public awakens to the reality it must pay for itself the USA will continue to founder at this. USA voters should look at Kansas, a Republican state, where the GOP state legislature overrode Gov Brownback's veto of an increase tax bill.
The WH's recycling of Reagonomucs, the ecpnomic model Greenspan acknowledged to Congressman Waxman's committee is "flawed" remains flawed. Until the American public awakens to the reality it must pay for itself the USA will continue to founder at this. USA voters should look at Kansas, a Republican state, where the GOP state legislature overrode Gov Brownback's veto of an increase tax bill.
3
Since nothing happens without healthcare Trump is considering signing an Executive Order to change the Hippocratic oath. This way doctors can reject people without insurance from emergency care.
1
Please stop talking about Trumps legislative plans and simply report on what he actually is. - a loud mouth. He has no plans for anything, he will simply stamp his approval on any Republican bill that lands on his desk. You should be focusing on what congressional Republicsns are doing.
3
I agree that being astounded by Trump's persona (the lying, the self serving rhetoric, the negative branding of others, the insatiable demand for 'loyality', the philandering, the 'grabber of female genitals, the low self-esteem, the tweeter tantrums, etc., etc.), but it's tough, man, to let that go.
But you're correct - we need to keep track of it and report on it but not let it dominate as much as it does. The reality is that the ineptitude is speaking as loud as any silly, childish tweet. The guy doesn't know how to govern and work with people.
But you're correct - we need to keep track of it and report on it but not let it dominate as much as it does. The reality is that the ineptitude is speaking as loud as any silly, childish tweet. The guy doesn't know how to govern and work with people.
What Trump has yet to realize, apparently, is that his biggest obstacle to getting anything done over the next couple of years won't be the Democrats. It will be the most conservative members of the House Caucus who will reflexively oppose any bill which might benefit ordinary Americans. Thus, healthcare and infrastructure each have little to no chance of gaining any traction until at least after 2018. Ironically, Trump should hope for Democratic and moderate Republican gains in 2018, because those two groups might actually work across the aisle with each other, get legislation passed, and Trump, of course, will sign anything if he claim it as a "win."
174
On a train journey from Helsinki to St. Petersburg, I not only saw the transition from a gleaming modern infrastructure to a rusting decaying time warp. I saw America in Russia.
240
@ DJ Trump's Russia, no less. That is Trump, make America 19th Century again.
2
No, you saw Russia in Russia.
America has been sliding down towards third world for 30 years, we'll join Russia soon.
One more scam from the man who would be king.
10
There are not going to be any new bridges or roads. No huge transparent wall built by Mexico is going to appear. Nor are manufacturing jobs going to be brought back from China. Fake President has been revealed standing behind a curtain speaking into a microphone that amplifies his voice but not his intelligence. Wake up Trump munchkins. Your wizard never was, nor is now a wiz . . . at anything.
11
They failed on healthcare,will surely fail on tax reform and infrastructure; they desperately need a victory, they won't get it, which will make it more and more difficult to get things done.
Their already low populatity will tank, and I am afraid the orange buffoon and draft dodger will see no other choice than unify the country in a war against North Korea ... hopeI am mistaken.
Their already low populatity will tank, and I am afraid the orange buffoon and draft dodger will see no other choice than unify the country in a war against North Korea ... hopeI am mistaken.
2
How can Trump get anything done with the Democrats not supporting anything he wants to do. Couple to that the lad of support by the media who makes stories up to stall any progress. Have never seen a worst case of abuse of power by the media. Its no wonder newspapers and traditional news outlets are loosing their market. Waiting for the NYT's and their snowflakes to stop the games and accept that TRUMP IS THIER PRESIDENT!
1
The media makes up stories to stall progress?
What was that thing someone said about people thinking that their ignorance is just as good as someone elses knowledge?
What was that thing someone said about people thinking that their ignorance is just as good as someone elses knowledge?
4
Donald, is that you?
Seriously, the Republicans made it very clear that all they wanted was to do this without any democrat - remember all that vote counting and calculating? Trump's only "offer" to work with democrats was to hope to force them into submission by letting millions of Americans lose health insurance first.
And anyways, why do you complain about democrats? You own everything now - YOU OWN IT ALL. You can't even get it done now.
Yes Trump is our president. So was Barack Hussein Obama - but I'm guessing you didn't state that then, did you now?
Seriously, the Republicans made it very clear that all they wanted was to do this without any democrat - remember all that vote counting and calculating? Trump's only "offer" to work with democrats was to hope to force them into submission by letting millions of Americans lose health insurance first.
And anyways, why do you complain about democrats? You own everything now - YOU OWN IT ALL. You can't even get it done now.
Yes Trump is our president. So was Barack Hussein Obama - but I'm guessing you didn't state that then, did you now?
4
I personally have no political ties.
I am waiting for Trump to stop the games and accept that he is our President. Until now, he's seem incapable, as he appears caught up in vindictiveness, jealousy, low self esteem and a need to 'be right'. Pull up your pants, man!
What am I missing, B.O.?
I am waiting for Trump to stop the games and accept that he is our President. Until now, he's seem incapable, as he appears caught up in vindictiveness, jealousy, low self esteem and a need to 'be right'. Pull up your pants, man!
What am I missing, B.O.?
This is what happens when you elect know-nothings-Nothing! However, Mitch McConnell deserves his own circle of hell as Mr. Cut Off Your Nose to Never Yes to a Democrat. To actually pass a coherent infrastructure plan that will outlive the next election cycle requires leadership, research, collaboration, planning, public hearings, and public financing. It may include tax hikes and curtailment of foreign military adventures. If you want to actually take care of the "homeland", why not start with what is most critical to do and what it will cost. This project is no "victory" for Trump; it's a requirement for Americans. Our country is in shambles and we're responsible for cleaning, upkeep, and improvement. Our responsibilities should not be privatized, because the private sector will not be there to maintain or repair and can just declare bankruptcy like Mr. Trump and walk away from its failures to destroy someone else's land. If it's public-private, what are the legal ramifications? Will they still use union workers, or privatize to the lowest denominator, paying the workers trash to profit stockholders at the public's expense?
6
Maybe Mexico can pay for it.
7
Let all those Trumpian nincompoops face the facts. Trump is not going to get anything done because he doesn't know what he's doing. He's an arrogant egotistical spoiled brat who is consumed only with himself. He is barely literate, knows nothing of history, governing, and how to treat people with even a smidgen of politeness. He's a bully, and the only way to handle a bully is to fight him hammer and tong all the way.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
10
Quick! Everyone take a picture of your favorite infrastructure nightmare and tweet 'em out to the "so-called president"!!!
2
"...One problem. A similar law was passed in 2015. The two senators who introduced the legislation — Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, and Senator Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican — felt blindsided..." - straight out of the trumpian playbook
1
Donald Trump is an incompetent liar. That's the only thing anyone needs to know.
2
Don't you realize *dt is nothing more than a Huckster who has promised the moon and all the stars in Heaven (at no cost to the taxpayers)?
He has ZERO ability to do anything he said he would do.
And yet gullible rubes swallow each pronounment ( uttered in effusive platitudes) as if is a veritable fact.
He has ZERO ability to do anything he said he would do.
And yet gullible rubes swallow each pronounment ( uttered in effusive platitudes) as if is a veritable fact.
3
War is a lot more stimulating.
1
This president doesn't like to work hard ... period ... one doesn't will things to happen ...
1
You think the mendacious republicans are actually going to do something beneficial?
Liars led by King Liar and you're expecting something good to come from this?
Liars led by King Liar and you're expecting something good to come from this?
So there's not going to be a Trillion Dollar gift for Wall Street? Oh, so sad, may be under President Pence, or President Pelosi when the Democrats win the House in 2018 and the two filthy liars are exposed, deposed and jailed.
2
Sign seen at a rally:
Brags bigly, does diddly.
Brags bigly, does diddly.
4
Does "The Great Wall of Trump" count?
1
It was practically the only worthwhile thing he was proposing. So why should it be a surprise that it vanishes in the cesspool that is now the White House?
3
Everyone's eyes are on the wrong picture...
Trump is preparing to hitch a Presidential jet to Eastern Europe. Poland maybe? Warsaw? Excuse:...shake hands with the Polish leadership which is cozying up to Moscow.
Thence to Moscow?
There was a reason Donald and Pootie played footsie at the European conference.
"I'm on my way, Pootie!"
He was telling him that he's ready to make the leap. Where's his money? That's the tip-off. A nice visit to
Trump is preparing to hitch a Presidential jet to Eastern Europe. Poland maybe? Warsaw? Excuse:...shake hands with the Polish leadership which is cozying up to Moscow.
Thence to Moscow?
There was a reason Donald and Pootie played footsie at the European conference.
"I'm on my way, Pootie!"
He was telling him that he's ready to make the leap. Where's his money? That's the tip-off. A nice visit to
1
The only thing this fool may have a clue how to do( with mob connections of course), and still nothing,
1
Do you think there is even the slightest possibility that Trump will release his petty grievances and embrace this is an opportunity to advance the national agenda?
1
Infrastructure? Trump requirement ,all bridges ,roads, etc. must lead to a Trump building & plated in gold. Enough!
1
Stalled? Only if you ignore the defensive works being installed around the Presidential Palace.
1
Yes, the GOP will pass an infrastructure bill when they can figure out how to deny Planned Parenthood employees from using the roads.
2
“They’re supposedly going to submit some sort of plan in the fall, so we’ll see,” Mr. Thune told reporters this month. “We’re sort of waiting on the administration to tell us what it is exactly they want to do.”
1
Been visiting USA since 1969 on a regular basis, nationwide. I was in awe way back now I feel sad that things have gone backwards. My many friends used to brag and boast about their USA now they change the subject. Did a road trip from Denver to San Francisco last year, do the same mileage in Europe and see the difference. Infrastructure & the peoples welfare are paramount to a civilization, come on USA you have all the resources and people with the exception of your President. Get rid of the lame duck sooner rather than later and move forward.......
3
@ Steve Lucas UK - Steve I will add you to my list in my comment about 3 down from yours. I note often that the Times never ever provides direct comparisons of US systems with those in other countries. Therefore all expats or visitors to the US must tell the truth as you do.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
45th become took the office to ENRICH himself and his family. NOT to serve people. Its plain & simple.
1
Great! Trump and the GOP eliminate the social safety net- now they'll privatize government institutions!
And where is the DNC outrage? They're too busy drafting bills for "farm to table food" for homeless shelters, LGBT car dealerships, more movie roles for Transgender actors, fee college for undocumented immigrant workers and rent free housing for Syrian refugees. That's why the Democrats lost in 2016 and why they'll lose in 2018 and exactly why Trump will win again in 2020.
And where is the DNC outrage? They're too busy drafting bills for "farm to table food" for homeless shelters, LGBT car dealerships, more movie roles for Transgender actors, fee college for undocumented immigrant workers and rent free housing for Syrian refugees. That's why the Democrats lost in 2016 and why they'll lose in 2018 and exactly why Trump will win again in 2020.
Modern America is what happens when a society loses sight of common sense.
2
In 63 comments I see one each from Canberra (Neil Bolton), Paris, and Toronto and one from a visitor to Switzerland.
Bolton has written one version of what I have written so many times. Read him - about 90 recommends at 9:08 EDT.
On returning to Sweden June 30 I started filing comments presenting simple comparisons between my USA - New England and Rochester/Albany and my Sweden - Linköping and Göteborg.
Consider this simple comparison and ask why, OK?
Linköping SE County - 150,000
Chittenden VT County - 149,000 (Burlington)
Every, yes every, road in Linköping has been resurfaced so well and so completely even I cannot quite believe it when I drive around and even out into farm country. 2-1 roads (fence separates 2 lane on one side 1 on other)
Chittenden County - Roads in variable condition, nowhere did I see a single stretch of road that comes even close to what I see in Lkp. No such thing as 2-1 roads in the US as far as I know.
So why? There seems to be very different mindset in Sweden as concerns infrastructure, renewable energy, all systems using piping including the "fjärrvärme" (district heating) system, and 4G systems.
My view 21 y here: The Swedish mindset is to plan to maintain every system and renew before things begin to break down. Even more impressive than the roads is maintenance of the district heating pipe network. Extraordinary.
Not a sign of this in my USA. Why not?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
Bolton has written one version of what I have written so many times. Read him - about 90 recommends at 9:08 EDT.
On returning to Sweden June 30 I started filing comments presenting simple comparisons between my USA - New England and Rochester/Albany and my Sweden - Linköping and Göteborg.
Consider this simple comparison and ask why, OK?
Linköping SE County - 150,000
Chittenden VT County - 149,000 (Burlington)
Every, yes every, road in Linköping has been resurfaced so well and so completely even I cannot quite believe it when I drive around and even out into farm country. 2-1 roads (fence separates 2 lane on one side 1 on other)
Chittenden County - Roads in variable condition, nowhere did I see a single stretch of road that comes even close to what I see in Lkp. No such thing as 2-1 roads in the US as far as I know.
So why? There seems to be very different mindset in Sweden as concerns infrastructure, renewable energy, all systems using piping including the "fjärrvärme" (district heating) system, and 4G systems.
My view 21 y here: The Swedish mindset is to plan to maintain every system and renew before things begin to break down. Even more impressive than the roads is maintenance of the district heating pipe network. Extraordinary.
Not a sign of this in my USA. Why not?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
3
No offense. But it's beyond me why you continue to compare the U.S. to Sweden, when they differ so greatly from each other in almost every imaginable way.
Anyone who travels outside of the States regularly (I do), knows how far behind other countries we stand in these matters.
Anyone who travels outside of the States regularly (I do), knows how far behind other countries we stand in these matters.
I coMeare with New England or if you prefer a part of New England. Similar climate, education level etc.
Perhaps you prefer to compare with what?
So why don't you give your concrete examples.?
Reply to North. Smith.
Perhaps you prefer to compare with what?
So why don't you give your concrete examples.?
Reply to North. Smith.
Trump's failure to follow up in this area is a GOP slip.
Let's be fair to Trump and put his campaign rhetoric in perspective.
He actually had zero understanding of policy and no vision of how to achieve all of the promises he made on the trail including trade, health care, infrastructure and taxes.
Everyone in government is stupid and he and only he could fix all of America's problems.
It was all a con game run by a guy who has spent his entire life conning people. And he found a captive audience in white lower income voters, especially when he mixed in racial provocation along with promising his big beautiful wall that Mexico will finance.
Now he's faced with conning his way through the Presidency.
Hope this helps.
He actually had zero understanding of policy and no vision of how to achieve all of the promises he made on the trail including trade, health care, infrastructure and taxes.
Everyone in government is stupid and he and only he could fix all of America's problems.
It was all a con game run by a guy who has spent his entire life conning people. And he found a captive audience in white lower income voters, especially when he mixed in racial provocation along with promising his big beautiful wall that Mexico will finance.
Now he's faced with conning his way through the Presidency.
Hope this helps.
3
Dear NY Times: It's amazing to me that you continue to refer to Mr. Trump as having "priorities." Trump has no "priorities" except himself. But if you really want to serve the public interest, try asking Trump if he knows what the "infrastructure" is. You will undoubtedly discover that he knows as much about infrastructure as he knows about health care.
2
We could have elected a president who has deep experience in the White House, a president who is disciplined and organized and knows how to prepare. But the media wouldn't stop reporting about her email retention practices, so here we are.
3
Maybe if the democrats would quit beating the Russia drum, which to date has not produced any serious concrete information (oh my, Trump jr met with a Russian! Impeach!) the WH would be able to concentrate on other things? I'm no Trump fan, but I blame the democrats as much as the republicans since the Dems don't want to let Trump do anything to benefit the country as that would hurt their chances in 2018. It's all about politics....
Good one. The Republicans stalled or killed every Obama initiative for eight years - including the ones to pull the country out of the worst recession since the 1930s, which was thanks to W and company. And stole a Supreme Court seat to boot. And the Democrats should be working with the Republicans on what exactly? Taking away health care? Privatizing everything? Yes, it IS all about politics and you can thank the GOP and their screaming banshees
2
I lost track. Is this another of the proposals in Jared Kushner's purview. Like the Opioid Crisis. That's been assigned by Trump for Jared to solve. Addicts and Parents of Addicts take heart. Jared's on it. Jared's desk is where proposals go to die.
1
When you hear Trump, or any of his minions, discuss "infrastructure," the public should quickly realize it will never happen. When Trump thinks big, it naturally leads to economic and financial disaster. Does Atlantic City come to mind? If that's too far in the distant past, does healthcare ring a bell? Remember one salient truth abou the Donald, once a con man, always a con man. It is in his DNA.
1
The ground is crumbling beneath his feet, and he has built no bridges to save himself.
One risk of expanding wireless communications infrastructure throughout rural America is that a great number of Trump supporters would suddenly have access to the Internet, and thus high-quality news sources like The New York Times and The Washington Post. In my rural Indiana community these and other credible sources of information have no role in shaping daily life--but televised Fox News does.
Trump Inc. will be more than happy to build as many golf courses, casinos and hotels as the American People are willing to pay for.
Just give them the power of eminent domain, and eliminate all labor safety and health regulations, and they can start tomorrow. H2B visas included!
Just give them the power of eminent domain, and eliminate all labor safety and health regulations, and they can start tomorrow. H2B visas included!
1
There is no infrastructure plan.
Hopefully no UNION workers will be hired. They just increase the cost of a project and yielding worse quality. Just look at what happened to American automobile industries that were under the UAW control..POOR Quality.
and the Con marches on - Trump has no interest in anything he can't make a buck off of --
The only 'Great National Infrastructure Program' that Donnie Trump cares about is clearly hidden is his personal and family income tax returns and business records. But Vladimir Putin will not tell on his puppet dummy.
1
All parties playing politics with public safety should go to their nearest failing bridge and sit on it until something happens.
Trumps grand promises of fabulous infrastructure projects were never anything more than fraudulent talking points, just like everything else he's ever said.
Massive infrastructure development was the one item I was hoping Trump could deliver.
72
His success at the Wollman Rink in NYC could be replicated. Trump's approach could work again.
1
He would just screw it up.
macbloom: Hope remains eternal, it is said, and you will be eternally hoping for anything to get done under Trump.
1
I would prefer the next President concentrates on infrastructure. 45 will turn it over to private companies who will make each highway, road and bridge a private money pit.
302
That's the entire goal of Putin. Privatize and kill off the lower-paying population. So far, Putin's winning.
This is the best comment on the article, which wrongly assumes the plan was any more sincere than beautiful healthcare for everyone, and affordable, too
Jerome or some enterprising journalist, could you expand about how some of the governors "sold" their interstate highways to Spanish or Australian interests?
It is probably a blessing that Trump's misguided infrastructure plans have been delayed or deferred. His intention is to put our critical infrastructure in the hands of profiteers that will bleed the public for generations. There is nothing wrong with Federal and State governments continuing to fund infrastructure projects by issuing bonds and putting usage taxes on infrastructure users. It is obvious with the advent of better fuel mileage and alternative fuels vehicles that we will have to get more creative to fund our highways. We have the technology to fund a system based on how many miles a vehicle travels and recorded by an EZPass type system. Set a mileage rate based on GVW times miles driven and bill periodically. Drive more, pay more. Also, there are certain functions that need to be under government control like the FAA. The FAA should not be a "for-profit" enterprise. Since we have saturated some areas of the country with vehicular traffic we need to put more emphasis on regional light rail and high speed intercity rail systems.
214
"His intention is to put our critical infrastructure in the hands of profiteers that will bleed the public for generations."
Dependable 21st Century transit systems that serve their populations and enable people to move quickly/safely as those in E and J do, are financed and maintained by a Fed. system. Privately owned transportation systems have not worked anywhere. Issuing bonds and taxing users is the only way to finance and maintain a rebuilt national infrastructure.
Dependable 21st Century transit systems that serve their populations and enable people to move quickly/safely as those in E and J do, are financed and maintained by a Fed. system. Privately owned transportation systems have not worked anywhere. Issuing bonds and taxing users is the only way to finance and maintain a rebuilt national infrastructure.
2
Sorry, but exactly none of our public services should be "for profit". Otherwise, they are neither Public, nor Services.
1
How about instead of giving wealthy EV owners a free pass on road taxes plus an $8500 federal tax credit, plus state incentives, we charge them full fare for their use of infrastructure including a tax surcharge to pay for the build out of electric charging stations? A federal tax surcharge of $1000 per year for ten years sounds about right. As it stands right now, utility rate payers are being charged for the electric charging stations.
There was never a proposal for the FAA to become a for-profit entity. The biggest objectors to the proposal are the owners and operators of corporate, private and leasing jets. Buffett alone was able to defeat the IRS [no corruption there] and avoid $1 billion in user fees for NetJets.
The areas saturated with vehicular traffic can use the additional revenue collected from the wealthy to pay for their mass transit.
There was never a proposal for the FAA to become a for-profit entity. The biggest objectors to the proposal are the owners and operators of corporate, private and leasing jets. Buffett alone was able to defeat the IRS [no corruption there] and avoid $1 billion in user fees for NetJets.
The areas saturated with vehicular traffic can use the additional revenue collected from the wealthy to pay for their mass transit.
1
Just another of The Donald's bloviating, chest-thumping claims, this one, a way for people to profit at the expense of the duped American public. Don't like toll roads? You'll be happy to just have those once what currently is government-built and run is handed over to private enterprise. Welcome to Donald Land. He's not paying any attention to this because it was justs words, anyway, and his self-perpetuating chaos gets in the way of everything. The only way it won't is if we, the people, roll over and forget about all the things that matter to us and just let The Donald do as he wishes.
trump will go down as one of the worst, most divisive presidents ever.
He will be joined in his shame by McConnell who cannot read or pronounce the words "cooperation" or "bi-partisanship."
What a horrible "leader." The Republicans should replace him forthwith and install someone who cares about USA and our future.
Here is yet the latest example of this man's policies. From the article.
"Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, is skeptical of wedding a tax overhaul and infrastructure — or of any deal that would require him to compromise with Democrats. He has suggested a more modest Republicans-only package. He has also discussed tacking something smaller onto a budget reconciliation bill that requires only 51 Republican votes, according to a person close to the talks."
If he cared ,even a bit, about his country he would resign his leadership position for he cannot and does not lead.
He will be joined in his shame by McConnell who cannot read or pronounce the words "cooperation" or "bi-partisanship."
What a horrible "leader." The Republicans should replace him forthwith and install someone who cares about USA and our future.
Here is yet the latest example of this man's policies. From the article.
"Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, is skeptical of wedding a tax overhaul and infrastructure — or of any deal that would require him to compromise with Democrats. He has suggested a more modest Republicans-only package. He has also discussed tacking something smaller onto a budget reconciliation bill that requires only 51 Republican votes, according to a person close to the talks."
If he cared ,even a bit, about his country he would resign his leadership position for he cannot and does not lead.
2
"one of"? He's already at the top of the worst list.
1
The infrastructure, like everything else on Trump's campaign wish-list... outside of the Wall against Mexico, was sure to hit the skids.
It's far too complicated, and requires far more brain-power than Trump has to actually fix it -- But if, and when he finds a way to make a profit out of it for himself, it'll be done.
It's far too complicated, and requires far more brain-power than Trump has to actually fix it -- But if, and when he finds a way to make a profit out of it for himself, it'll be done.
2
The missing question: What do the Koch brothers and ALEC want? Pipelines for sure, but grid improvements to increase the availability and use of alternative energy like electricity? Probably not. Roads and bridges, high speed passenger rail, urban subway and commuter lines? Doubtful. Amtrak and tunnels under the Hudson River? Why should the Koch brothers care? They'll never use it. Not even the Washington Metro is properly funded for maintenance and repair.
And once built, where will be the funds to maintain the old and new infrastructure?
Past American generations were less numerous and less affluent than today's Americans, but were willing to pay taxes to meet the needs of the country and their fellow citizens.
Gasoline taxes have not been raised to past levels, no carbon tax yet, mileage based user fees for highways (not here, not now). Progressive income taxes?
The Republicans blocked Obama's infrastructure plan when the interest rate for borrowing was effectively zero. If private business did not or could not see a way to provide profitable business solutions for our country at zero interest levels, their absence means that this task will fall to the federal government despite the ideology of the "always say NO" "small government" Tea party crowd.
Where there's a will, there's a way and the way is bipartisan agreement to levy taxes to meet our country's present and future needs. In the long term, the benefits of well designed infrastructure pays for itself.
And once built, where will be the funds to maintain the old and new infrastructure?
Past American generations were less numerous and less affluent than today's Americans, but were willing to pay taxes to meet the needs of the country and their fellow citizens.
Gasoline taxes have not been raised to past levels, no carbon tax yet, mileage based user fees for highways (not here, not now). Progressive income taxes?
The Republicans blocked Obama's infrastructure plan when the interest rate for borrowing was effectively zero. If private business did not or could not see a way to provide profitable business solutions for our country at zero interest levels, their absence means that this task will fall to the federal government despite the ideology of the "always say NO" "small government" Tea party crowd.
Where there's a will, there's a way and the way is bipartisan agreement to levy taxes to meet our country's present and future needs. In the long term, the benefits of well designed infrastructure pays for itself.
2
For a for a minute, put aside your constant tirade about raising taxes on the wealthy, and consider that the elderly in this country use up 70% of all federal tax receipts every year. Yep, social security and Medicare take up 2/3s of all the money the federal government brings in. It is the largest wealth transfer in the history of the world. 10% of the population gets 70% of federal taxes collected, the military gets the rest, and we borrow for every other item on the federal spending list outside of thieae 3 items.
There is no money left, and until we get a handle on the true "3rd rail" of federal spending, our country will be bankrupted by those over the age of 65.
p.s. I love my mom, who is 88.
There is no money left, and until we get a handle on the true "3rd rail" of federal spending, our country will be bankrupted by those over the age of 65.
p.s. I love my mom, who is 88.
2
Trump, his team, and the Republicans in Congress are incompetent by choice because they are driven by an orthodoxy and ideology to repeal/replace the ACA and cut taxes for the rich. This is their undoing of their entire agenda.
" . . . serious doubts about the ability of Republicans to pass anything other than regulatory rollbacks or routine spending bills." Please don't use terms that make it sound like critical funding cutbacks and the removal of freedoms and protections for Americans are a good thing. More to the point, measures for our health, economic and environmental protection, as well as research and education into such subjects, produces employment and financial gains. And although such economic gains are government-stimulated, they are not all government-funded.
1
Trump was elected because he promised no cuts to Social Security and Medicare, a big infrastructure program that would create jobs, a giant wall on the southern border, and a healthcare plan that would be "better" AND "less expensive."
Great. So why did folks also elect a Congress full of Republicans who refuse to provide the funding for all of these projects? Congress could increase taxes on corporations and the one percent, and then it might be possible to actually keep of some of these promises.
Instead of being a great leader, though, and lobbying Congress to get them to pass tax increases, he just gives in to their insistence that nothing can be done, because the wealthy need a tax cut.
Could this be because he, his family, most members of Congress, and their rich corporate donors would also benefit from such tax cuts? Is it possible that he never meant to follow through on any of those promises? Did he make them solely to coax undecided voters to vote for him?
What we are collectively experiencing is the classic bait-and-switch tactic employed by many NYC real estate dealers.
Great. So why did folks also elect a Congress full of Republicans who refuse to provide the funding for all of these projects? Congress could increase taxes on corporations and the one percent, and then it might be possible to actually keep of some of these promises.
Instead of being a great leader, though, and lobbying Congress to get them to pass tax increases, he just gives in to their insistence that nothing can be done, because the wealthy need a tax cut.
Could this be because he, his family, most members of Congress, and their rich corporate donors would also benefit from such tax cuts? Is it possible that he never meant to follow through on any of those promises? Did he make them solely to coax undecided voters to vote for him?
What we are collectively experiencing is the classic bait-and-switch tactic employed by many NYC real estate dealers.
The only thing Trump delivers on a daily/weekly basis is lies.
Will we be shown a 1 page 'outline' of a beautiful plan? Trump's staff seems unable to come trough with detailed programs. Does it matter? If Mitch McConnell of the healthcare 'win' wants to go All Republican again in drafting up some infrastructure legislation, we are doomed to failure again. Why is he so bent out of shape about working with Democrats. This would be a perfect opportunity.
Trump's advisory panel will be a what? Group of donors? From Goldman Sachs?
People from completely unqualified areas speaking on roads and bridges?
Trump's advisors are usually a mirror of his ignorance when it comes to specific needs.
And will we see once again a White House that does no work to support their legislation besides sending Pence to the Capital for the morning? The follow through of Trump and his staff is horrible.
Trump just wants the "Win" he does not care how he gets there.
The needs of the people or of the country have never mattered to Trump.
All he cares about are his ratings image and his money.
Will we be shown a 1 page 'outline' of a beautiful plan? Trump's staff seems unable to come trough with detailed programs. Does it matter? If Mitch McConnell of the healthcare 'win' wants to go All Republican again in drafting up some infrastructure legislation, we are doomed to failure again. Why is he so bent out of shape about working with Democrats. This would be a perfect opportunity.
Trump's advisory panel will be a what? Group of donors? From Goldman Sachs?
People from completely unqualified areas speaking on roads and bridges?
Trump's advisors are usually a mirror of his ignorance when it comes to specific needs.
And will we see once again a White House that does no work to support their legislation besides sending Pence to the Capital for the morning? The follow through of Trump and his staff is horrible.
Trump just wants the "Win" he does not care how he gets there.
The needs of the people or of the country have never mattered to Trump.
All he cares about are his ratings image and his money.
A very long article that misses the essential reasons that nothing is happening on infrastructure.
1. Mr. Trump has no interest in any legislation except for large tax cuts for himself.
2. The Executive branch has never been staffed with people who could actually write proposed legislation, his model is to leave it to Republican Congressional leadership to write, e.g. health care.
3. Republicans do not believe that Federal money should be spent on anything other than national defense and incarceration and deportation.
That's all we need to know about why we will not get infrastructure improvements under this administration.
1. Mr. Trump has no interest in any legislation except for large tax cuts for himself.
2. The Executive branch has never been staffed with people who could actually write proposed legislation, his model is to leave it to Republican Congressional leadership to write, e.g. health care.
3. Republicans do not believe that Federal money should be spent on anything other than national defense and incarceration and deportation.
That's all we need to know about why we will not get infrastructure improvements under this administration.
1
As we saw in your recent interview with him, Trump simply has a randomly tossed word salad that "sounds" like change to his acolytes. There is nothing there, no substance, no plan, no nothing. There is one thing though and on that he is laser focused..enriching the Trumps.
1
Fortunately, for those of us who want to see him fail, Trump is 0 for 4, (infrastructure,taxes,health care, the wall). We should have seen it coming,given that he started with the phony "birther" nonesense. Unfortunately, he can still do a lot of damage with executive orders and other Presidential powers.
Maybe his base cares, given their anger with Republicans for failing to produce in the past, or maybe they'll be happy with continued bluff and bluster. If, a year from now, a still viable Special Counsel issues a report that recommends substantial charges we'll find out just how much they will tolerate. My question for months now has been: Can the country stand four years of nothing but daily insane tweets, investigations, resignations and family folly?
Maybe his base cares, given their anger with Republicans for failing to produce in the past, or maybe they'll be happy with continued bluff and bluster. If, a year from now, a still viable Special Counsel issues a report that recommends substantial charges we'll find out just how much they will tolerate. My question for months now has been: Can the country stand four years of nothing but daily insane tweets, investigations, resignations and family folly?
It's worth remembering that when Eisenhower began the interstate freeways, the largest, most important, job creating, infrastructure project in history, America was still deeply in debt following World War Two. The great difference between the Republican Party then and the Republican Party now, is that back then Republicans could tell the difference between government spending and government investment. Now we have a Republican congress that simply does not believe in government. When faced with infrastructure projects that could create millions of jobs and propel America into the future, all Republicans see is the initial debt, not the wealth created through wise investments. They control congress yet they don't believe in their own ability to invest in Americas future.
1
Trump's programs fail because of the way he wants to cheat Americans to make them happen.
Healthcare failed because he wanted to eliminate it and reduce Medicaid for 22 million Americans-- after 10 years, 32 million--in order to give a tax break to the super wealthy.
With his proposed public/private infrastructure partnership, he again cheats American workers. Jobs given to private contractors, as they have been with prisons and Middle Eastern oil security contracts, result in negative impacts for the U.S. budget and for American workers.
Private contractors go for the profit. They use the most slipshod to illegal techniques to save a buck. They never hire union workers, preferring unskilled, illegal or foreign workers, because they're cheap. Mistakes are frequently made, and the U.S. just pays them more to fix them.
I cannot see how cost-effective and safe infrastructure can be built when lives of people don't matter, just the value of stockholders' shares, yet this is Trump's proposal. Plus, It's another way to lower government spending and give tax breaks to the wealthy.
Privitization is not sound economic When toll roads and bridges built by private contractors crumble and collapse, who pays for that?
We do. Give me the Army Corps of Engineers and American labor any day.
Healthcare failed because he wanted to eliminate it and reduce Medicaid for 22 million Americans-- after 10 years, 32 million--in order to give a tax break to the super wealthy.
With his proposed public/private infrastructure partnership, he again cheats American workers. Jobs given to private contractors, as they have been with prisons and Middle Eastern oil security contracts, result in negative impacts for the U.S. budget and for American workers.
Private contractors go for the profit. They use the most slipshod to illegal techniques to save a buck. They never hire union workers, preferring unskilled, illegal or foreign workers, because they're cheap. Mistakes are frequently made, and the U.S. just pays them more to fix them.
I cannot see how cost-effective and safe infrastructure can be built when lives of people don't matter, just the value of stockholders' shares, yet this is Trump's proposal. Plus, It's another way to lower government spending and give tax breaks to the wealthy.
Privitization is not sound economic When toll roads and bridges built by private contractors crumble and collapse, who pays for that?
We do. Give me the Army Corps of Engineers and American labor any day.
1
Point out a single Trump project that qualifies as public infrastructure. Infrastructure isn't about building a few profitless casinos, upgrading an aging Florida resort or licensing one's name. He knows nothing about qualifying, funding, planing and executing an infrastructure project.
I doubt his Trump detailed plan amounts to more than 3 or 5 pages.
I doubt his Trump detailed plan amounts to more than 3 or 5 pages.
Our public infrastructure - roads, bridges, electrical grid, water lines and above all public transportation - is an absolute disgrace. It is akin to a third world country. In addition to making our lives generally unpleasant, it significantly harms our economy.
We stopped investing in 1980, when Reagan came in, because Republicans don't want to pay for anything except tax cuts for the rich.
The Obama years would have been the perfect time... high unemployment, historically low interest rates and a desperate need. So of course the Republicans prevented it.
Chances of this incompetent fool accomplishing anything on this front while the GOP controls Congress? Nil.
We stopped investing in 1980, when Reagan came in, because Republicans don't want to pay for anything except tax cuts for the rich.
The Obama years would have been the perfect time... high unemployment, historically low interest rates and a desperate need. So of course the Republicans prevented it.
Chances of this incompetent fool accomplishing anything on this front while the GOP controls Congress? Nil.
Trumpy is a symptom; he isn't the problem. There is an excellent article by Nick Hanauer in Politico on 18 July that portrays the problem very well. It's long, but it is worth the time it takes to read it.
How many miles of highway, bridges or electrical grid could have been built with the 13 billion dollars that went for the latest aircraft carrier? The United States military spendings in 2016 was almost 400 billion dollars MORE than China and more than the top fifteen countries combined. In 2016 36% of military spending in the WORLD was spent by the United States. That does not include over !50 (very necessary) billion slated for veterans.
Is there any question why we cannot afford decent infrastructure, healthcare or affordable education?
When will our government decide to put the American people first?
Is there any question why we cannot afford decent infrastructure, healthcare or affordable education?
When will our government decide to put the American people first?
596
The problem comes back to Term Limits ....Our so called Government is made of Career Millionaire Politicians who are owned by Special Interest Groups.
Someone tell the Navy WWII is Over Aircraft Carriers are obsolete !!!
Someone tell the Navy WWII is Over Aircraft Carriers are obsolete !!!
1
When the republicans realize that under this imitation president in the installed regime is going to hurt their supporters. Until that happens, they're spineless and against our constitution. We're reaching the heights of what's turning Poland into an authoritarian government (led by Putin).
Hang on to your seats. I don't know we can survive this.
Hang on to your seats. I don't know we can survive this.
1
The way things are going our military may have very little to defend.
Can you imagine their reviews if our elected officials had to undergo the kind of annual job evaluations that have been routine for most of us our entire working lives? Our option of voting yes to one or another of a limited number of candidates every two years (House), four years (President) and six years (Senate) simply and quite obviously doesn't provide us with any real leverage to assure their performance. The absolutely critical need for Infrastructure overhaul provides yet another example of our under performing elected officials, Republics and Democrats. We pay them well, give them great medical coverage, all kinds of perks, plenty of vacation and what do they actually get accomplished? They refuse to work except to work tirelessly blaming one another. They consistently fail to reflect in outcomes the priorities supported by the majority, sometimes vast majority of their bosses. They are not proactive problem solvers, reactive at best. Their capacity for critical thinking is all but absent.
No wonder the business is teetering on bankruptcy.
No wonder the business is teetering on bankruptcy.
Perhaps this is a good thing. This administration has a distinct anti science and anti environment bias. Trump thinks solar panels can be attached to the Wall. Unless you plan to modernize and improve structure with better engineering then don't waste the tax dollars.
Further, Trump will probably find a way to reward his electoral college States with this program. I have no idea how that would work. I do not trust this administration to come up with any kind of plan that isn't corrupt and Trump enriching.
Further, Trump will probably find a way to reward his electoral college States with this program. I have no idea how that would work. I do not trust this administration to come up with any kind of plan that isn't corrupt and Trump enriching.
1
Much as I despise tRump, I'd place the blame with Congress. We don't need a president to invent or accomplish infrastructure spending. And the main problem with Congress is that we have enough extreme conservatives to defeat any kind of big spending programs.
Likewise with the new health care proposals. It wasn't shot down just by the left, but by the far right that doesn't want government to do anything. Besides, the whole issue is not really a national one, but a state and regional one. Here in Oregon they've been busily spending millions to rebuild every bridge on I-5, along with plenty of road work. Why doesn't it happen everywhere? I don't know--maybe people should question their state governments and the decisions they make.
Likewise with the new health care proposals. It wasn't shot down just by the left, but by the far right that doesn't want government to do anything. Besides, the whole issue is not really a national one, but a state and regional one. Here in Oregon they've been busily spending millions to rebuild every bridge on I-5, along with plenty of road work. Why doesn't it happen everywhere? I don't know--maybe people should question their state governments and the decisions they make.
Same old story. Tweedledee and tweedledum remain so concerned with their narrow, selfish interests, they are willfully blind to the national and human costs of their bickering. Infrastructure needs are so great, so relevant to keeping business advancing and people safe, the republicans should have been able to draw up a sensible bipartisan plan months ago, but this is a party so consumed by jockeying for power and toadying to donors, they've lost the ability to be rational and responsible.
1
Private investors are not charities. The roads and bridges paid for with private funds will have to come with tolls, "user fees," or increased taxes (for drivers and non-drivers alike), so the investment can be repaid, and even with that, most toll-roads never recoup the amount it takes to build them. Here in the Seattle area, a new section of I-405 was turned into a toll road, and tolls go as high as $10/one way for the 17-mile stretch of road! And, toll bridges? If commuters have no other route to take and are forced to use a toll bridge, whether they want to or not, or can afford to or not, that's extortion by the government.
Dems should go big and re-up a New Deal model of infrastructure renewal and development. Take the money going to Defense (really, why do we need it - we already are Russia's best bud) and sink it directly into American investment - unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labor, roads, bridges, dams, electrical grid, renewable energy capacity, wireless capacity, airports, public transportation, etc. And make it reach rural areas, so that the underpopulated, over influential states have a reason to buy in for their greedy self-serving interests.
When the GOP rejects it out of hand, and it will, use it as the 2018 election campaign platform.
When the GOP rejects it out of hand, and it will, use it as the 2018 election campaign platform.
1
Several conditions must be met before the GOP moves forward with any Infrastructure plan. Such as fulfilling many of the tenets set forth in the Mark Meadows and Freedom Caucus' "First 100 Days" memorandum.
Especially the items calling for rolling back regulations that directly apply to the companies who win the contracts to do the work of rebuilding, specifically the rules governing the pay and treatment of their workers.
The wages and protections afforded by those high paying jobs promised by Trump's plan could be radically diminished in order to put more benefit (tax dollars) into the pockets of contractors rather than workers.
Especially the items calling for rolling back regulations that directly apply to the companies who win the contracts to do the work of rebuilding, specifically the rules governing the pay and treatment of their workers.
The wages and protections afforded by those high paying jobs promised by Trump's plan could be radically diminished in order to put more benefit (tax dollars) into the pockets of contractors rather than workers.
If Congress will agree to lift sanctions on Russia, I believe that Putin will agree to an infrastructure bill that would allow us to rebuild our deteriorating roads, bridges and water systems. If we are to maintain our rank among First World nations, we must learn to compromise. While Republicans always respond with the word "NEVER" when asked to compromise with Democrats, I believe that they will readily capitulate to the Kremlin. It's a win-win!
1
We need a 20-year infrastructure investment fund tied to a job training fund to help people in disadvantaged areas learn the relevant trades.
What we don't need is a money pit like the MTA where every pensioned union worker and underperforming contractor skims a little more off the top until you have the "how many MTA workers does it take to change a lightbulb" effect.
What we don't need is a money pit like the MTA where every pensioned union worker and underperforming contractor skims a little more off the top until you have the "how many MTA workers does it take to change a lightbulb" effect.
The private sector will choose lucrative corridors to invest in. How will that help Trump’s voters in rural areas and the rust belt who have been abandoned by the private sector and are already victims of such market-driven decisions? (BTW, the private sector would have initiated such projects if they thought they could make money at it. If we-the-government have to pay them our tax dollars to get involved, what’s the point?!)
When will the Republicans realized that the job of government is different from the job of business. When will their voters realize it?
When will the Republicans realized that the job of government is different from the job of business. When will their voters realize it?
This is an opportunity for the Dems to take a leadership position on what both parties agree needs doing. They will be asked (if the GOP actually brings a plan forward) to critique the proposal anyway so they have nothing to lose by letting everyone know that they have a plan in the works. This would also increase pressure on the GOP to deliver their plan. Both parties are missing an opportunity here for an improvement in bipartisan relations...
An infrastructure program costs money, lots of it. The reason the roads and bridges and the rest are in such a state of decay is that for the past several years, the Government did not have the revenu to repair them.
A "Great National Infrastructure program" would cost a lot of money. And that would be an investment in the future. But the Repubs have another take. They only see spending that would raise taxes or the deficit. And they don't want that.
Never did.
All they want are tax cuts, especially for the rich. Anything else they might say is just not true.
A "Great National Infrastructure program" would cost a lot of money. And that would be an investment in the future. But the Repubs have another take. They only see spending that would raise taxes or the deficit. And they don't want that.
Never did.
All they want are tax cuts, especially for the rich. Anything else they might say is just not true.
What a mess this administration has created. Their budget is based on 2.9% or so growth in our GDP. They want to cut health care spending and taxes. Yet cannot manage to deal with the state of our public transit, roads, airports, trains, etc. which are one of our countries greatest strengths. Instead they just let it fall into greater and greater disrepair. The rural areas need work as much as the cities. Given that the only way to maintain adequate health care access in our most rural areas is to strengthen the ACA it should be no surprise that the only way to make rural access better is through investing in infrastructure. Which private investor wants to pay for a road to nowhere? Our Republican White House, Senate and Congress need to get their priorities straight now.
Why can't Congress do two things at once? Could it be that they only work part-time, leaving so much free time for fundraising?
If we had public campaign financing, Congress would work for the people and not for the money. And we can require that they work a full-time job, in their office, with all meetings about the public's business logged.
as it is, getting elected to congress is a celebrity money-churning job, not a legislative one. Clearly, governance is not a Congressional priority.
If we had public campaign financing, Congress would work for the people and not for the money. And we can require that they work a full-time job, in their office, with all meetings about the public's business logged.
as it is, getting elected to congress is a celebrity money-churning job, not a legislative one. Clearly, governance is not a Congressional priority.
This all goes back to what - or more precisely - what not - the Republicans stand for. Tax cuts is the extent of it apparently. Fox News, people like Mitch McConnell, and the screaming right-wing radio heads continue to bring this "party" to its lowest bar. They don't know how to govern thanks to the aforementioned forces. Why they want to repress voters is a mystery to me since they only seem to succeed at opposition. (And then have the nerve to accuse Democrats of obstruction.)
Infrastructure, when you think about it, is the very physiology that sustains us as a country--all of us (except, perhaps, the super-rich, whose wealth potentially gives them complete freedom over it). Even cyber security, which looms as the greatest foreign and domestic threat today, strikes me as an issue of national infrastructure. Meanwhile, what are the priorities in Washington? The narcissistic rants of Bloatus POTUS, and the lingering 8-year temper tantrum of the Republicans; tax relief for multinational corporations and the rich (as we the people wait, with hands cupped, for the trickle-down); cutting Medicaid to support the tax cuts; repealing AHCA because it is popularly called "Obamacare"; massive increases to the military budget so that we can continue to thump our chests about American "reatness" and chase the latest perceived regional threat. (Where are our allies in this?) Meanwhile, the day-to-day world in which we live crumbles around us. Everyone seems to agree that infrastructure is a critical issue. Can't we just grow up and get on with it?
I would think a public-private partnership actually complicates things more. Too many chefs in the kitchen so to speak. Given Trump's track record with favoritism, I wouldn't really expect an honest value for taxpayer expense either. A smarter approach might start with prioritizing the urgency of our various infrastructure needs. The order to be determined by someone with no skin in the game. The Army Corp of Engineers comes to mind.
As for McConnell's "all-in-one" suggestion, the man should have been a comedian instead. You're going to marry critical public investments with reduced public revenue? That's like saying you're going to quit your job to re-shingle the roof. Don't you remember? Someone needs to pay for government spending. We don't really need another $200 billion plus a tax cut on the public credit card. Finance our spending for once.
As for McConnell's "all-in-one" suggestion, the man should have been a comedian instead. You're going to marry critical public investments with reduced public revenue? That's like saying you're going to quit your job to re-shingle the roof. Don't you remember? Someone needs to pay for government spending. We don't really need another $200 billion plus a tax cut on the public credit card. Finance our spending for once.
"Infrastructure remains stuck near the rear of the legislative line, according to two dozen administration officials, legislators and labor leaders involved in coming up with a concrete proposal."
And Trump and G.O.P. will blame it on the usual suspects, Democrats, and the base will buy it. Just finished listening to NPR interview with a Republican strategist, who said that Russia, Obamacare repeal difficulties, have no effect on Trump voters whose support of him has not changed since election.
And so Trump has no compelling reason to shift his interest to mundane projects. It is easier to energize his base by tweeting angry messages, and thus proving to his faithful that he has taken on an establishment.
Want to drive on better highways, traverse better bridges, depart from better airports. have better healthcare? Simple, move to Canada.
And Trump and G.O.P. will blame it on the usual suspects, Democrats, and the base will buy it. Just finished listening to NPR interview with a Republican strategist, who said that Russia, Obamacare repeal difficulties, have no effect on Trump voters whose support of him has not changed since election.
And so Trump has no compelling reason to shift his interest to mundane projects. It is easier to energize his base by tweeting angry messages, and thus proving to his faithful that he has taken on an establishment.
Want to drive on better highways, traverse better bridges, depart from better airports. have better healthcare? Simple, move to Canada.
Of all 45's promises, America needs this most. It has significant bipartisan support that could have started a momentum to work together on thornier issues. A missed opportunity for all of us.
You have to take the good with the bad.
Yes we desperately need infrastructure investment.
But we don't need our health care system destroyed.
It's very ironic that due to their inability to govern Trump and Republicans in many cases are ending up being functionally conservative and not the right wing radicals they actually aspire to be.
Yes we desperately need infrastructure investment.
But we don't need our health care system destroyed.
It's very ironic that due to their inability to govern Trump and Republicans in many cases are ending up being functionally conservative and not the right wing radicals they actually aspire to be.
We are 20 years past the time when people like Grover Norquist should have been barred from every room. Taxes make for a civil and functioning society and there is no place for lower tax rates for investors than workers.
The game has been skewed for 17 years and the price we paid got us crumbling infrastructure and accelerated off shoring - to ensure those investors get the growth they demand
It is time to tax the investors at worker rates or higher
It is time to staff up the IRS and let them do their job
It is time to expand fraud capture efforts at Medicaid, Medicare & SS
It is time we implement a financial transaction tax
It is time we as the American people to approve the military budget and buy war bonds or some other instrument to fund military spending.
Until we get more revenue in the treasury and stop talking about tax breaks for everyone, we cannot move forward on any growth initiative like jobs, or infrastructure...our core strategy is broken.
Most Americans don't understand how little the wealthy actually pay. And with 13 Goldman Sachs people on the White House you can be sure that none of them will make any effort to change the status quo.
The game has been skewed for 17 years and the price we paid got us crumbling infrastructure and accelerated off shoring - to ensure those investors get the growth they demand
It is time to tax the investors at worker rates or higher
It is time to staff up the IRS and let them do their job
It is time to expand fraud capture efforts at Medicaid, Medicare & SS
It is time we implement a financial transaction tax
It is time we as the American people to approve the military budget and buy war bonds or some other instrument to fund military spending.
Until we get more revenue in the treasury and stop talking about tax breaks for everyone, we cannot move forward on any growth initiative like jobs, or infrastructure...our core strategy is broken.
Most Americans don't understand how little the wealthy actually pay. And with 13 Goldman Sachs people on the White House you can be sure that none of them will make any effort to change the status quo.
So the guy who destroyed the viability of virtually every real estate project he ever touched can't do infrastructure? What a shock. His only idea so far is an unneeded, ineffective and hugely expensive wall with Mexico. At least they are clear that they are not paying for it. We're clear we won't either. Another great achievement for Trump.
We all knew what his supporters did not...that he would never fulfill this promise. It was a lie to attract vulnerable out of work or struggling voters. The only infrastructure on his mind is The Wall. And already we are hearing less and less of that from a man who masterfully elicited the bigotry within - unfortunately - so many Americans in order to win an election. No..he will conspire with his Republican Congress to make sure that our tax money will not go towards rebuilding roads and bridges or putting money in the pockets of our labor force. We will see more pipelines, however, to enshrine that precious oil.
1
Fine to give a blank check to the Pentagon, legendary for waste and fiscal mismanagement--who admit they don't even know exactly how much money they waste--but somehow horrifyingly imprudent to spend tax dollars on projects that truly benefit ALL Americans.
Just one more way America slips behind the rest of the world, thanks to a Republican party who seems much more focused on fighting the battles of the 19th and 20th centuries than understanding the challenges of the here and now.
Just one more way America slips behind the rest of the world, thanks to a Republican party who seems much more focused on fighting the battles of the 19th and 20th centuries than understanding the challenges of the here and now.
The Republican goal with healthcare was a) find a way to dump 25 million ordinary people from the ACA and Medicaid and b) use the funds thus freed up to line the pockets of the very wealthy. Didn't play well with 80 percent of Americans.
Like the infrastructure plan is find a way to simplify give as many pieces of public property to the corporate sector and/or Wall Street as possible and then make the ordinary folks pay for the privilege of using the road or bridge, getting drinking water, etc.
Given the healthcare debacle it looks as if that plan might not work either. Regardless it's going to be a long march and a real battle to protect America from this bunch of gangsters.
Like the infrastructure plan is find a way to simplify give as many pieces of public property to the corporate sector and/or Wall Street as possible and then make the ordinary folks pay for the privilege of using the road or bridge, getting drinking water, etc.
Given the healthcare debacle it looks as if that plan might not work either. Regardless it's going to be a long march and a real battle to protect America from this bunch of gangsters.
1
Now, there is another part to this problem. Remember Trump was going to eliminate the 20 trillion dollar national debt. So where is he going to get the money to even stop the growth of this bankruptcy forecaster, our debt, let alone find another 4 trillion to fix our roads, bridges, tunnels, etc.?
There is no plan, as though infrastructure is something you can just order up, like a meal in a fast-food joint and move on quickly. All that is important is the publicity making him LOOK as though he is doing something. And what he has done, proposing to streamline federal permitting, is a stolen idea, just like his "saving" jobs were already "saved" before he entered office.
And what is it with McConnell? He doesn't want to work with the Democrats on ANYTHING? How short-sighted can you get?
And what is it with McConnell? He doesn't want to work with the Democrats on ANYTHING? How short-sighted can you get?
Of course. Trump is waiting to see who will promise him the biggest kickbacks.
He is a petty tyrant and crook, masquerading as a President.
He is a petty tyrant and crook, masquerading as a President.
16
"any plan that eventually emerges will not rely exclusively on federal funds. Instead, it will try to use $200 billion in federal spending to attract an additional $800 billion in investment from private investors and local governments over the next 10 years."......What a brilliant idea. Absolutely no private enterprise will invest in the repair and development of infrastructure unless they make money on the deal. That means it would be just as in healthcare, where the middleman profits by the insurance companies make the over all cost of healthcare for the public more expensive. When will people learn that more people that have their hand in your pocket the greater the cost. We need government run single payer healthcare because the over all cost would be significantly lower. We need government run single payer infrastructure for exactly the same reason.
87
.
I ain't holdin' my breath for trump to do a single, solitary thing that benefits the common folk.
I ain't holdin' my breath for trump to do a single, solitary thing that benefits the common folk.
205
Didn't he help a lot of common folks with his casinos? What about Trump University? He should be known as the "education president!"
He has no plan to deliver.
94
Oh, but Trump has a plan, same as every Trump plan: Bait and Switch! Pay now, get your Trump University degree later. Deliver the pianos, put up the dry wall, handle my legal cases, and I will gladly repay you on Tuesday at 30 cents on the dollar.
When Congress is so busy passing sanctions on Russia? Truly tiring.
6
When Trump is so busy tweeting and golfing instead of governing? He's also been far to busy trying to figure out how to fire people who appear to be investigating his crime family.
You'd have to be awfully naive at this point to believe that the white house has an actual "plan" for anything.
412
Pretty sure he'll always plan to play golf.
Too busy working on the big, beautiful WALL. Yeah, that's it.
52
Yeah, a transparent wall with solar panels on top.
Maybe chocolate syrup too.
Maybe chocolate syrup too.
1
Mr. Thune(South Dakota R) told reporters this month, “We’re sort of waiting on the administration to tell us what it is exactly they want to do.” (Regarding infrastructure)
Mr. Thune and other Congressional members, if you are waiting for Trump to give you coherent and plausible instructions/ideas regarding infrastructure (or any thing else), you are backing up...over a collapsing bridge crossing Trump's very own gold-plated swamp.
Mr. Thune and other Congressional members, if you are waiting for Trump to give you coherent and plausible instructions/ideas regarding infrastructure (or any thing else), you are backing up...over a collapsing bridge crossing Trump's very own gold-plated swamp.
115
Trump has stated quite clearly what he wants: A 50-foot border wall that is transparent so that hard-working Americans on our side will be able to see Mexicans throwing drugs over the top of the wall and avoid being hit on the head. The wall will also include solar panels that will generate more electricity than any other power plant in the history of human civilization. The power will be sold to Mexicans, who will thereby pay for the wall.
The GOP has always been much more skilled at tearing down than at building.
103
Trump has no plans for anything. He doesn't plan. As for promises unkept, what promise has he kept?? Far better healthcare for far less money? Nope. Fight Wall Street? Please. His secret plan for destroying ISIS in 60 days? ROTFL. Drain the swamp? Ugh. Mexican wall? Transparent. Rebuild infrastructure? Nada.
Why would anyone have expected anything more from a man who's built his fortune, so called, with shameless bombast?
Why would anyone have expected anything more from a man who's built his fortune, so called, with shameless bombast?
148
The only thing that Trump is competent doing is being a fraud
149
Our boaster-in-chief touts these thematic delusional ideas to promote what exactly. Like his made in America hype, unless it profits himself directly it's just more rhetoric for his rather gullible base.
Seeing the buffoon seated in the cab of a trailer truck or modeling a ten gallon hat must have been the ideal photo op for his fans in flyover America. It remains unclear why he puts these issues into the limelight when the proof of their emptiness or contradictions are so easily exposed
Seeing the buffoon seated in the cab of a trailer truck or modeling a ten gallon hat must have been the ideal photo op for his fans in flyover America. It remains unclear why he puts these issues into the limelight when the proof of their emptiness or contradictions are so easily exposed
40
Another epoch lie, another epic fail.
32
Of course Trump's infrastructure bill is stalled. Virtually everything Trump promised to do is stalled because the man is a poseur who never really believed he would win, any more than the Republican Party thought it would ever hold both Houses of Congress and the White House. Trump, and Congressional Republicans, lied their heads off and promised the moon, secure in the knowledge - they thought - that they'd never have to deliver.
Trump has managed two things, both of which are pathetic: first, he got Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court's vacant seat that was stolen by Mitch McConnell from Barack Obama and Merrick Garland; and second, he's undone some of Obama's decisions. After those two "accomplishments", it's bupkis.
Trump and the rest of the current crop of Republicans are a bunch of liars who can't govern, and they prove it every day.
Trump has managed two things, both of which are pathetic: first, he got Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court's vacant seat that was stolen by Mitch McConnell from Barack Obama and Merrick Garland; and second, he's undone some of Obama's decisions. After those two "accomplishments", it's bupkis.
Trump and the rest of the current crop of Republicans are a bunch of liars who can't govern, and they prove it every day.
94
Of course we don't have money for infrastructure. It's much more important to build a "Wall" to protect us from illegals that do jobs that most Americans would not even think about doing.
71
Nothing "big" is going to get done in Washington until the child in the Oval Office is removed from said office.
52
in other words: Sad
22
Like someone who proposed the then-revolutionary Autobahn network and then had to see it bombed extensively during the war he provoked, we have a tyrant at the helm. Capable of saying anything to placate the electorate, Trump can't deliver on any of his disparate, inchoate platform. Because he has the attention span of a fruit fly. Except when he's reading "Mein Kampf" at his bedside, of course.
27
Unbelievable that this is front page of the New York Times. I have always assumed that those of us who read the NYT are well informed. Apparently Glen Thrush does not and needs to explain Trump and GOP.
4
The only infrastructure Trump cares about is that of his golf resorts where he spends most of his time and tax payer's money keeping them viable.
55
Speaking of which, what exactly is Trump doing this weekend? I'll bet another round or three of golf is in the offing.
This character is a grifter. He won't deliver on any "Promises" unless theres $$$ in it for him personally.
60
Everybody running for office anywhere says we need to fix our infrastructure during every campaign. Once in office, they realize, I guess to their horror, it will cost money. Gas prices, at near record lows, are the obvious choice to pay for much of it. We drive too much, and are wrecking the environment, obtaining the stuff. Only one problem. Nobody gets reelected with expensive gas. The American public doesn't care about: wars, the environent, education, crime, nothing like it does about the price of gas. BHO knew this and opened up oil and gas development like we haven't seen in 45 years. So gas prices dropped. In a country with an exploding population, due almost exclusively to immigrants and their offspring, our infrastructure is taking a beating with more to come. Until the u.s. public realizes that EVERYTHING costs $ in the form of higher taxes, and is willing to pay more and reward politicians for being honest about it, the country will continue to deteriorate. Just like the left loves open borders and high immigration and also says they love the environment, you can't have it both ways. You can't have a rebuilt infrastructure and not pay for it.
22
What happens when you join an obstructionist-led Congress with a deceit filled, ignorant and easily offended snake oil salesman? Absolutely nothing. Welcome to America, 2017.
51
"....the president veered off script to make the project seem as if it were his idea."
all you need to know about this vain, childish, egotistical infant. has to be his idea.
all you need to know about this vain, childish, egotistical infant. has to be his idea.
29
The problem here is that the Trump administration's "infrastructure effort" is a thinly veiled attempt to sell off our bridges, tunnels, water works, and more to their "private investment friends."
And of course, the prices at which these assets are sold to hedge funds and the Saudis will be set by the U.S. Congress, which in turn gets their money from hedge funds and the Saudis.
The New York Times reported this two months ago, in fact, but perhaps they don't even read their own work?
"Big Payoff After Blackstone Courted a Saudi Prince"
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/business/dealbook/blackstone-saudi-ar...
Actual infrastructure spending ("Americans Rebuilding America") would be a GREAT direction for the Democratic party, since it would put people back to work and stimulate the economy. Yes, it would involve spending, but the right kind -- bridges have collapsed in Atlanta and Minneapolis, the New York Subways are in desperate need, New Jersey citizens cannot get to work and their Governor doesn't care, etc.
Why not paint the Republican Party as one that spends a $Trillion in Iraq and another $Trillion in Afghanistan, whereas the Democrats would like to spend that money in Cleveland?
They will be accused of raising taxes, of course, to which the obvious response is "who has paid for the Iraq war you started, or the Mexico wall you propose."
And of course, the prices at which these assets are sold to hedge funds and the Saudis will be set by the U.S. Congress, which in turn gets their money from hedge funds and the Saudis.
The New York Times reported this two months ago, in fact, but perhaps they don't even read their own work?
"Big Payoff After Blackstone Courted a Saudi Prince"
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/business/dealbook/blackstone-saudi-ar...
Actual infrastructure spending ("Americans Rebuilding America") would be a GREAT direction for the Democratic party, since it would put people back to work and stimulate the economy. Yes, it would involve spending, but the right kind -- bridges have collapsed in Atlanta and Minneapolis, the New York Subways are in desperate need, New Jersey citizens cannot get to work and their Governor doesn't care, etc.
Why not paint the Republican Party as one that spends a $Trillion in Iraq and another $Trillion in Afghanistan, whereas the Democrats would like to spend that money in Cleveland?
They will be accused of raising taxes, of course, to which the obvious response is "who has paid for the Iraq war you started, or the Mexico wall you propose."
34
Trump ran with lots of promises and no reaL plans. "Who knew it would be so hard?" What a waste?
17
Would reporters stop calling it a trillion dollar plan, the government may spend up to 200b or more in hopes of attracting as much as 800b, it's wishful thinking
7
As was mentioned at the conclusion of this article - the President veered off script. I think the only times he can stay in a true direction is when he is in his golf cart.
9
he is an awful golfer.
“a great national infrastructure program”
“millions” of new jobs
“very soon”
Combine Extra Virgin Trump Snake Oil with a Grand Old Phony political party that refuses to pay for the cost of civilization...or anything, for that matter, and I don't expect to see any progress beyond our beautiful new national Russian-Republican Roulette monument in Washington, D.C.
Remember, the Republicans are the party that spent over $2 trillion in IRAQ and CUT taxes !!
Republicans are a fiscal nightmare political party, happy to bankrupt states like Kansas and Louisiana because of an ideological preference for fraudulent economics and nihilism.
Infrastructure must be paid for with taxes, which is a reality that causes Republican brains to short-circuit and lapse into sedition mode.
Republicans have effectively implemented their own perverse national infrastructure; instead of having to fly to the world to see bad infrastructure, they've brought their own No-New-Tax-Know-Nothing 3rd world to the United States.
Don't let your children grow up to be Russian-Republicans.
“millions” of new jobs
“very soon”
Combine Extra Virgin Trump Snake Oil with a Grand Old Phony political party that refuses to pay for the cost of civilization...or anything, for that matter, and I don't expect to see any progress beyond our beautiful new national Russian-Republican Roulette monument in Washington, D.C.
Remember, the Republicans are the party that spent over $2 trillion in IRAQ and CUT taxes !!
Republicans are a fiscal nightmare political party, happy to bankrupt states like Kansas and Louisiana because of an ideological preference for fraudulent economics and nihilism.
Infrastructure must be paid for with taxes, which is a reality that causes Republican brains to short-circuit and lapse into sedition mode.
Republicans have effectively implemented their own perverse national infrastructure; instead of having to fly to the world to see bad infrastructure, they've brought their own No-New-Tax-Know-Nothing 3rd world to the United States.
Don't let your children grow up to be Russian-Republicans.
48
"Extra Virgin Trump Snake Oil"
Love it!
Love it!
1
It seems everybody like cheap gas so until that changes, our roads and bridges will be terrible.
7
Give him time. He's putting together a list of cronies, donors and family members who will most benefit from the contracts.
43
Infrastructure perfectly illustrates that last forty years of an economy hog-tied to Republican principles. Travel in Russia and you'll see the same thing. Oligarch wealth heist leaving the nation unable to meet its most fundamental obligations. We are broken, seriously broken, with no relief in sight. Republican tax ' reform ' is a last mail affair.
22
Between the GOP and Trump administration, the only thing they seem capable of is, (And I say this with a, "Pardon," to those who might reasonably take offense,) a Chinese fire drill.
Republicans have spent the past decade in opposition to anything and perpetual investigation of everything Barack and Hillary. Lacking someone to despise, they can't find agreement on anything. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, has never been a details kinda guy. In fact, even broad strokes plural confuse him.
What we are left with is a Republican establishment that doesn't know how to lead toward anything other than power. They don't know where they want to go other than somewhere that makes them look good. Given the power, they cannot even connive well.
Trump and the GOP can't lead the nation when they don't know where they want to go themselves. Where they lead us is into trouble. It seems their only destination.
Republicans have spent the past decade in opposition to anything and perpetual investigation of everything Barack and Hillary. Lacking someone to despise, they can't find agreement on anything. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, has never been a details kinda guy. In fact, even broad strokes plural confuse him.
What we are left with is a Republican establishment that doesn't know how to lead toward anything other than power. They don't know where they want to go other than somewhere that makes them look good. Given the power, they cannot even connive well.
Trump and the GOP can't lead the nation when they don't know where they want to go themselves. Where they lead us is into trouble. It seems their only destination.
20
Republicans want to rule not govern. An absolute ruler need not explain anything to the serfs. Simply profit from their labor.
Kansas, Louisiana and Wisconsin are demonstrating what the Republican future looks like for the ordinary citizen. Hate taxes? Hopefully you'll be able to live on "Freedom Caucus" fairy tales.
Kansas, Louisiana and Wisconsin are demonstrating what the Republican future looks like for the ordinary citizen. Hate taxes? Hopefully you'll be able to live on "Freedom Caucus" fairy tales.
2
This piece shocks me. Not by its revelation that Trump's infrastructure renovation isn't even a plan yet, but that anyone would have considered his promise even slightly earnest.
26
Haven't heard much about the wall lately either, The only thing Trump is building in this country is a dictatorship and he is too busy in covering up his crimes to do much more. The Senate still requires 60 votes to pass a big bipartisan infrastructure bill and Trump will insist on private capital to fund it so the result will be a privatized, for profit infrastructure and the Democrats will never agree to that. Trump's dream plan, whatever it might be will be D.O.A.
25
The emperor has no clothes....as this theme plays over and over again in he mainstream media, thanks to the unceasing lies put out by the administration...the President seems to be focusing solely on his solid base. The less than 25% of the voter population that would continue to support him if as he has said "shot someone on 5th Ave." We have gotten to the point where the tail is wagging the dog.
9
We have a lot of broken bridges, potholes, and bad roads. The trains don't run, the water is brown. Public works that keep the private sector moving need maintenance. We pay our taxes. We are entitled to an infrastructure that can make America great, again. We are also entitled to a president who doesn't boast that he will pardon himself for his crimes against us.
35
There is a railroad bridge in the NJ Meadowlands -- the one with the turntable that was declared obsolete a century ago. Whenever it gets stuck open, the entire East Corridor shuts down. the LIRR claims that the East River tunnel repairs this summer are "emergency" repairs. That's sort of funny because there is no regular maintenance plan.
But we should all remember that things are falling apart now because we didn't care -- and we didn't want to spend money on taking care of our systems.
And it would all be funny, except for the fact that our government doesn't believe in science, technology, education and democracy. Yes, the rich are getting richer now, but our enemies can easily pull the plug at any time. BTW, baggage claims area at JFK Airport has some interesting technology that is worth putting into the back of your heads: After having scanned your documents and taken your picture, you go to pick up your bags. And the people with the lists of missing luggage have printouts made on dot-matrix-printers (no kidding!), and on the wall, the main phone is a "Princess Phone." That ain't Fake News.
But we should all remember that things are falling apart now because we didn't care -- and we didn't want to spend money on taking care of our systems.
And it would all be funny, except for the fact that our government doesn't believe in science, technology, education and democracy. Yes, the rich are getting richer now, but our enemies can easily pull the plug at any time. BTW, baggage claims area at JFK Airport has some interesting technology that is worth putting into the back of your heads: After having scanned your documents and taken your picture, you go to pick up your bags. And the people with the lists of missing luggage have printouts made on dot-matrix-printers (no kidding!), and on the wall, the main phone is a "Princess Phone." That ain't Fake News.
20
Some of my favorite Trumpisms-
I alone can fix it.
It's coming very soon.
I will hire the best people.
You're going to be sick of winning.
You won't believe what my people are telling me.
Greatest witch hunt in history of American politics.
I alone can fix it.
It's coming very soon.
I will hire the best people.
You're going to be sick of winning.
You won't believe what my people are telling me.
Greatest witch hunt in history of American politics.
30
Theo, his tweet speaks for itself. #@$$!?? Duh.
The President "veered off-script" to claim the McCaskill-Portman infrastructure permit fast-tracking idea seem as though it was his idea? No, that *is* the President's script. He routinely takes credit, almost 24/7, for things for which he as no business claiming credit.
Be fair, NY Times, give President Trump credit where he's due, namely for taking credit whenever and wherever it isn't due.
Be fair, NY Times, give President Trump credit where he's due, namely for taking credit whenever and wherever it isn't due.
20
trump's only "promised plan" is the one he made to enfranchise himself, at the expense of the american people.
28
Agree. The country can't figure out that trumps only cares are 1) constant pr spotlight 2) being flattered 3) getting paid 4) getting his kids paid. let the politicians who made a deal with the devil to support him fight for scraps. He has no interest in actual work. He's getting paid quite well and his strategy is paying off brilliantly based on financial disclosures.
There is no doubt this bill is needed and could win bipartisan effort. A creative approach with private capital could be a linchpin if done correctly -- but there the trouble starts. There is no 'creative' thought in McConnell's Congress. As with the health care fiasco, to simply ram through bills packaged with outdated and frankly untenable details and expect people to vote for it is ridiculous, and yet, it appears to be the ONLY operating procedure. You cannot govern by ignoring the existence of the democrats, and think democracy will work. I can't decide whether it is plain vindictiveness or stupidity that is driving his agenda.
As with Obama, McConnell would rather do nothing for fear someone in the opposition might get the credit for it. COMPROMISE is not SURRENDER. Nothing will happen, no bills will pass, until that is understood.
As with Obama, McConnell would rather do nothing for fear someone in the opposition might get the credit for it. COMPROMISE is not SURRENDER. Nothing will happen, no bills will pass, until that is understood.
6
Listen to Mitch McConnell - 'an all GOP plan or nothing.' And this plan is even more tax cuts for the top 1%. There is no desire for bi-partisan cooperation on anything...even infrastructure. McConnell's corrupt, partisan values must go. Even if the President is a fool - the Congressional leaders of the GOP have great power. But all they have done is squander it. The entire GOP is a mess trying to satisfy billionaire backers and its new Trump loving base.
19
How about add a trillion dollars of new infrastructure spending under the Pentagon budget, so Republicans will have no choice but to approve it.
12
Seems our government structures are as tattered as our infrastructure.
From Trump, more grandiose lies. And from Congress: it is simply wrong for McConnell to continue the Senate practice of disenfranchising more than one 1/2 the country by vote tallies by excluding 1/2 the Senate (the Dems) from legislation.
From Trump, more grandiose lies. And from Congress: it is simply wrong for McConnell to continue the Senate practice of disenfranchising more than one 1/2 the country by vote tallies by excluding 1/2 the Senate (the Dems) from legislation.
18
I'm pretty sure Trump only brought up infrastructure in his campaign because Hillary did.
After all, what do bridges and roads outside of NYC and DC do for Trump? He pretty much only flies to Florida, and there he gets his new, VIP helicopter rides. Roads are for suckers.
After all, what do bridges and roads outside of NYC and DC do for Trump? He pretty much only flies to Florida, and there he gets his new, VIP helicopter rides. Roads are for suckers.
11
This is clearly a presidential leadership issue because it is such a low hanging fruit. Failure here will reveal Trump's incompetancy to a wider pool of voters and doom this presidency. If not our nation is doomed to become as poor and backwards as Russia where per capita income is less than a half of the US today.
4
Spend less on the military? Like zero?
6
Redpath. Several commentators have noted that we just got started on another aircraft carrier. Like most of our priorities, we could use an adjustment. The u.s. has 10 carrier battle groups. No one else has more than 2. And that one is an allie..
1
so...instead of just trashing trump and gumming up the works, why not encourage him to do what he does best, build stuff...think of the infrastructure as he thought of the wolman skating rink in central park, a decaying resource, its repair beset by delay and waste and cheer him on...all the while keeping a cogent opposing hand (as opposed to the hysterical scream) on the those areas where his aptitude is less evident.
close-minded ranting, as opposed to civil debate, gets us nowhere...we see only what we want to see, hear only what we want to hear and, these days, with self-interested factions eroding the unity of the country, censoring exchange, fomenting riot, it ain't much.
close-minded ranting, as opposed to civil debate, gets us nowhere...we see only what we want to see, hear only what we want to hear and, these days, with self-interested factions eroding the unity of the country, censoring exchange, fomenting riot, it ain't much.
Trump's daddy knew how to build.
Trump specializes in marketing luxury, selling dreams that nobody needs, and spending Other People's Money to pay (or not pay) others to do the building.
Would an actual builder be promising a 2,000 mile transparent wall? Useless.
Trump specializes in marketing luxury, selling dreams that nobody needs, and spending Other People's Money to pay (or not pay) others to do the building.
Would an actual builder be promising a 2,000 mile transparent wall? Useless.
1
No president except Donald J. Trump could have messed up as badly. Instead of working on infrastructure legislation which would have created jobs and made America "Great Again". He could have helped Congress achieve a truly bi-partisan bill that very few could have objected to. Instead he started throwing bombs that only enraged those at both ends of the political spectrum on right and left. Instead of fixing what was truly broken he focused on immigration (which may need fixing, but not by poorly conceived edicts from an imperial president) that hurt real people. His cry to "Repeal Obamacare" even if a better plan had not been devised was truly stupid and revealed his lack of understanding of the real world.. No one, but failing Donald Trump could have been so stupid as to appeal to his small ignorant base when the rest of the country was aching for real leadership to do things that would benefit all of us.
23
I have been going annually to the Netherlands for a half century. In the 1960ties the level of welfare including infrastructure was clearly lower. No longer.
An American gets the impression all of western Europe is economically far better off.Nowhere more obvious than infrastructure. With all of the hullabaloo about immigration you don't find any western Europeans wanting in. No. Americans want in to Canada.
WHAT A COUNTRY.
An American gets the impression all of western Europe is economically far better off.Nowhere more obvious than infrastructure. With all of the hullabaloo about immigration you don't find any western Europeans wanting in. No. Americans want in to Canada.
WHAT A COUNTRY.
9
Perhaps, most of us see infrastructure as roads, ports, bridges, tunnels, rail service, and airports. These facilitate travel/transportation for most of us. However, the current administration does not appear focused on concerns for most of us. Infrastructure to his constituents may mean resorts, golf courses, and hotels.
10
Agree. When you have the kind of money the 1% have, you have private jets, limos and other ways to travel that avoid all the rough stuff. Tax cuts are a pretty good strategy to find more and more ways to help the rich avoid mixing with your average citizen. Their are definitely two Americas, those with lots of money and the rest of us.
Trump has not proposed an infrastructure bill because his administration is incompetent. They did not propose the McConnell health care bill. They won't propose the tax bill. Sure bills come out of that hole of incompetence we call the current White House, but like their travel ban, they're lead balloons.
Why don't they ask Jared and Ivanka to write the bill? They're rich, so they should know how, right?
Why don't they ask Jared and Ivanka to write the bill? They're rich, so they should know how, right?
6
Silver lining: Avoids "bigly" siphoning of public funds to shady LLCs (in part under the contracting auspices of DOT secretary who just happens to be McConnell's wife). Better to save the money and have it done in a future more competent and ethical administration, as if there could ever again be such a thing.
5
Republicans must complete their agenda for the country in the order of priorities they have for making US great again.
First, a great health plan which is still in process of being constructed. This is taking a bit more time than expected probably because the plan will be greater than expected, at least for some of US. A little patience is in order.
Next, tax reductions in order of income. Those who pay most will get the largest tax reduction, which all Americans agree is the "only fair way." Since corporations have been identified as individual "people", their share of tax reductions will be larger yet. Only fair. Congress will be on this shortly, so be patient.
Infrastructure is coming along as well. The Great Wall of America will rise to rival that of China, will have solar panels for energy and be transparent as a metaphor for the Administration and transparent to keep surveillance manageable. Only after the wall is complete will we need to attend the few remaining structures in the country which need attention.
Have some trust in the republican congress. Great things are coming.
First, a great health plan which is still in process of being constructed. This is taking a bit more time than expected probably because the plan will be greater than expected, at least for some of US. A little patience is in order.
Next, tax reductions in order of income. Those who pay most will get the largest tax reduction, which all Americans agree is the "only fair way." Since corporations have been identified as individual "people", their share of tax reductions will be larger yet. Only fair. Congress will be on this shortly, so be patient.
Infrastructure is coming along as well. The Great Wall of America will rise to rival that of China, will have solar panels for energy and be transparent as a metaphor for the Administration and transparent to keep surveillance manageable. Only after the wall is complete will we need to attend the few remaining structures in the country which need attention.
Have some trust in the republican congress. Great things are coming.
3
Are we are winning yet? Didn't Trump promised that we'll win so much that we'll get tire of it! Perhaps he's too busy campaigning for reelection and considering pardons that he forgot?
6
For the record, we have public/private investment already. We call them "bonds" and it allows the government to take investor's cash and turn it into roadways, bridges and dams. Investors are paid by means of "interest" and re-sales of "bonds."
We also have something we call "contracts" that we use to pay and manage non-governmental companies to do the work and fix or build the infrastructure. Imagine! Privatized investment and privatized construction!
And no one ends up owning the water company or the bridge. We don't risk having repairs to the dam put off so that the executive owners can maximize their short term returns and get their bonuses. A win-win. Unless you are one of those executives.
It s time for the GOP to grow up and recognize that not every activity must be milked as a rent-taking opportunity for the investor class. Anyone who has actually worked for a private company knows that they are no more efficient than the government. They are just as messed up, only differently.
Do the smart thing. Raise the money, prioritize the projects and get to work.
We also have something we call "contracts" that we use to pay and manage non-governmental companies to do the work and fix or build the infrastructure. Imagine! Privatized investment and privatized construction!
And no one ends up owning the water company or the bridge. We don't risk having repairs to the dam put off so that the executive owners can maximize their short term returns and get their bonuses. A win-win. Unless you are one of those executives.
It s time for the GOP to grow up and recognize that not every activity must be milked as a rent-taking opportunity for the investor class. Anyone who has actually worked for a private company knows that they are no more efficient than the government. They are just as messed up, only differently.
Do the smart thing. Raise the money, prioritize the projects and get to work.
12
Two days ago I returned to Phoenix after visiting my very ill mother in New York. I was totally shocked that the Port Jervis trains that I used to commute to NYU as a student TWENTY years ago are still the same, except both trips the engine failed and I was delayed. Everything seems to have gotten more difficult. In addition, the train speed was an absolute crawl. Completely embarrassing. Although I was pleasantly surprised to visit the WTC via Hoboken, I can't imagine the insane crowds on the PATH during the school year in rush hour. Helps confirm my decision to move out here. And of course, I'll still suffer a two hour ride to moms even after a five hour flight, because there is absolutely no political will to expand Stewart air port. Excellent!
5
It's not just infrastructure, his entire campaign agenda is stalled.
He's benefiting from the fact that he inherited an economy that is doing well and low unemployment, so in theory he could fully concentrate on negotiating his agenda with Congress "immediately" upon entering the White House - as promised.
Building a wall? Even the planning for it hasn't started yet.
Immigration reform? Nobody's even thinking about that today, so he's just rounding up a little more illegal aliens than Obama already did, and that's it. The travel ban sounds spectacular (and is horrible for those afflicted by it), but has nothing to do with creating a special police force to "immediately" transport 11 million residents to foreign countries.
Healthcare? Even worse. Candidate Trump promised to cover more Americans than the 20M Obama already added, at lower costs, and without any Medicaid cuts. For the moment, Congress is endlessly bickering about destroying the healthcare for 22 (Senate version) or 32M Americans (repeal without replace) and cutting Medicaid by a record $600 or a record $800 billion, all while increasing costs, and Trump is sheepishly ... supporting them, just to be able to say that he finally used his pen and signed SOMETHING into law.
No president can accomplish everything during the first 6 months and all presidents have to accept compromises ... but NOT the EXACT opposite of what they promised to do.
Conclusion: deal making is clearly NOT an art that Trump is good at.
He's benefiting from the fact that he inherited an economy that is doing well and low unemployment, so in theory he could fully concentrate on negotiating his agenda with Congress "immediately" upon entering the White House - as promised.
Building a wall? Even the planning for it hasn't started yet.
Immigration reform? Nobody's even thinking about that today, so he's just rounding up a little more illegal aliens than Obama already did, and that's it. The travel ban sounds spectacular (and is horrible for those afflicted by it), but has nothing to do with creating a special police force to "immediately" transport 11 million residents to foreign countries.
Healthcare? Even worse. Candidate Trump promised to cover more Americans than the 20M Obama already added, at lower costs, and without any Medicaid cuts. For the moment, Congress is endlessly bickering about destroying the healthcare for 22 (Senate version) or 32M Americans (repeal without replace) and cutting Medicaid by a record $600 or a record $800 billion, all while increasing costs, and Trump is sheepishly ... supporting them, just to be able to say that he finally used his pen and signed SOMETHING into law.
No president can accomplish everything during the first 6 months and all presidents have to accept compromises ... but NOT the EXACT opposite of what they promised to do.
Conclusion: deal making is clearly NOT an art that Trump is good at.
5
The President’s continued use of vague or inaccurate language for the legislative process strongly suggests he has never even watched Schoolhouse Rock. And the competing perspectives of his own Cabinet officials suggest his hands-off management style will fail him on significant bills.
2
There just does not seem to be enough kinds of monies to service all the players for a slice of the money pie.
The need is there the desire is there the workers are there the materials are there the equipment is there.
The politics and investors are the icing on the cake!
The need is there the desire is there the workers are there the materials are there the equipment is there.
The politics and investors are the icing on the cake!
Infrastructure shoukd have been the first legislation out of the gate-it not only creates jobs, but at the rate our roads, our water and sewer systems and waterways are crumbling delay only costs more money. Items that could be repaired end up having to be rebuilt, Penny wise and pound foolish as my grandmother use to say.This is not only costlier, but also puts strains on systems that are already overloaded. All this in the name of tax cuts that will probably benefit the wealthy more than anyone else. Given the fate of the Health Care legislation I do not see tax reform only cuts and they will probably rush them through in the dark of night. The GOP needs a new animal to represent it - I suggest snake - sneaky and hidden from view.
2
There is a Trump-GOP infrastructure plan: Give it away to the private sector and let them make billions of profits with the public taking the losses.
That is the whole premise of the "public-private partnerships" that will soon appear (assuming that we ever get past Russia, health care, and tax cuts). So, for example, if they decide that we need to rebuild the tunnels to Penn Station (duh!) they will (a) have Goldman Sachs create an investment vehicle with large up-front fees, (b) give a no-bid contract to Halliburton with a guaranteed profit, and (c) finance this by having the investors get all the profits from not only the rail project but from taxes levied on those who "benefit" from it. Oh, and by the way, the project will be exempted from all environmental and labor rules.
And yes, the failure to have an infrastructure plan in place early in the Obama administration was a major failure.
That is the whole premise of the "public-private partnerships" that will soon appear (assuming that we ever get past Russia, health care, and tax cuts). So, for example, if they decide that we need to rebuild the tunnels to Penn Station (duh!) they will (a) have Goldman Sachs create an investment vehicle with large up-front fees, (b) give a no-bid contract to Halliburton with a guaranteed profit, and (c) finance this by having the investors get all the profits from not only the rail project but from taxes levied on those who "benefit" from it. Oh, and by the way, the project will be exempted from all environmental and labor rules.
And yes, the failure to have an infrastructure plan in place early in the Obama administration was a major failure.
4
If the Republicans want to privatize everything, could they at least hire the Chinese government to get our infrastructure fixed up. It would probably take them maybe two years, and by then, Trump will be gone and maybe we can start on the road to national recovery.
3
The Republicans aren't going to move ahead with big infrastructure projects until they get permission from the Kochs, their Wall Street handlers and the like.
Big spending might prevent tax cuts for the rich. And infrastructure projects will be scattered among hundreds of small companies which does nothing for stock prices of the Fortune 100.
Big spending might prevent tax cuts for the rich. And infrastructure projects will be scattered among hundreds of small companies which does nothing for stock prices of the Fortune 100.
6
Maybe Trump was serious about fixing our infrastructure but he will have a lot to battle to bring it about. First, the GOP had made blocking most improvements central to their Starve the Beast modus operandi. Second, our gasoline tax, which is used to fund repairs, improvements and upgrades to our infrastructure (at least related to road travel) at an historic low, especially relative to other countries, so our transportation projects have been chronically underfunded for decades. And of course, increasing the gasoline tax would be unpopular as well as politically risky, which is why it remains low.
On that last point, I have a modest proposal: increase gasoline taxes 2 cents a month for the next 10 to 15 years; this would add 24 cents a year and gradually add $2.40 to $3.60 to a gallon of gasoline. Before you splurt your coffee, consider that it would happen slowly, giving consumers and the economy a chance to adjust; no one would be suddenly stuck with an impossible situation. And there's an enormous bonus: when there's a spike in the price of oil, we can cut the gas tax to level out the cost at the pump, then gradually raise it again, just like interest rates. Remember: every major recession since WWII was preceded by a spike in energy costs; this is a chance to get control of that.
If Trump really wants to use his boldness to bring about lasting, positive change to our country, this would be a great place to start.
On that last point, I have a modest proposal: increase gasoline taxes 2 cents a month for the next 10 to 15 years; this would add 24 cents a year and gradually add $2.40 to $3.60 to a gallon of gasoline. Before you splurt your coffee, consider that it would happen slowly, giving consumers and the economy a chance to adjust; no one would be suddenly stuck with an impossible situation. And there's an enormous bonus: when there's a spike in the price of oil, we can cut the gas tax to level out the cost at the pump, then gradually raise it again, just like interest rates. Remember: every major recession since WWII was preceded by a spike in energy costs; this is a chance to get control of that.
If Trump really wants to use his boldness to bring about lasting, positive change to our country, this would be a great place to start.
2
Every time a citizen of most of the industrialized nations see American citizens complain about 'high gas prices' they laugh.
Remember the good old days, pre-Grover Norquist?
Back then, in days of yore, we periodically raised the gas tax and yes, some complained, mostly truckers (I don't blame them).
A penny or two at the pump, and we got stuff done. Like the Interstate Highway System.
I am one of the few left standing who knows and believes that the Government actually is capable of doing stuff, and doing it well.
You want "public-private partnerships", go ahead and ask the people of Chicago where their astronomical parking meter fees go: Morgan Stanley and Dubai.
Nowadays a measly penny on the gas tax is a DOA idea.
I miss the good old days.
Sigh.
Back then, in days of yore, we periodically raised the gas tax and yes, some complained, mostly truckers (I don't blame them).
A penny or two at the pump, and we got stuff done. Like the Interstate Highway System.
I am one of the few left standing who knows and believes that the Government actually is capable of doing stuff, and doing it well.
You want "public-private partnerships", go ahead and ask the people of Chicago where their astronomical parking meter fees go: Morgan Stanley and Dubai.
Nowadays a measly penny on the gas tax is a DOA idea.
I miss the good old days.
Sigh.
11
I'll begin with Trump doesn't care about infrastructure. I doubt he really knows what infrastructure is.
Second, this entire plan is a way to sell off public assets to corporations foreign and domestic so that profits from these activities can flow to private entities while tax payer who will pay " user fees" aka tolls will also pay all the cost of construction and maintaining whatever is built.
Third, while the presidentnif bleating about those nasty Dems not supporting his "health care" plan McConnell makes it clear he won't do anything to compromise with Dems on anything.
Fifth, it's all a ploy. Democrats need to be very wary of "life long Democrats" who work for Trump. Dems are too easily hoodwinked.
Sixth, will he lie about which projects are part of his victory...answer dies he tweet? Of course he will lie!
Long story short, Republicans are keen to keep the power governing isn't their concern. Destruction of the lies of as many people as possible seems to be their only goal. Infrastructure improvement, as most people understand it, would be antithetical to that goal.
Second, this entire plan is a way to sell off public assets to corporations foreign and domestic so that profits from these activities can flow to private entities while tax payer who will pay " user fees" aka tolls will also pay all the cost of construction and maintaining whatever is built.
Third, while the presidentnif bleating about those nasty Dems not supporting his "health care" plan McConnell makes it clear he won't do anything to compromise with Dems on anything.
Fifth, it's all a ploy. Democrats need to be very wary of "life long Democrats" who work for Trump. Dems are too easily hoodwinked.
Sixth, will he lie about which projects are part of his victory...answer dies he tweet? Of course he will lie!
Long story short, Republicans are keen to keep the power governing isn't their concern. Destruction of the lies of as many people as possible seems to be their only goal. Infrastructure improvement, as most people understand it, would be antithetical to that goal.
2
Great National Infrastructure Program?
WHAT Great National Infrastructure Program?
Trump doesn't have any Great National Infrastructure Program.
He never did.
And he could care less about Infrastructure.
Just because he SAID the word "Infrastructure", doesn't mean that he cares about it.
Why are you listening, to what he says?
HE doesn't bother, to listen to what he says.
That's why he will often contradict himself, within the same sentence.
He just likes to stand in front of cheering crowds, and tell them whatever they want to hear.
The substance of the speech is of no importance to Trump, only the cheering crowds telling him how great he is.
So stop paying attention to what he says.
It means nothing.
WHAT Great National Infrastructure Program?
Trump doesn't have any Great National Infrastructure Program.
He never did.
And he could care less about Infrastructure.
Just because he SAID the word "Infrastructure", doesn't mean that he cares about it.
Why are you listening, to what he says?
HE doesn't bother, to listen to what he says.
That's why he will often contradict himself, within the same sentence.
He just likes to stand in front of cheering crowds, and tell them whatever they want to hear.
The substance of the speech is of no importance to Trump, only the cheering crowds telling him how great he is.
So stop paying attention to what he says.
It means nothing.
3
While the amount raised by the federal fuel tax is in the range of $35-40 billion, it is something that would add to the total infrastructure repair budget. That tax should be raised during this period of relative price stability. It also needs to be more closely tied to some metrics that would allow it to move up and down, rather than being a fixed amount not tied to prices, inflation, or anything else.
1
Yesterday I drove from Acadia National Park to Quebec City, Canada via the Moosehead Lake Region in Maine. Much of the way in the US the roads were so bad that my 2 year old SUV bounced around when I tried to drive anywhere near the speed limit - until I crossed the border into Canada, where the ride became smooth for the rest of the trip.
The need for infrastructure investment was starkly illustrated.
The need for infrastructure investment was starkly illustrated.
520
Mark, are you sure that bouncing around didn't happen in Québec? We Quebecers complain all the time about the appalling state of our highways (and our streets in Montréal), so much so that it's not unusual to hear a driver say that suddenĺy the ride got a lot smoother as soon as she crossed into Vermont or Ontario.
I live on the coast in central Maine. The winter weather is very hard on our roads and every year a lot of them are resurfaced but we have to tolerate some that haven't been redone yet. The season is short. But I can guarantee one thing, the roads here are way better, even after a snow storm, or in disrepair, than they ever were in South Carolina where I used to live. One of the worst was the heavily travelled road into Savannah from the north.
1
Having come from that area of the of the US, I can say that was not always the case. Reagan's campaign for less government required state and local governments to pick up the tab for services the Feds had contributed to. This meant less money and less money means cuts. What gets cut first? Voila!
1
"I alone can fix it," said the Clown.
As our nation's infrastructure continues to crumble (thanks Congresses of the last 30 years!), the Clown is wasting his energy, minuscule intellect, shaky political capital, and bully pulpit on tweeting and lying to us continuously and effortlessly.
Gee, who except for about 100 million of us could possibly have seen this coming?
As our nation's infrastructure continues to crumble (thanks Congresses of the last 30 years!), the Clown is wasting his energy, minuscule intellect, shaky political capital, and bully pulpit on tweeting and lying to us continuously and effortlessly.
Gee, who except for about 100 million of us could possibly have seen this coming?
28
You get what you pay for. Just drive around - compared to Germany the USA looks third world. Nobody wants to levy taxes on the source of campaign funds. We landed on the moon 48 years ago but now the GOP denies basic science. No big ideas beyond the next inane utterance on Twitter. Party like its 1969.
101
Perhaps in 1969 they really were a "GOP." Are they still?
Don't wait for the translation: Yes or No?
Don't wait for the translation: Yes or No?
I have to register a little disagreement because it's possible to overdo how great things are elsewhere vs how bad here. I've lived in Germany and often travelled there as well as through western Europe. In fact just returned from Berlin and was depressed (again) by the grey cement block soviet era architecture so prevalent in the eastern part. European cities are charming but certainly lots of them, including German towns and London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona etc have areas that look run down and far from affluent. Most U.S. cities, e.g. San Francisco, have areas that are beautiful as well as the opposite. So maybe a bit over the top as a blanket statement saying the U.S. looks 3rd world, it's a big country. I admit coming home to the international terminal at JFK is seriously depressing.
The reason infrastructure as a program hasn't happened is simple: Republicans think government shouldn't get anything done, and Trump is incompetent and thinks cronyism, nepotism, and corruption are standard operation procedure for getting stuff done.
If I were young, I might have more patience to ride out this administration—or should I say, regime. But as I'm about to enter my sixties, it causes me a feeling of deep, desperate pain to see my country flounder about helplessly, incapable of solving modern problems so many other countries are attempting to address, in some cases fearlessly. We are all about fear here. Fear and cowardice and backwardness. No infrastructure that paves a gleaming way to Tomorrowland for us.
I don't know how you can claim to want "transformative projects" involving broadband and then to try to strangle net neutrality, and oppose renewable energy while claiming to want to improve the grid. Privatizing air traffic control so that airlines are factoring in profits? Privatizing roads so we have to pay tolls to travel anywhere? These notions take us backwards to feudalism.
Do some in-depth research on I-69, section five, under Indiana's Republican governors, including Mike Pence, if you want to see a struggle against environmental damage and tolls, the failings of public-private partnerships, what really happens with funding, and excruciating delays.
If I were young, I might have more patience to ride out this administration—or should I say, regime. But as I'm about to enter my sixties, it causes me a feeling of deep, desperate pain to see my country flounder about helplessly, incapable of solving modern problems so many other countries are attempting to address, in some cases fearlessly. We are all about fear here. Fear and cowardice and backwardness. No infrastructure that paves a gleaming way to Tomorrowland for us.
I don't know how you can claim to want "transformative projects" involving broadband and then to try to strangle net neutrality, and oppose renewable energy while claiming to want to improve the grid. Privatizing air traffic control so that airlines are factoring in profits? Privatizing roads so we have to pay tolls to travel anywhere? These notions take us backwards to feudalism.
Do some in-depth research on I-69, section five, under Indiana's Republican governors, including Mike Pence, if you want to see a struggle against environmental damage and tolls, the failings of public-private partnerships, what really happens with funding, and excruciating delays.
61
Our tattered, antiquated and tremendously dangerous, accident-prone US transportation system will continue to be a highlight of laughter by the rest of the modernized civilized world until we decide to elect a true american political patriot who's focus and intellect isn't one which is rooted in his own or his billionaire buddies desire to force everyone but themselves to pay for it.
Our roads, bridges, trains are thirty years delinquent in upgrades all while Europe, Japan and even China all enjoy modern 21st century bullet and high speed rail access and safe, well-built roadway and bridge travel. Sadder still, we, supposedly the 'richest nation in the world', have the funds to do it. We just continue to elect idiots, beginning with Reagan, who make policies to shield the wrong people from contributing to the funding kitty. Thirty years of this mess.
Time for a change.
Our roads, bridges, trains are thirty years delinquent in upgrades all while Europe, Japan and even China all enjoy modern 21st century bullet and high speed rail access and safe, well-built roadway and bridge travel. Sadder still, we, supposedly the 'richest nation in the world', have the funds to do it. We just continue to elect idiots, beginning with Reagan, who make policies to shield the wrong people from contributing to the funding kitty. Thirty years of this mess.
Time for a change.
296
Obama wasted the first critical two years of his administration on healthcare with the ARRA largely limited to replacing projects that 8 years later need repaving again.
Trump is following in his path.
Shame !
Trump is following in his path.
Shame !
6
Roads. Healthcare. Let's see. Well? Roads. Then Lives? Not sure. Maybe we'll do roads first and let people fend for themselves on that health thing for a while. Right! Let's do that!
Come on now.
Come on now.
2
No Frank, Obama created a surprisingly enduring and positive change in our health care system (albeit through a painfully slow process) even while effectively turning the nation away (ARRA and other legislation) from economic abyss as we were plunging into eternal darkness thanks to King George the 4th’s (Bushy) trillion dollar tax cut to the ultra-rich, and other misdeed by Republicans and Democrats alike.
"Trump", the ultimate misnomer. Shame indeed.
"Trump", the ultimate misnomer. Shame indeed.
8
20 million who gained healthcare would likely argue that Obama and the Democrats wasted two years. And please don't omit that Republicans opposed everything those first two years and the six years thereafter.
6
As long as we have this president working with this group of republican lawmakers the odds of accomplishing things that all agree on is profoundly unlikely. They care first about their image and second about their country.
26
Nah, they only care about cutting taxes for wealthy folks by reducing funds for social programs. They got theirs, they want yours.
2
Miitch McConnell is a bigger obstruction to progress that helps the American people than anyone else. Since our president is clearly incapable of getting out of his own way, McConnell needs to get over himself and show some leadership instead of spitefully refusing to let go of the past eight years of Republican obstructionion and useless confrontation. Be the solution instead of the problem.
Work together with your democratic colleagues on projects that benefit us all. If you want a "Win", infrastructure is a no-brainer.
The only large jobs program we currently have is the bloated military and "patriotic" support of the defense industry.
Come on man.
Work together with your democratic colleagues on projects that benefit us all. If you want a "Win", infrastructure is a no-brainer.
The only large jobs program we currently have is the bloated military and "patriotic" support of the defense industry.
Come on man.
Trump's infrastructure plan? Now that's a bridge to nowhere.
368
If Trump, a native New Yorker, wanted to do a single thing to mitigate the fact that he is widely loathed in his home town, he would channel money to the Hudson rail tunnel project as quickly as possible. The fact that there's only one leaky rail tunnel connecting the country's business capital to the rest of the country is an absolute disaster waiting to happen.
173
When all the buildings built in NYC in recent years are occupied, its infrastructure will collapse.
3
Without higher taxes on the 1% nothing will get done.
374
This plan is going to be a give-away to the one percent. Rather than tax them, the Republicans will sell them our water supplies and bridges - anything they can make money from. Probably at rock-bottom prices, just like the prices for use of public land out west.
Here in Massachusetts we have overhead scanners that discretely charge your transponder for use of the Turnpike and the Tobin Bridge - in the Republican future, we won't see private corporate toll booths, but we will see electronic toll collection.
Here in Massachusetts we have overhead scanners that discretely charge your transponder for use of the Turnpike and the Tobin Bridge - in the Republican future, we won't see private corporate toll booths, but we will see electronic toll collection.
1
It will require increasing taxes on for than just the 1%--probably more like the top 30%. Plus a well-overdue increase in the gas tax. That is the reality. I am willing to pay for that, but are you?
1
on the top 20%
At this point we have realized that Trump is too absorbed with himself to take governing seriously. “Overhaul our immigration system”? Nope. “Build a beautiful wall”? I hope not. “Great healthcare plan”? Not so much. There’s a lack of direction, follow-through and attention to detail that permeates his administration.
Maybe if we branded this the National Trump Highway he would show more interest?
Maybe if we branded this the National Trump Highway he would show more interest?
104
Don't expect anything good to come from filling the presidency with a child with an attention span measured in seconds and a view of the world as wide as his own navel.
2
I've been visiting the US since 1983. In that time I've spent over 12 months there in about a dozen trips. I've just returned from three weeks in California and Nevada. It was strikingly obvious this time how tired the country looks, how degraded everything is, not just the infrastructure. And as for mobile telephone coverage - we criticise ours in Australia, but yours is absolutely abysmal. My wife spent a fortnight in Morocco a few years ago - coverage in the Western Sahara is streets ahead of the US. Sorry guys, but you are so far off being the leaders of the free world it just ain't funny.
1112
You are cutting to the honest truth about America without quite realizing it: for the most part, America has never wanted to be a leader, except in isolationist dogma. America's deep conservative and religious roots are predominantly occupied with isolation and "I want to do what I want." Indeed, one might argue that such independent isolation is more of a sign of being "free" than cell towers and highways. I'm not saying I like it, but Americans might still be "leaders of the free world"... at the expense of many lovely things we like, like nice roads and cell service.
2
My guess is the technology you refer to as comparison that is being used in Morocco and Australia was developed in the U.S. - so, sorry to you mate, but the U.S. (despite the man-child currently serving as our President) is still the shining light of technology development on this planet.
1
I agree, from the other side. An American, I have been a frequent visitor to Europe, where I have family. In infrastruture, we are second world level at best compared to other developed countries.
11
Trump has no plans for anything. His only goals are to further enrich himself and to stay out of jail. Beyond that, nothing matters to him, other than attempting to garner further affirmation for his juvenile, lizard-like ego.
588
He is rather reptilian, isn't he?
1
My dad used to say 'bridges don't vote'. But not taking on Infrastructure FIRST was a colossal blunder since it crosses all political boundaries and could have been used to horse trade for Congressional votes later.
Just another sign of the amatuerish nature of the current administration and their complete lack political savvy. Now I dare say it's too late. Too bad because the country is falling apart...
Just another sign of the amatuerish nature of the current administration and their complete lack political savvy. Now I dare say it's too late. Too bad because the country is falling apart...
71
How anyone believes a word Trump or the Republicans say is beyond me. They all only know 1 thing. Cut taxes on the wealthy. That's their mantra.
62
Republicans spent the last 8 years opposing fixing America's crumbling infrastructure.
Many have said that this was purely to deny giving the Obama administration credit for a big infrastructure program. While I'm sure that was a big part of the reason, the other thing is that Republicans don't want to pay for it. The important thing, in their thinking, is to give a trillion dollars in tax cuts to the wealthy. Roads and bridges aren't that important to the class that has its own private jets and helicopters.
If you want great national infrastructure you have a choice between waiting for a Democratic White House and Congress or moving to Europe or Asia.
Many have said that this was purely to deny giving the Obama administration credit for a big infrastructure program. While I'm sure that was a big part of the reason, the other thing is that Republicans don't want to pay for it. The important thing, in their thinking, is to give a trillion dollars in tax cuts to the wealthy. Roads and bridges aren't that important to the class that has its own private jets and helicopters.
If you want great national infrastructure you have a choice between waiting for a Democratic White House and Congress or moving to Europe or Asia.
626
Did I miss something. I thought we had a Democratic White House the last 8 years.
Trump cannot accomplish because Congress opposes him, unnecessarily, at every turn. Let President Trump do what he promised, and THEN judge him.
Hold on for a minute, wouldn't that same argument fit right in with the years Obama ruled? Instead of opposing him on absolutely everything you should have let him do what he wanted, and THEN judge him. The big overriding issue in the states is that absolutely no one is willing to cross the political divide and reach some kind of compromise, no matter how small. It seems to me, observing from abroad, that the whole political system is crippled and because of what, every single area of society is suffering from it. Now, in normal circumstances I wouldn't be too concerned about it because of the fact that I'm not living there myself but my country is interlocked with your country in so many ways that it would also be a catastrophe for us should America go down the drain. I grew up watching American movies, listening to American music (Paul Simon is my all time favorite), eating food inspired by America and that has made me fall in love with the idea of the USA. I was fortunate enough to spend 3 weeks in California because my wife went to Stanford university for a year in 2012 and it was just as wonderful as I expected it to be. That's why I'm so saddened by the sorry state your country is in at the moment. If you could just for one minute try listening and talking to each other instead of shouting past each other then I'm convinced wonderful things would happen. I don't think a civil war will happen, but, frighteningly, it's not that inconceivable considering the current path.
7
You mean the Republican controlled House and Senate.
3
You still glassy eyed about Trump? You 'still' believing the man has a shred of decency - that he meant 'anything' he promised? 'Still?" Really?
My lord.
My lord.
11
“I will say that never has there been a president — with few exceptions; in the case of [Franklin D. Roosevelt], he had a major depression to handle — who’s passed more legislation, who’s done more things than what we’ve done,” Trump said.
Healthcare reform. No
Tax reform. No
Beautiful wall. No
Infrastructure. No
Healthcare reform. No
Tax reform. No
Beautiful wall. No
Infrastructure. No
52
Russia. Yes.
Ironically, thanks to our famous system of checks and balances, every week in Washington is Russia Week, despite Trump's tweetiful attempts to deflect attention from the bald truth that he, himself, asked Russia during a debate to help bring Hillary down.
Collusion can happen in broad daylight, it doesn't have to be in some dark room in Trump Tower. Russia, if you're listening . . . . If? Oh, c'mon.
Ironically, thanks to our famous system of checks and balances, every week in Washington is Russia Week, despite Trump's tweetiful attempts to deflect attention from the bald truth that he, himself, asked Russia during a debate to help bring Hillary down.
Collusion can happen in broad daylight, it doesn't have to be in some dark room in Trump Tower. Russia, if you're listening . . . . If? Oh, c'mon.
3
I don't understand reporting of this type that would take anything this so called President says seriously. Mr. Trumka's comments apply universally across the board to Mr. Trump, not just to infrastructure:
“Right now, it doesn’t appear that they have a plan,” said Richard L. Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., who is pushing for more federal spending.
There is no plan and there won't be a plan. Mr. Trump's strategy during the campaign was to say whatever the rabid Fox and Breitbart-infused uninformed base wanted to hear. That included things other Republicans would never stand for: infrastructure, saving Medicaid and Medicare, delivering great healthcare, being against stupid foreign entanglements among them. But he was clearly punking them. He told us so with the one and only true thing he ever said: I could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and I wouldn't lose any support. This was never a winning campaign strategy, but through Director Comey, gerrymandering, Russian hacking, the awful and undemocratic electoral college, the Supreme Court's disgraceful gutting of the Voting Rights Act, and "fair and balanced" coverage (and that includes more than just Fox) among them, he is now able to occupy our oval office.
Every single utterance of Mr. Trump's is specious, unless it involves his own enrichment. You can be sure with this privatization of infrastructure plan that would be a motivating factor. But there's no there there and there never is. Please report accordingly.
“Right now, it doesn’t appear that they have a plan,” said Richard L. Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., who is pushing for more federal spending.
There is no plan and there won't be a plan. Mr. Trump's strategy during the campaign was to say whatever the rabid Fox and Breitbart-infused uninformed base wanted to hear. That included things other Republicans would never stand for: infrastructure, saving Medicaid and Medicare, delivering great healthcare, being against stupid foreign entanglements among them. But he was clearly punking them. He told us so with the one and only true thing he ever said: I could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and I wouldn't lose any support. This was never a winning campaign strategy, but through Director Comey, gerrymandering, Russian hacking, the awful and undemocratic electoral college, the Supreme Court's disgraceful gutting of the Voting Rights Act, and "fair and balanced" coverage (and that includes more than just Fox) among them, he is now able to occupy our oval office.
Every single utterance of Mr. Trump's is specious, unless it involves his own enrichment. You can be sure with this privatization of infrastructure plan that would be a motivating factor. But there's no there there and there never is. Please report accordingly.
332
Let's assume that we get bipartisan agreement for infrastructure improvement and it creates millions of jobs. Do we have enough Americans ready to fill these jobs or will we need immigrants to fill them?
36
Robert. With ~40% of working age adults in the u.s. doing basically nothing, there are plenty of Americans here right now, who are available for work.
3
Do we have any Americans capable of learning anything left?
2
Cart before horse.
1
INFRASTRUCTURE PANACEA?
If the President is seriously trying to put the controversial Russia Inquiries, Trump Family Dealings, Administration Missteps, Health Care etc. he need only to press an Infrastructure program that will impact upon the lives of all of our citizens and provide a strong basis for the future of the nation. President Trump’s legacy need not be mired in political controversy but in the tangible results of improvements in our infrastructure. From bridge building to transportation, irrigation, and housing, etc. he has the opportunity to live up to his promise of “making America great again”. This is a bipartisan issue that all Americans can get behind, and to the relief of all except the pundits and media put controversy aside for history to deal with.
If the President is seriously trying to put the controversial Russia Inquiries, Trump Family Dealings, Administration Missteps, Health Care etc. he need only to press an Infrastructure program that will impact upon the lives of all of our citizens and provide a strong basis for the future of the nation. President Trump’s legacy need not be mired in political controversy but in the tangible results of improvements in our infrastructure. From bridge building to transportation, irrigation, and housing, etc. he has the opportunity to live up to his promise of “making America great again”. This is a bipartisan issue that all Americans can get behind, and to the relief of all except the pundits and media put controversy aside for history to deal with.
8
As in every other issue, Mr. Trump has proven once again that he has absolutely no clue.
31
Let's wait until we have a depression again or maybe after the riots on elected officials to begin filling potholes. The room full of elephants? The Defense/Pentagon $$. Did we really need another aircraft carrier? The military budget for bands simply cut would be a good place to begin. How 'mighty' must we be while our roads and tunnels and bridges look 3rd world? Or let the military do the repair- they slap up bases quickly around the world and already are on the clock. Action and imagination are missing. Panels and hearings must stop.
16
We have to protect the citizens. If they die in a war they won't be able to OD on Oxycontin or die from lack of health insurance and that wouldn't be any fun. Would it?
1
13 billion for a new super carrier dedicated yesterday that won't be operational until 2020, created with "American steel" Trump boasted. This boondoggle is meant to project American power abroad. But "America first," creating well-paying jobs for the working classes through repair of infrastructure—that was just an out and out lie. "Where a man places his treasure, there his heart lies also." Mulvaney's budget says it all: Trump & Co. is more interested in gunboat diplomacy than in than in "making [working-class] America great again."
33
"In the White House, Mr. Trump has continued to dangle the possibility of “a great national infrastructure program” that would create “millions” of new jobs as part of a public-private partnership to rival the public works achievements of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. "
HAHA. This "program" is really nothing more than a tweet. If trump cannot benefit financially from it, he could not care less. There is no evidence he gives the United States anything more than a passing thought (if that). It's all a con.
HAHA. This "program" is really nothing more than a tweet. If trump cannot benefit financially from it, he could not care less. There is no evidence he gives the United States anything more than a passing thought (if that). It's all a con.
39
“Right now, it doesn’t appear that they have a plan.”
The Trump presidency in a nutshell.
The Trump presidency in a nutshell.
140
The final three sentences describe everything Trumps supporting republicans have to face, being blindsided, abused, and blamed for Trumps inadequacies
11
Proof that Trump is more motivated to roll back his predecessor's achievements than to promote the common interests of all Americans.
30
Waiting for infrastructure investment.
Waiting under Reagan, under Bush, under Clinton, under Bush, under Obama, under Trump, still waiting.
But like my friend says, why invest in infrastructures, we're already number one, aren't we?
---
Is the full 2nd Avenue subway line completed already? No? Not yet? When?
What about the Access to the Region's Core Project (ARC), the Northeast Corridor (NEC) Gateway Program, the Hudson Tunnel Project, the Portal Bridge Replacement Project, ...? Stalled.
Waiting under Reagan, under Bush, under Clinton, under Bush, under Obama, under Trump, still waiting.
But like my friend says, why invest in infrastructures, we're already number one, aren't we?
---
Is the full 2nd Avenue subway line completed already? No? Not yet? When?
What about the Access to the Region's Core Project (ARC), the Northeast Corridor (NEC) Gateway Program, the Hudson Tunnel Project, the Portal Bridge Replacement Project, ...? Stalled.
7
I think it is the infrastructure of Trump Inc that is seeing massive investment from the taxpayers.
7
We drive the roads of an underdeveloped country.
The bridges of a third world.
The rail system of the early 90s.
Many airports are the textbook definition of ---t show.
And we have peacocks on both sides of the aisle doing NOTHING about it or anything else.
It's on us.
We have to fire them all.
Anyone who thinks the answer lies in the failed two party system which in reality doesn't even give us a binary choice, let alone a good one, is stuck in the definition of insanity.
Wake up.
Every time you drive a bad road think....third party and term limits.
The bridges of a third world.
The rail system of the early 90s.
Many airports are the textbook definition of ---t show.
And we have peacocks on both sides of the aisle doing NOTHING about it or anything else.
It's on us.
We have to fire them all.
Anyone who thinks the answer lies in the failed two party system which in reality doesn't even give us a binary choice, let alone a good one, is stuck in the definition of insanity.
Wake up.
Every time you drive a bad road think....third party and term limits.
55
What a great opportunity for trump to honor his commitment to provide jobs, jobs, jobs. What we see daily is a fake president touting fake love for America as he ignores the monumental infrastructure need staring him in the face. What a sad joke on the American people.
15
Trump has zero plans. Never did. Never will. Not for infrastructure. Not for ridding the world of ISIS. Not for dealing with North Korea. Not for health care insurance. Not for solving the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Not for dealing with Russian aggression. Every campaign pledge he made that would involve an actual plan requiring thought, creating a workable structure, working through details, was a gigantic and obvious lie.
With regard to infrastructure is particular, Trump tossed out a big number -- $1 trillion. That got some people's attention (and to a worrisome extent has been one cause of the stock market rise). But the anti-tax apostles in Congress (aka all of the Republicans) will never agree to any infrastructure proposal because it would increase the national debt. So in this one regard, it's easy to see why Trump has said: "Oh, never mind." And in any case, he's gotten bored with "winning."
With regard to infrastructure is particular, Trump tossed out a big number -- $1 trillion. That got some people's attention (and to a worrisome extent has been one cause of the stock market rise). But the anti-tax apostles in Congress (aka all of the Republicans) will never agree to any infrastructure proposal because it would increase the national debt. So in this one regard, it's easy to see why Trump has said: "Oh, never mind." And in any case, he's gotten bored with "winning."
64
Just returned from Switzerland. We are so far behind. Unfortunately there will be no WPA-scale program, just a focused effort to score PR points while enriching his buddies. It's all talk. And many Americans listen. This country deserves everything it has coming to it.
23
Contrary to this article's premise infrastructure was never really a Trump priority. His singular priority is clearly to raid the treasury for multi trillion $ tax cuts for the wealthy, whose drain on resources would make any serious infrastructure program impossible. His comments on infrastructure were like so much else with Trump, a verbal smokescreen to fool his supporters while providing cover for what he is really up to.
68
Agree. Trump is using tax cuts to finally be popular with the wealthy crowd, who has long shunned him for being a con-man bully who doesn't play by their rules.
2
"Trump fails to deliver" would have been his campaign slogan but it didn't look good on a hat! He leaves a trail of broken promises, bankruptcies and destruction in his wake and could care less about the damage. Meanwhile our infrastructure is kept together with chewing gum and string, one rusty bolt away from a catastrophic accident. The GOP refused to support President Obama's infrastructure proposal, now are reaping what the sowed. Unfortunately we're the losers.
15
Trump's weekly golfing outings, daily Twitter rants, TV time with his friends at Fox, time yelling at and reshuffling his staff, pow wows with his lawyers, and periodic campaign rallies all have to come first.
That leaves little time for the business of our nation
But I say let him do more of these favorite things as all his ideas are awful
Maybe McConnell can spend more time hanging out with Trump as well.
That leaves little time for the business of our nation
But I say let him do more of these favorite things as all his ideas are awful
Maybe McConnell can spend more time hanging out with Trump as well.
20
Just like GOP legislators during Obama's presidency, Trump does not give a flip about our nation's highway, rail, bridge, and maritime infrastructure.
There is still a wonderful comprehensive plan awaiting that former Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood introduced to Congress in 2010. It died on the vine!
There is still a wonderful comprehensive plan awaiting that former Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood introduced to Congress in 2010. It died on the vine!
24
I'm not in such a great rush for THIS administration's plan - I fear that our roads would end up looking like the fences at any major ballpark: logos from sponsors and toll booths at every turn.
23
President Trump may have trouble on delivery of his promised plans because the U.S. government is nearly bankrupt. Rebuilding roads, bridges, etc. is not the only problem U.S. will face concerning rebuilding as President Trump has openly stated the invasion of Iraq was based on lies of CIA that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Since the U.S. destruction of Iraq was a mistake we are demanding the U.S. rebuild our Iraqi province with all underground utilities.
2
Money is what he knows and loves. Politics is just a new toy.
11
It would help if this POTUS had a specific plan he could deliver to Congress to act on. So far, it is just his dream with no specifics. Only one person can be at blame, himself.
5
Public private partnerships are nothing more than capital stripping. Trump could start the Democratic blueprint and add another trillion dollars. The fed are treasury could finance it with zero interest bills.
The lack of progress on this issue for decades is grossly negligent. Welcome to the USA where the infrastructure is crumbling, healthcare is a racket and permanent war is all politicians care about.
The lack of progress on this issue for decades is grossly negligent. Welcome to the USA where the infrastructure is crumbling, healthcare is a racket and permanent war is all politicians care about.
20
President Donald Trump's failure to get his economic program started reminds me of an old joke told by Dr. Henry Kissinger.
During WWII, Dr. Kisinger and his colleagues at Harvard were drafted to help the war effort with academic ideas. One of the problems was the huge losses of materiel/men brought about by German U-boats operating against convoys crossing the Atlantic.
One idea presented by the Harvard task force was to build a pipeline under the ocean floor between the US/Great Britain. The answer from the Army Corps of Engineers was such task to be technically impossible.
The answer from Dr. Kissigner: our mission is to propose ideas. The implementation is up to the people responsible for the pipeline construction!
Donald Trump was full of ideas during the campaign. Now is up to the GOP to implement them, including the construction of the mother of all walls along the Southern border with Mexico.
During WWII, Dr. Kisinger and his colleagues at Harvard were drafted to help the war effort with academic ideas. One of the problems was the huge losses of materiel/men brought about by German U-boats operating against convoys crossing the Atlantic.
One idea presented by the Harvard task force was to build a pipeline under the ocean floor between the US/Great Britain. The answer from the Army Corps of Engineers was such task to be technically impossible.
The answer from Dr. Kissigner: our mission is to propose ideas. The implementation is up to the people responsible for the pipeline construction!
Donald Trump was full of ideas during the campaign. Now is up to the GOP to implement them, including the construction of the mother of all walls along the Southern border with Mexico.
9
Now that is a program that would truly help the working man that Trump proports to represent. And after all his reputation is as a great builder. What he has done is to bring into his cabinet men from Goldman Sachs whose firm did more than any other to demolish the equities of the homes of these working men. They now set our economic policy. And isn't it ironic that the stock market where these blood suckers feed has risen to new heights. It is now so obvious who Trump really represents. Yet when Trump attends his rallies and makes his tours of plants there they are cheering wildly with their hard hats and "Make America Great Again" caps.
12
Why doesn't Congress come up with it's own infrastructure plan rather than working on health plans that don't promote health?
Was the "jobs for Americans" was just a campaign pitch?
If you were running a major company and you deferred essential maintenance, would it come back to haunt you and would you be fired?
Do we need to have disasters such as another collapsed bridge or massive power outage before people realize how bad things are really getting?
Will "T"s supporters wake up someday and ask: "where are those jobs?"
Why doesn't "T" spend the same amount of time studying infrastructure and tax reform that he spends watching Fox News and following his Twitter account?
Was the "jobs for Americans" was just a campaign pitch?
If you were running a major company and you deferred essential maintenance, would it come back to haunt you and would you be fired?
Do we need to have disasters such as another collapsed bridge or massive power outage before people realize how bad things are really getting?
Will "T"s supporters wake up someday and ask: "where are those jobs?"
Why doesn't "T" spend the same amount of time studying infrastructure and tax reform that he spends watching Fox News and following his Twitter account?
11
From these guys NO plan is a GOOD plan.
3
If Obama's greatest achievement had been in infrastructure, Trump would be singing Destruct and Rebuild. Well, Destruct first then Rebuild now.
7
Mitch McConnell is skeptical of any deal that would force him to compromise with Democrats. (??). Aren't people in Congress supposed to be working for the good of the country? What goes on in that man's head? He delights in obstruction. He has done more to destroy our Democracy than Trump. (If that is possible). And now, rather than work on a bipartisan workable infrastructure plan, he will fiddle while our bridges crumble.
33
Our infrastructure crisis is the direct result of decades of tax cuts with no domestic investment so the wealthy & corporations could get tax cuts they don't need. As for Tea Party Mulvaney he could care less about the disastrous condition of the infrastructure in his home state of SC. But now with him gone along with his Tea Party buddy Haley, SC finally approved a minuscule tax raise to improve roads. It only took Republican controlled SC 30 years to do so.
21
Let's hope Trump never gets around to infrastructure until we have a Democratic majority in Congress. Privatizing our roads and bridges and tunnels is a terrible idea. We cannot count on private contractors not to cut corners when building (tiles fell off in a tunnel in Boston after the Big Dig and killed a motorist). We cannot count on them not to charge high tolls and do no maintenance on the roads afterward. All the private sector does is rip us off with zero accountability.
30
"Privatization" is like offshoring and outsourcing. It looks cheaper initially, but doing it right ain't cheap. It needs a lot of permanent administrative oversight to guard against all kinds of errors and ripoffs, especially with complex projects involving lots of large players out for maximum profit, who see public dollars as a trough to gorge at, not as a fiduciary duty to taxpayers.
Unless, of course, the whole point in privatizing is not to save taxpayer dollars but simply to enrich your powerful friends at public expense -- or, to use Trump's own words, with "other people's money." It makes graft so much more lucrative and so much easier to get away with. Hence the Republicans and their oligarch sponsors are huge fans of it, and not of good government run solely for the benefit of ordinary citizens and taxpayers.
Unless, of course, the whole point in privatizing is not to save taxpayer dollars but simply to enrich your powerful friends at public expense -- or, to use Trump's own words, with "other people's money." It makes graft so much more lucrative and so much easier to get away with. Hence the Republicans and their oligarch sponsors are huge fans of it, and not of good government run solely for the benefit of ordinary citizens and taxpayers.
3
In republican lingo "privatization' means including the provision in the law to guarantee private entities profit.
"Infrastructure" needs to include trains (all kinds - local subways, commuter/regional, and high-speed cross country), sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes, and buses.
12
Why can't the government address more than one issue at a time? In the days or weeks that pass from the time a proposal on, say, health care, is made until hearings are scheduled and committees make their recommendations, do they really have no time for anything other than fund-raising (i.e. being paid to listen to the concerns of plutocrats)?
9
When the guy at the top can barely focus on one thing, and do so only fleetingly at that, you can't expect the government he runs to do any better.
I'm amazed Trump didn't claim credit for the New Deal, the WPA, the CCC, the national highway system and the Brooklyn Bridge. Maybe it's because Russian and Syrian banks didn't do the financing? He largely succeeds by appropriation, putting his name on stuff in exchange for payment. He has no concept of how to actually build consensus, he specializing in tearing down, not floating all boats. He's incapable of recognizing there are many legitimate interests in a large undertaking such as infrastructure, he sees only himself on top as the final result, at the head of the table, with 2 scoops on the largest piece of cake. With a world view like that, he'll get nothing done. Congress will dither and roil with internal conflict while Trump descends into a legal hell of his own making, and the rest of the country will continue to rot.
Serious, complex problems need serious people, thinkers like Al Franken, for instance. Stealing other peoples accomplishments and consorting with enemies of the state are hardly paths toward fixing whats broken. Rather, they contribute to the decay, physically and morally, of our once great nation, and eventually undermine even our financial foundation. This president is a block of C-4, with an igniter already inserted, attached to a burner cell phone, waiting for the next inane, paranoid tweet.
I'm amazed Trump didn't claim credit for the New Deal, the WPA, the CCC, the national highway system and the Brooklyn Bridge. Maybe it's because Russian and Syrian banks didn't do the financing? He largely succeeds by appropriation, putting his name on stuff in exchange for payment. He has no concept of how to actually build consensus, he specializing in tearing down, not floating all boats. He's incapable of recognizing there are many legitimate interests in a large undertaking such as infrastructure, he sees only himself on top as the final result, at the head of the table, with 2 scoops on the largest piece of cake. With a world view like that, he'll get nothing done. Congress will dither and roil with internal conflict while Trump descends into a legal hell of his own making, and the rest of the country will continue to rot.
Serious, complex problems need serious people, thinkers like Al Franken, for instance. Stealing other peoples accomplishments and consorting with enemies of the state are hardly paths toward fixing whats broken. Rather, they contribute to the decay, physically and morally, of our once great nation, and eventually undermine even our financial foundation. This president is a block of C-4, with an igniter already inserted, attached to a burner cell phone, waiting for the next inane, paranoid tweet.
5
Big spending on infrastructure projects will require big appropriations. It would be extremely difficult to offset this new spending with cuts elsewhere in the budget. So, increasing deficit spending to finance the projects? We've heard the president say he loves debt. Most House members don't. Doesn't look promising, does it?
4
Why is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell so against working and compromising with Democrats? Many of our policy makers who purportedly study & worship our Constitution along with the Founding Fathers who wrote it too often forget how many compromises were needed to get it completed and ratified. And all the while, the country that sent men to the Moon and that built the Interstate Highway System languishes in an environment of failing infrastructure.
Fixing our infrastructure is a no brainer, a win-win for everyone resulting in jobs & improved quality of life.
Fixing our infrastructure is a no brainer, a win-win for everyone resulting in jobs & improved quality of life.
14
I agree that it is ridiculous that McConnell refuses to work across the aisle. He has no legislative ability if he can't even look for middle ground.
This insane idea that any and every project designed to help the people with infrastructure has to be privatized is exactly what will cause the projects never to happen.
All privatization means is that some fat cat will make even more money at the public swill trough.
If privatization had been the order of the day during the creation of the interstate highway system, we'd still be driving on unpaved, two-lane roads.
All privatization means is that some fat cat will make even more money at the public swill trough.
If privatization had been the order of the day during the creation of the interstate highway system, we'd still be driving on unpaved, two-lane roads.
21
Does anyone advocate for "invisible infrastructure?" The information systems built over decades that enable our lives. Systems that move food from field, to train, to truck, to grocery store.
Who's paying attention to them? The people that used to understand those systems are headed to retirement.
Who's paying attention to them? The people that used to understand those systems are headed to retirement.
11
Nobody knew infrastructure is so complicated!??!
In Galway City (Ireland) there are two roads known in Gaelic as Bóthar na Minne--Cornmeal Road. Cornmeal, because the roads were famine-relief projects: starving road-makers were paid in measures of corn meal. Other famine relief projects include sea walls and jetties—there’s a fine example at Mountcharles in Co. Donegal. But mostly such relief projects just petered out as people died or as the folly of some projects became obvious.
Here, today, much infrastructure work is needed, but I shudder when I imagine foreign banks (friends of Donald or Jarred?) owning and controlling sections of strategically important infrastructure. Undertaking essential infrastructure work must be motivated by the primary need, and not for the secondary need to create jobs. Of course the latter is essential, but it can become a pork-barrel to be politicized and demeaned. So there are two good reasons to make it a federal program. Issue bonds by all means, but do not give foreign bankers, or the Koch Brothers, control of essential services.
In Galway City (Ireland) there are two roads known in Gaelic as Bóthar na Minne--Cornmeal Road. Cornmeal, because the roads were famine-relief projects: starving road-makers were paid in measures of corn meal. Other famine relief projects include sea walls and jetties—there’s a fine example at Mountcharles in Co. Donegal. But mostly such relief projects just petered out as people died or as the folly of some projects became obvious.
Here, today, much infrastructure work is needed, but I shudder when I imagine foreign banks (friends of Donald or Jarred?) owning and controlling sections of strategically important infrastructure. Undertaking essential infrastructure work must be motivated by the primary need, and not for the secondary need to create jobs. Of course the latter is essential, but it can become a pork-barrel to be politicized and demeaned. So there are two good reasons to make it a federal program. Issue bonds by all means, but do not give foreign bankers, or the Koch Brothers, control of essential services.
549
I agree. American made, American money and American owned in the way to go.
1
The potato famine in Ireland was addressed by immigration to America and the ultimate end of the potato monoculture. Thus the end of the public works progress.
The states are capable of paying for their own infrastructure if the cost of the projects is not larded up by special interest groups. No, if you are widening or repaving a road or replacing a bridge, it is not necessary to build a new park or contribute to an illegal immigrant legal fund. Sorry. Let the philanthropists pony up money rather than spending their tax deductible contributions paying for expensive parties and fund raising soirees as well as lobbying the government to implement their recommendations as to how actual taxpayers should have their taxes spent.
If local and state governments want to borrow money or sell their infrastructure, let them make their own deals with investors, foreign or domestic. Perhaps they can borrow the money from Soros, Buffett and Gates.
The states are capable of paying for their own infrastructure if the cost of the projects is not larded up by special interest groups. No, if you are widening or repaving a road or replacing a bridge, it is not necessary to build a new park or contribute to an illegal immigrant legal fund. Sorry. Let the philanthropists pony up money rather than spending their tax deductible contributions paying for expensive parties and fund raising soirees as well as lobbying the government to implement their recommendations as to how actual taxpayers should have their taxes spent.
If local and state governments want to borrow money or sell their infrastructure, let them make their own deals with investors, foreign or domestic. Perhaps they can borrow the money from Soros, Buffett and Gates.
There was no potato monoculture. Ireland produced thousands of sheep and cattle and more than enough grain. What the poor lacked was money. Six million Irish survived the "famine," roughly one million died, while about a million emigrated. Six million? that was not a famine. Why do you not include the prince of wealth, Charles Koch, in your list?
1