Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Susan Wright on the Right

Home
Politics and Religion
Trump’s “Shovel Ready” Infrastructure Plan Has a Hefty Price Tag

Trump’s “Shovel Ready” Infrastructure Plan Has a Hefty Price Tag

Last updated on: April 30, 2019 at 10:45 pm by Susan Wright

Trump’s “Shovel Ready” Infrastructure Plan Has a Hefty Price Tag 2019-04-30T22:45:28-04:00 Susan Wright

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Please, somebody remind me in what way Donald Trump is supposed to be “conservative.”

Seriously, when you scratch past all the orange spray tan and MAGA-speak, all you’re left with is another irresponsible, big spending government hack, living off of a checkbook that belongs to the American taxpayers.

Yes, I know there are some MAGA faithful who will hear this and have 100 fresh memes, ready to go, in order to explain to us why President Trump siding with the Democrats to add another $2 trillion to our national debt is super-conservative.

Remember when President Barack Obama announced his infrastructure plan, calling it “shovel ready” jobs?

Remember how the right balked at the prospect of propping up employment numbers with government boondoggles riding the infrastructure tip?

I’m waiting for those same voices to speak out about what Trump is planning for us.

While meeting with smiling Democrats today, the president went so far as to trash an infrastructure plan already put in place by his own administration.

Trump, meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), made clear that he was never supportive of the proposal calling for public-private partnerships because “you get sued,” according to a senior Democratic source who attended the private meeting in the White House’s Cabinet Room.

“That was a Gary [Cohn] bill. That bill was so stupid,” Trump told the Democratic leaders, according to the source.

Cohn is the former economic adviser to the president. He walked away in 2018, because he disagreed with the president’s daft notion that tariffs are actually a good thing, when it comes to the free market.

Tariffs. Another NOT conservative thing.

So here’s the skinny on the Cohn-backed infrastructure plan:

It would call for $200 billion in federal spending that would be used to leverage an additional $800 billion in private investment over the next decade or so.

Trump was apparently having flashbacks of his personal business dealings, as he declared that the public working with the federal government on these projects would lead to lawsuits.

“[Trump] said definitively he doesn’t like private-public partnerships, and he did not at all support the plan that was put forward last year,” recalled House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who was among the group of Hill Democrats who met with Trump.

“He said he never supported it,” DeFazio added. “It was a product of a think tank guy, DJ Gribbin, and he said, ‘That was Gary’s thing. I never supported that.'”

Gribbin, an infrastructure policy adviser, also left the White House last year.

As it is, Democrats are absolutely thrilled with the idea of complete government control of the monies that pay for these infrastructure plans, and they want to raise taxes to do it.

Because of course they do.

Today’s agreement between President Trump, Schumer and Pelosi is being hailed as a “bipartisan victory.”

That would be true if there was enough difference between Trump and a Democrat to pass light.

There really isn’t.

Now try this one on for size:

Democrats now hope that Trump’s rejection of public-private partnerships means he’ll move a step closer to their position.

“I would like to do something. It may not be typically Republican,” Trump told the Democrats, according to the senior Democratic source.

More specifically, he wants to spend us into oblivion.

If you were outraged when Obama did this, but you’re perfectly fine with Trump proposing the very same thing, you are a hypocrite.

Previous Post

April 30, 2019

Trump Family Sues to Keep Financial Records Hidden

Next Post

May 1, 2019 William Barr Will Have to Answer for His Whitewash of the Mueller Report

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, what is the correct order of the first four seals opened by the Lamb?

Select your answer to see how you score.

White horse, red horse, black horse, pale horse Red horse, white horse, pale horse, black horse White horse, black horse, red horse, pale horse Pale horse, red horse, white horse, black horse

Related posts from Susan Wright on the Right