Trump backs off vow that private sector should help pay for infrastructure package

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post




By Tory Newmyer and Damian Paletta September 26 at 10:48 PM

President Trump told lawmakers Tuesday that he was abandoning a key element of his planned $1 trillion infrastructure package, complaining that certain partnerships between the private sector and federal government simply don’t work.

Trump’s comments, described by a House Democrat who met with Trump and confirmed by a White House official, reveal an infrastructure plan that appears to be up in the air as White House officials have struggled to decide how to finance many of the projects they envision to rebuild America’s roads, bridges and tunnels.

Now the administration wants to force states and localities to foot most of the bill. The previous strategy — a push that has taken a back seat to other Republican priorities in Washington — was aimed at luring private investors with promises of federal backing. Some of that thinking appears to be changing.

The president acknowledged the new approach during a Tuesday meeting with Democrats from the House Ways and Means Committee, who came to the White House to discuss the administration’s tax code rewrite set to be unveiled Wednesday,

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/trump-backs-off-vow-that-private-sector-should-help-pay-for-infrastructure-package/2017/09/26/02dd02f6-a327-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html

[ananda]

1. I always figured they would tax the poor and middle class..

.. to pay for it.

It's already happening in states with ridiculous toll road/bridge fees
and an ever growing number of them.

And don't even get me started on utilities.

[genxlib]

4. Make no mistake

All of that private investment he was talking about would come with tolls and fees. Somebody has to pay back that investment because they wouldn't be doing it out of the kindness of their heart.

I detest tolls. It has been a pet-peeve of mine as long as I could drive. It is better today with electronic collection but I lived through the days of the traditional toll booth. It used to drive me crazy that we would invest money to build a structure blocking the road and bringing traffic to a halt. It was a nightmare for traffic flow, safety, environment etc. All to collect a fucking quarter. I was so famous for this rant that my friends and co-workers used to try and trigger me for fun. I didn't care. I stand behind the fact that it was the dumbest funding concept ever invented and runs contrary to every tenant of good highway design.

Even if you accept that a toll is inevitable, the private investor is an un-necessary and costly middle man. If the economic viability of a project could lead to profits then it damn well could support a bond and get built by the Government. Especially in times of record low interest rates.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Maintenance they should do

but all I see from cheap money is over-investment in capacity in multiple industries

When borrowing money is cheap you GO BIG

When interest rates rise those investments are dinosaurs

[Achilleaze]

3. Freaking flipper-flopper republicans are untrustworthy

Only a damn fool would trust a republican, or their freaking deceitful, flip-flopping casino hustling, royal republican draft-dodging dotard.

[genxlib]

5. A policy that is abandoned before attempt

Is one that was poorly considered and pulled out of his ass.

At least this time, I will give him credit for killing a bad idea before it gets started.

[LuvLoogie]

6. I doubt it was his idea to begin with. And I doubt it was he who killed it.

He knows jack shit about anything other than skipping out on his obligations and paying lawyers.

[genxlib]

8. Agreed on both counts

But it had the desired effect. I am in the industry that would implement such projects and lots of my cohorts were all excited about the potential for additional spending.

I laughed at them

[IronLionZion]

7. I'm sure they'll get right on it, and the private sector will rebuild Puerto Rico too

Companies won't do anything unless they can profit from it. Most infrastructure in many areas will never become profitable and won't get built. Private stuff tends to happen in places where there are enough people willing to pay high tolls. We see private roads in heavily congested urban areas that one can pay a toll to avoid some of the traffic.

[no_hypocrisy]

9. But the red states have always expected the blue states to pay for their highways . . . . . .