White House to unveil $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan

The Hill ^ | Feb. 11, 2018 | Mallory Shelbourne -

[Innovative]

The White House on Monday will unveil its long-awaited $1.5 trillion infrastructure package aimed at overhauling U.S. public works.

The plan is structured around four goals: generate $1.5 trillion for an infrastructure proposal, streamline the permitting process down to two years, invest in rural infrastructure projects and advance workforce training.

The current system is fundamentally broken and it’s broken in two different ways,” a senior administration official told reporters in a Saturday phone call. “We are underinvesting in our infrastructure, and we have a permitting process that takes so long that even when funds are adequate, it can take a decade to build critical infrastructure.”

The Trump administration confirmed a $200 billion direct federal investment for the package, which will be included in the White House’s Monday spending blueprint for fiscal 2019.

[confederatecarpetbag]

Your statement is true in a vacuum. The problem is we aren’t going to spend money only on infrastructure — we’ll also continue to subsidize the same lazy bums anyway.

I would be ok with the infrastructure spending, if the program was designed to trigger automatic and substantial cuts to winnow federal spending levels in other areas. Especially the apparently sizable number of “nonessential personnel” we seem to make do without during every shutdown.

On a side note, maybe this is another Trump ploy to get the Dems on record opposing an initiative similar to what they ramrodded through under Obama, aka “the Stimulus.” Shutdown Schumer is already against it, just like he is against Trump’s (overly generous) DACA plan.

[sparklite2]

The plan is structured around four goals:

• generate $1.5 trillion for an infrastructure proposal

Proposal?  Not the work itself?

• streamline the permitting process down to two years,

Streamiling permitting processes should be a natural
function of the bureaucracy, and not require billions.

• invest in rural infrastructure projects 

Conceivably, but not a trillion dollars.  Reminds me of
the time my wife suggested we invest in new drapes.
I explained to ther the difference between an
investment and an expense.

• advance workforce training.

That's infrastructure?

[Getready]

Thought it was 1000 billion. No? Either way..if we spend 1 trillion less per year fed wise...they could reimburse all 125 million fed taxpayers. 8000 bucks each.....
REBATE...REBATE...REBATE...REBATE..

[Duchess47]

Yes, good. About time.

[sparklite2]

You know, I had that at first, and then talked myself out of it.

[Az Joe]

Huh? Where do you see that the White House plan will cost US taxpayers “1 trillion” dollars?

[FreeReign]

Much better to spend the money on infrastructure, rather than supporting a bunch of no-good bums living off welfare all their lives.

So then we will be making 1.5 trillion in spending cuts elsewhere?

Of course not.

First we get budget with a trillion dollar deficit. Next we get an 1.5 trillion dollar infrastructure spending bill.

[snarkytart]

It’s not good because the states will take it stick it in their pockets and nothing will get built or repaired. See New Orleans levees and drainage system.

[hinckley buzzard]

Yes. Sadly, workforce training has been a boondoggle since at least the JFK administration over 50 years ago. It mostly turns out to be a jobs program for half-assed bureaucrats who don’t know how to do anything else. There have been literally dozens of these taps on the public tit, and they never amount to squat.

[bkopto]

So is the 1.5 trillion being printed up like Monopoly money or is it being borrowed?

More gold please. More bitcoin please.

[spokeshave]

If half of what Qanon has suggested. ...look for a big reduction in federal departments. ...big drop in employees. ...budget and influence.

[BenLurkin]

Brobdingnagian. Nice!

[unlearner]

Hope that 18 billion can be directed toward an elevated road along the southern border.

It should be supported by a solid structure made of something like concrete and steel. For the sake of argument we could call it a wall.

But elevated roadway works as well.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Zimbabwe got up to $100 trillion dollar bills in 2008 before they gave up.

[Chode]

The allotted $200 billion comes from cuts within the impending White House budget. An official did not detail where specific spending reductions in the budget came from, but said the administration made cuts where “infrastructure funds haven’t been spent efficaciously,” providing Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants and transit funds as examples.

[Ciaphas Cain]

[Pikachu_Dad]

Yep. I have one laying around. So I am truly a ‘trillionaire’... Roflol!

[Republican Wildcat]

Virtually none of the Obama bill ended up going to infrastructure - it instead went to junk programs and grants to things like studying the weather on Venus and what habits to monkeys when they are high on cocaine. I suspect Trump would actually spend all of this on infrastructure.

[CurlyDave]

...Since when is all of this “good”?

Infrastructure spending is good. When the US spends $1000 on a highway, at the end of the day the US has the highway, which is a productive asset, and a US worker has the $1000.

When Odunghole spends $1000 on welfare, at the end of the day we have an addict, who is a drag on the economy, and some criminal drug dealer has the $1000, where it is spent on counterproductive items.

[dp0622]

Now don’t worry. I got responses saying how that money is going to be covered by Cuts in this and that even though we just passed a budget that will cost us trillions in debt. The Kool-Aid being served must be good. Things that used to be bad are good now because Trump. I like Trump a lot and a lot of what he’s doing but I’m not going to be a blind follower.