2/14/2018 By John F. O’Donnell
Surprise, surprise, Trump’s infrastructure plan is a giant scam, a huge giveaway to corporate interests and a disaster for the environment. He’s really hitting the trifecta with this one. Here’s the gist of it: Trump claims that a proposed $200 billion of federal funding will lead to $1.5 trillion in new infrastructure project spending over the next ten years. All of that additional money will apparently be coming from the state and local level, as well as the private sector. This puts an undue burden on the states and municipalities, while at the same time holding onto the pipe dream that private industry is going to step up and pay for energy infrastructure, roads and bridges just because the president says so.
Private industry only wants to partake in infrastructure renovating and building when they can turn the maximum profit. There are a number of infrastructure projects that desperately need to be tackled in this country that aren’t “profit expedient.” That doesn’t mean, as a nation, we shouldn’t be committed to fixing them. That’s why infrastructure funding needs to be a public sector priority. And Trump’s plan is not making it so. $200 billion may sound like a lot, but it’s spread over 10 years. That’s just $20 billion a year. It’s not nearly enough. Don’t forget our military spending just got an $80 billion increase on top of an already astronomical over $600 billion. Also, we’re living in the biggest surveillance state in history, and all of that spying costs a lot of money.
Furthermore, often times the private sector will rebuild roads ONLY if afterwards those roads become toll roads. And the tolls can be incredibly pricey. In fact, the toll on I-66 inside the DC Beltway hit a whopping $46.50 this week! Of course that’s only if you choose to use the fast lane with only one person in your car – but that toll cost also shows that the rich can afford to avoid the worst problems with our infrastructure. They don’t feel the need to fix a lot of the problems in this country because they can simply spend some money to personally avoid the problems.
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Trump’s infrastructure plan also throws our country into the dirty and destructive past. It’s not investing in the future, pursuing much needed renewable energy. Green groups all over the country were among the first to oppose the new plan. They have cited a complete lack of regard for the environment. According to Friends of the Earth’s Ben Schreiber, “The plan is nothing more than a scam to roll back environmental and health protections.” A major complaint is that because the plan drastically decreases permit deadlines, this means there’s considerably less time, if enough at all, for proper environmental impact reviews and safety assessments to take place. This is going to end up being a giveaway to corporations that want to quickly complete projects, including pipelines transporting fossil fuels – a mode of energy the country urgently needs to divest and run away from. The bottom line is Trump likes to see himself as a great builder, but the reality is his infrastructure plan is a figurative high-rise made out of garbage. …And does anyone want to take bets on whether Trump has even read the plan?
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If you don’t know about mitochondrial eve..
If you don’t understand that we are all Africans ranging from light pink beige too dark brown..
If you’re speaking and thinking that pink beige is white and brown is black..
How useful must you be to people who use that disconnect from truth and reality to manipulate the hearts and minds and behavior of those who choose to believe what makes them feel better rather than understand what really is.
America was established to serve both to discriminate against ethnic minorities and maintain advantages for wealthy light pink beige males AKA Whites.
That prime directive core value fundamental purpose is played out in all the policies of America
The benefactors of America’s white male supremacist policies will continue to implement the gun policies the police policies the corporate policies the wage policies the housing policies the tap water policies the banking policies and the infrastructure policies that benefit wealthy white males at the expense of everyone else – except those wealthy white males will pay other white males and females and a few ethnic minorities to push forward those policies and procedures which benefit wealthy white males..
I figured if people knew about mitochondrial eve and that we’re all actually African except we change physical characteristics when we migrated Out of Africa and away from the equator..
People might see We Are One race and we’re all in this together plus they are more poor than there are wealthy.. except we should all be able to survive and prosper if we put some thought to controlling a population and treating one another with equal respect and equal opportunity..
But then that just undermines what wealthy white males want..
Wow a $46 toll?!? How much is it for the rest of us who don’t drive in the fast lane?
This is typical pork barrel stuff. Here in Brisbane, Australia, they built a bunch of white elephant tunnels in “partnership with private enterprise.” The tunnels take you across town and do avoid about 20 minutes of traffic, but they were hugely expensive to build and the tolls aren’t cheap! (this doesn’t even count environmental impact) Look this one up – the Go-Between Bridge, a duplicate bridge across the Brisbane river that has a toll, when there are free bridges on either side of it. Imagine it is turning a profit? Only in someone’s dreams.
I give you these examples of small pork barrelling. Now, scale up that kind of stupidity and do it on a national level – egads.
When you leave it to private enterprise instead of commons and public domain, they pick and choose what they think they can get away with, and huge swathes of vital infrastructure crumbles while these new shiny (and useless) projects get built.
Additionally, hearing about the tolls on the I-66 reminds me of the direction we are headed into – gated communities. Soon, you won’t even be able to afford to drive there, much less visit a restaurant or a friend there. This seals out the poor, creating a segmented country. Roads & bridges should be free, as much as possible!
From sea to shining sea.
There are two critical points to grasp …
1) Congress implements the president’s scam. This Congress, in the pockets and at the service of the ruling elite, will fall in line like 14-year-old girls at a Justin Bieber concert.
2) Congress can impeach the president but the president can’t impeach Congress.
Solution: Replace this current batch of scum-sucking bottom-dwellers by electing a “people’s Congress” in November 2018.
How do we know who’s with the people? The Contract For American Renewal takes the guesswork out of voting. If a candidate hasn’t signed a CFAR, he’s a pariah and to be avoided at all costs, like you’d avoid a stampede of 14-year-old girls at Justin Bieber concert. ONLY VOTE FOR CFAR CANDIDATES! …. http://cfar2018.com/voters/cfar-candidates-the-real-deal/
Good riddance to the crooks and liars! Regime change in Congress November 2018.
Why are people letting this maniac get away with this stuff? Obviously he’s not doing so bad, because people are sitting back and taking it all in dry. We all know that this chump needs to be smoked but no-one wants to say it.
That Va Beltway Toll charge is really scary! Might make you want to give up your car! And how are we going to ever deal with the deficit to pay it off. It says in the Jewish religion a Jew is not supposed to charge another Jew interest for a loan. Especially a hardship loan. Could the interest be lopped off the huge financial debt and we only have to pay on the principal? Trump has to review more and take the time to know infrastructure projects he’ll be assigning. Go tell him to start wearing his steel construction cap!
He can’t read.
And can’t comprehend well what’s read to him.
Unless it makes him money.
I love reading your work, however, I have a criticism I’d like to make. I, like many thosands of men, am colorblind. When you use a red font on a black background the text dissapears for us. I KNOW it is difficult to imagine NOT seeing a color, however, that’s where we stand. I would humbly recommend the use of a bright orange, or even blue or yellow font.
Love you guys! Keep on fighting!