Posted on 09/22/2017 10:14:35 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Dozens of public transit projects around the country are in danger of stalling as the White House's plan to boost U.S. infrastructure fails to gain momentum - with thousands of jobs at risk.
The uncertainty over these projects has worsened in recent days as President Donald Trump - who had vowed to make the week's focus infrastructure - faced a series of distractions, including a congressional hearing featuring former FBI director James Comey.
The president, who had called for $1 trillion in new infrastructure programs to create millions of jobs, now faces an increasing probability that not only will his proposal fail in Congress, but also that existing infrastructure efforts will stumble.
The situation has emerged because the Trump administration has signaled it wants to take an approach to infrastructure spending that is different from the previous administration's. Instead of funding many of the existing projects that depend on federal money - a practice that officials say they worry is wasteful - the administration says it wants to move toward a version of financing projects that is based far more on private funding.
The sudden uncertainty has left local officials who had long anticipated federal support for their projects worrying whether they will get it.
In previously unreported letters, officials at the Department of Transportation last week told project managers for a bus corridor in Pittsburgh and rail projects in Phoenix and New York that the administration's budget plan for next year "proposes no funding for new projects" under an existing federal program known as the Capital Investment Grant.
Robert Rubinstein, who received the letter as executive director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, said the proposed cancellation of funding would effectively kill the project, which has been in the works for 10 years. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
I see a lot of major highway construction all over the Midwest. I don’t see so much in the Chicago area these days. Seems like last months news included work stoppages because Chicago had bankrupted the state or something similar.
It probably should really be $2 or $3 trillion dollars. We’ve been putting off so much work for decades.
They should ask Barack Obama to hand over the $900 Billion (Jobs Ready) Stimulus package that seemed to turn into nothing but vapor.
The one that was supposed to finance the rebuilding of the nation’s infrastructure but somehow just ended up in the pockets of wealthy democrat supporters.
A strong indication that the swamp in Washington is surrounded by satellite bogs throughout America.
The GOP has been absolutely worthless. What progress President Trump has made was made in spite of them.
The primaries can't come soon enough.
Spending a Trillion of our grandchildrens children’s taxpayer money is A union bailout and we darn well know it.
Need our shovel ready jobs pics.
Do we get those nifty obama signs that say we spent taxpayer dollars on repaving the same crap we repaved the last time?
Pelosi and shumer getting a nice dose of taxpayer money for their state too?
Let’s rember the reservoir fiasco in California was in a conservative area that didn’t receive as much taxpayer dollars.
It’s no wonder trump supports corruptocrat strange.. he only likes those souls for sale.
Yes, you are right; this is a major problem throughout North America.
A few years ago, a husband and his wife were driving on a highway to Montreal. They went under an overpass and it collapsed, instantly orphaning their eight year-old son. The news reports said that the car was smashed so much that the remains barely came up to the police officers' knees.
Uncle Sugar isn’t responsible for deteriorating state and local infrastrucure, though every damn state and locality in the Union seems to think so.
OMG, if I never hear that man's name again, I would be so happy.
Let's let the president get on with his agenda.
People are complaining about these plans to fix bridges, roads, etc.
But in the long run, it is an investment that will save money. How? Because the damage done to transportation, such as trucking, is costing all of us trillions of dollars in added transportation costs.
Case in point. I 40 trough Flagstaff AZ. That road is a main artery for trucking from CA ports to the distribution centers all over the USA. That stretch is finally being repaired because of the pot holes in that road which has caused many accidents from not only trucks swerving to avoid them, but cars as well-blown steer tires and suspension damage.
It actually got so bad that I personally would drive on the shoulder to get through. And there were a lot of others doing the same.
And anyone on here drove that road the last few years will attest to that.
Now if we could only get drivers who really know how to drive those rigs...
IT is the FEDERAL interstate highway system. Uncle Surgar, as you say, is responsible along with the portion that each state kicks in.
I heard that Caltrans has a new invention that is going to save billions in road construction costs. It’s a shovel that stands up by itself.
Pork can never be real jobs, just more monumental waste. Movin' right along...
I thought the Obama Trillion$ stimulus thingie took care of all that.
Where did all that money go?
You are gonna have to ask Obastard about that.
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