Bridge Out- Road Closed

Back in July 2017 I opined here that we need a ‘Newer Deal,’ one which took seriously the earlier New Deal of FDR and faced our deteriorating national infrastructure. In that brief blog, I asked ‘Is anyone listening?’ Apparently someone is trying to appear to listen. In the recent State of the Union Address the speaker touted a ‘huge’ infrastructure plan.

There are only a couple of problems with his plan. The spans will still be out for bridging the gap of improvements and the roads to any real progress will still be impassable. Trump does not want to spend Federal Funds on highways, bridges, electrical grid or communication networks. He wants to fund investors who will support private projects for toll-ways, toll-bridges and other profit-making ventures. And since he has no idea from where such funds will come, his plan will increase the deficit by billions.

This may well be a way to run a business, i.e., borrow money with little intention to re-pay in full and instead look to bankruptcy or some other scheme, encourage investors, and market it all with deceptive ads splashed with glitter, but it is no way to run a government. That is precisely the problem with our current administration, the chief executive knows almost nothing about governing and those he surrounds himself with are businessmen.

Now, Putin knows how to govern. If the Russian President wanted to make massive improvements in Russia’s infrastructure, he’d simply demand that his oligarchs see to the rubles to fund the project. But in our country, Government does not control our oligarchs, rather our oligarchs control the Government. So, in the State of the Union Address, the speaker gives voice to the preferences of the oligarchs.

The necessity for a ‘Newer Deal’ still cries out for attention. It is not rocket science, but it is the necessity for more Federal taxes to fund improvements; it is not a demand for lining the pockets of private investors.

Once again, is anyone listening?