Falls short on infrastructure

[struggle4progress]

By Toluse Olorunnipa and Mike DeBonis May 26 at 7:46 PM

... As millions of Americans hit the road for the Memorial Day weekend, they traveled across aging bridges, on crumbling roads and through tunnels in dire need of repair — infrastructure that earned a D+ grade in the most recent report from the American Society of Civil Engineers ...

Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to improve the nation’s infrastructure, abruptly walked out of a meeting with leading Democrats on Wednesday and declared there would be no “investment” until congressional investigations into his personal finances and administration cease. Democrats accused Trump of being unable to rise to the occasion and match the political savvy of previous presidents whose names are associated with the country’s most ambitious infrastructure project ...

“We can no longer afford to wait,” said ASCE Executive Director Tom Smith. “Our infrastructure problem is not going to go away, and it’s certainly not going to get better with time” ...

“It’s easy to say you’re going to work to fix bridges and highway and dams, but that’s just talk,” <presidential historian Douglas Brinkley> said. “In order to move the ball forward, you have to get out there and cheerlead for public works projects — and this president doesn’t know how to bring people together” ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-falls-short-on-infrastructure-after-promising-to-build-roads-bridges-and-consensus/2019/05/26/1027446e-7c9f-11e9-8bb7-0fc796cf2ec0_story.html?utm_term=.8ba4b17d1b45

[struggle4progress]

1. The emperor has no money

... Trump’s theatrics were .. very convenient because they disguised the fact that he cannot now, or ever, deliver on his signature promise to create a “great” infrastructure program. This is why Trump “infrastructure weeks” have become a standing joke in Washington ...

... From the moment Trump, Pelosi and Schumer announced their convergence on a $2 trillion infrastructure plan last month, Mulvaney began sabotaging it. “Is it difficult to pass any infrastructure bill in this environment, let alone a $2 trillion one, in this environment? Absolutely,” Mulvaney said.

He was far from alone because the entire Republican leadership in Congress is now part of the Knuckledraggers Caucus. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell quickly signaled that he had absolutely no interest in a big infrastructure plan if it required rolling back any part of the GOP’s 2017 corporate tax cut.

Democrats argue that because business is clamoring for infrastructure, it would make sense to ask business to foot part of the bill ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-coverup-no-one-is-talking-about/2019/05/26/24eb63c4-7e4f-11e9-a5b3-34f3edf1351e_story.html?utm_term=.8a8524f9d2a2

[riversedge]

2. Trump has no infrastructure plan-that is the theory going around.

[struggle4progress]

3. My goodness! If they are saying that now, soon they will be calling him a vacuous blowhard!