Posted on 05/01/2019 5:58:28 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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Democrats in Congress visited the White House on Tuesday, and they emerged to say that they and President Trump had agreed to spend $2 trillion on public works
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The question is who is going to pay for all this? The annual federal budget deficit is already nearing $1 trillion. House Democrats couldn’t even pass a budget outline because their left flank wants $67 billion more in domestic spending than the leadership offered. Republicans want more for defense. And that’s before any infrastructure blowout.
Democrats have been saying they won’t agree to raise the gasoline tax unless Mr. Trump agrees to roll back some of his 2017 tax cut. But if Mr. Trump is entertaining such a trade, he’s walking into a political trap. He’ll be undercutting his supply-side boost to the economy. And once the President lets Congress know his tax reform is open for renegotiation, the special interests will emerge from every corner of Washington to spend revenue from a higher corporate tax rate.
Mr. Trump campaigned on rebuilding America’s infrastructure, but he and Democrats don’t even agree on what to spend it on. Rest assured that Democrats don’t mean merely roads and bridges.
As Mr. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put it in a joint statement after Tuesday’s meeting, “infrastructure is about creating jobs immediately” but also about “advancing public health with clean air and clean water” and “addressing climate change” and “expanding broadband to rural, urban and other underserved areas.”
Oh, and about paying “the prevailing wage” and “the imperative to involve women, veteran and minority-owned businesses in construction.” In other words, it is about income redistribution and the social pork barrel.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
It would be a betrayal of his base for Trump to go along with minority and gender set-asides.
WSJ laments budget shortfalls but IGNORES a $900B annul trade deficits. No sale you hypocrites.
The Rats are trying to drain the Treasury. Trump should sell bonds to finance this infrastructure. Call them infrastructure bonds.
Before any new “infrastructure” money grab is put forth, the last ones need to be analyzed to see how its money was wasted and diverted to the pockets of campaign supporters or what not. Throw those folks in jail and get that money back first.
Agree. The Democrats’ idea of ‘infrastructure’ is more pork, handouts and buying votes. They are obviously lying when they say it’s for ‘jobs.’ The job market couldn’t be better WITHOUT the Dems interference.
exactly, and investigate the Dem city mayors and union leaders for signing ridiculous benefit packages to public workers that are now bankrupting the cities and states before we seek another bailout like the student loan story - people just don't care about who made the corrupt money - the lending institutions and the politicians and the universities who benefit. Same with infrastructure, it's typically a union payoff. Let the union workers pay it back.
iBonds?.....................
Since when has Congress worried about paying for anything?
We’re just going to print it.
AOC’s New Economic Theory appears to hold water, at least in the interim. If massive debt were going to tank us it would have happened by now.
We print the world’s reserve currency. The world has no good alternatives in sight as they’re all in worse shape than we are. Hence they will grin and bear it, as they live in deathly fear of not finding a chair when the music stops.
D.C. is going to get away with print-and-spend, most likely for the rest of our lifetimes.
The real solution is to sell off federal assets such as national parks. Let the private sector run them. Of course, that is about as likely as Hillary and Obama admitting all their crimes.
After that I would take an axe to the federal government - abolish the EPA, the Dept. of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, the SBA, and probably a lot of other things that government has no business funding.
Ah, to be Grand Exalted Empress for a month or so.... ;-)
“The question is who is going to pay for all this?”
I listened to Chucky and Nance, and the impression I got was:
They’re not interested in infrastructure at all. All they want is to raise taxes.
The “how are you going to pay for it” routine is just a trap for Trump.
If I were Trump, I’d pay for it with new taxes on non-citizens living here, re-allocation of foreign aid, cuts in government salareies and retiree pensions.
Then cut taxes for the middle class.
Who needs the stupid interstate highways? It’s not like they are important to the economy.
Maybe we could use railways to carry freight instead of 18 wheelers? Just a thought.
The WSJ is full of shit. They’ve spend the last 20 years pushing more than $2 trillion worth of U.S. military campaigns and new infrastructure in Third World dumps all over the globe. I never once remember them asking who the hell would pay for it.
Answer: The Great American Taxpayer!
Yes, the railroads are hardly being used at all. Tons of spare capacity there.
But we don’t have $Billion for The Wall....
Who’s going to pay?
Our grandchildren - who do not get to vote on this boondoggle.
What do think Freight Trains are for.
How about bonds? How about an effort, like in WWII to sell War Bonds, how about America Bonds?
I personally, would buy some.
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