Trump Calls for More Infrastructure Spending; No Word on How to Pay for It
In his first State of the Union address, Presdient Trump said nothing about how to pay for his now $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan. Photo: TV screenshot
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In his first State of the Union speech, President Trump upped the ante for infrastructure spending by requesting that Congress craft a bipartisan bill that “generates” at least $1.5 trillion to invest in the “safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure our economy needs and our people deserve.”
However, Trump did not indicate at all how he would pay for that largesse. What’s more, the $1.5 trillion figure is $500 billion more than the president has previously called for to fund infrastructure.
It was the only new detail mentioned about his long-anticipated infrastructure plan during his 80-minute SOFU address to a joint session of Congress on Jan. 30.
“I am asking both parties to come together to give us the safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure our economy needs and our people deserve,” said Trump.
Based on what the Trump Administration has previously stated— as well as a recently leaked draft document— the president’s approach to financing infrastructure improvements apparently remains fixed on priming the pump with $200 billion in cash and tax credits that presumably will stoke spending by state and even local governments as well as private investors to actually fund most of the price tag that Trump has hung on improving highway, railroad, airport, marine, and other infrastructure .
“Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and, where appropriate, tapping into private sector investment — to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit,” Trump added, suggesting yet again that he does not expect Congress to come up with all the $1.5 trillion he is seeking now.
Indicative of the pushback Trump can expect from Democrats in Congress was the reaction of House …Read the rest of this story
