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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBernie Sanders Drops A Bombshell Report That Exposes Trumps Infrastructure Scam
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/07/bernie-sanders-drops-bombshell-report-exposes-trumps-infrastructure-scam.htmlBernie Sanders Drops A Bombshell Report That Exposes Trumps Infrastructure Scam
By Jason Easley on Wed, Jun 7th, 2017 at 12:36 pm
As the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has released a report that exposes Trumps infrastructure plan as a scam designed to benefit Wall Street.
The report exposes how Trumps infrastructure plan actually cuts infrastructure funding:
Under Trumps proposal, billionaires on Wall Street, wealthy campaign contributors and even foreign governments would receive hundreds of billions in tax breaks to purchase our highways, airports and water treatment plants. They would then be allowed to impose huge new tolls and fees on the backs of American commuters and homeowners.
The reality is that Trumps plan to sell off our nations highways, bridges and other vital infrastructure to Wall Street, private investors, and foreign governments is an old idea that does not work. Trumps plan to rebuild America relies heavily on the use of public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure projects with private equity capital. Such financing, whether through private equity or traditional tax-exempt municipal bonds, is repaid by ordinary citizens through a combination of taxes and user fees.
Private equity financing is markedly more expensive than traditional government financing, however by as much as three to six times. Considering the scale of infrastructure development under consideration, that difference could be enormous. For example: the charge for a $100 million-dollar investment using traditional government bond financing (at 3 percent, over 30 years) is about $90 million. For private equity capital, at a 15 percent return, the total skyrockets to $450 million.
Trumps infrastructure plan is to cut real infrastructure spending while giving tax cuts to corporations and billionaires so that they can buy the nations infrastructure and profit off of it with tolls and fees. Once the infrastructure is privatized, the new owners will be motivated to keep expenses down and profit up. The easiest way to accomplish this goal would be to spend less on the maintenance of roads and bridges while charging user fees to all.
Sen. Sanders said, Donald Trump wants to hand over critical public infrastructure to private investors who will squeeze profits from the American people by putting up new tolls and exorbitant user fees. That is unacceptable. We shouldnt be selling off our infrastructure to billionaires to make huge profits on the backs of working people.
Trumps plan is a con. Sen. Sanders and his report make an important point. While the Russia scandal consumes the bulk of the national spotlight, Trump is continuing his efforts to use the presidency to make the wealthiest Americans ever richer.
nolabear
(41,984 posts)Privatization of prisons, schools, all of the things governments have maintained and had regulations regarding have gone down in quality.
bluecollar2
(3,622 posts)I know of no previously privatised entity that has been returned to public ownership.
progressoid
(49,991 posts)I'm afraid too many Americans are blinded by their faith in their GOP cult to see what's really happening.
Kentonio
(4,377 posts)Same old, same old..
furtheradu
(1,865 posts)Don't want it to get lost in all the crazy goin on!
disillusioned73
(2,872 posts)this Comey thing is about go bananas..
Read his statement earlier..
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)trueblue2007
(17,223 posts)babylonsister
(171,066 posts)too many people will agree with this 'plan'. It's still all about the benjamins, not the infrastructure.
lostnfound
(16,179 posts)Create a shock and/or major distractions, rewrite the country's economic basis and eliminate its social safety net, so corporations buy up public assets at distressed prices and people are powerless to fight on so many fronts.
NCjack
(10,279 posts)of America's middle-class to debtor slaves.
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Keep up the resistance, Bernie!
LAS14
(13,783 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,057 posts)The 15% yield on private equity funding seems a made up number
Far too high vs. current financing models and cost of capital
Other than that, I believe this needs to be highly publicized as the scam it is