The infrastructure thing

[bruce MN]

Both candidates talked it up. The notion has a lot of appeal. I believe it is being further discussed by the incoming crew just since Tuesday. A jobs and economic activity/GDP creator for sure if undertaken at the magnitude implied. And sorely needed

Tough part: Paying for it. There was a previous opportunity in 2009 and a meager stimulus plan was put into place and had some effect. And there was the pork barrel program after 9-11 that gave thousands of small burgs new fire halls (many used, I'm sure to host rural voters who helped Trump win). But if that "09 stimulus was roundly decried by conservatives (however they were defined in that long ago era) as too costly and wasteful and budget busting what of a multi T new one?

Only going to happen if paid for. By an administration that is going to drastically going to cut taxes? There aren't going to be any Keynesians in the Cabinet or the set of economic advisors. And last time somebody did something like that the Cheney administration started 2 infinitely expensive wars concurrently with upper end tax cuts. The debt fallout from that being laid, of course, on the succeeding administration, even though annual budget deficits dropped considerably during it

Biggest holdback on doing it with borrowed funds is our banker in China. We start applying what they will see to be as reckless monetary policy and TSHTF. If the administration says it is going to.be pay as you go the big bucks crowd goes ballistic. The only possible alternative would then be massive cuts in the military budget, which would get the Militsry Industrial Complex upset to off the charts levels. Not to mention that Mike Pence is in the VP chair for the very purpose of protecting that interest.

The only sensible method is that as proposed by Senator and erstwhile Presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders. An independently bonded "Infrastructure Bank. Good luck with getting that past the Heritage Foundation, the Chamber and the U of Chicago gang.

[bruce MN]

Maybe set it up this way. Probably how the proverbial Autobahn got built:

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/did-the-farm-credit-system-change-americans-thinking...

[BA Deere]

I`ll tell you how to pay for infrastructure, raise the federal fuel tax by 10¢ per gallon.and this is why:  Gas has been 18.4¢ and diesel 24.4¢ for a very long time, what has stayed that stagnant for decades?   And this is "per gallon, not a percentage, it`s been about the same since the 80`s.  We were used to paying $4 for gas now it`s $2 and due to the Bakkens, it looks to stay there for 300 years.  So it`s a no-brainer to raise federal fuel tax by one dime to fix the roads and bridges that have directly and proportionally been wrecked by the use of those fuels and not adequately repaired for 50 years now.

All that damned cheap crap we buy at WallyWorld was hauled there over the roads and millions of miles pounding and not enough fuel tax was taken to fix those roads.....and we brag about the "cheap" shirt we bought there for 5 bucks.   This Big Big Big business that was pushed down our throats has alot of costs that weren`t immediately seen, so it`s high time to fix things and put people back to work doing it!

[AllenJwi]

If they raise the fuel taxes it will just be stolen for some welfare project.  Better think of a better way to fix the roads.

[BA Deere]

That is something to watch to make sure the road fund isn`t raided for other spending or that it isn`t apportioned more heavily towards the urban areas.   But here we see, Trump will be held to these "promises" of infractructure improvement and he will be expected to have a magical wand so it isn`t from raising income taxes.  The only magical wand is to throw it on the national debt...but the Democrat "fact checkers" are going to watch it like a hawk.  The day after 1/20/17 the liberals are all of a sudden going to be very concerned with the debt.

[k-289]

Bruce &  BA - others -  wonder who  the  Trade  Union  will  be  to build ''' The  WALL ''' in the Rio Grande delta ? ?

Is it  considered an      infrastructurererer     PROJECT ?  

[RJG640v8]

first off, turnabout is fairplay............ been going on since the beginning of politics. Deal with it. I would agree that the Lib fact checkers will be watching like a hawk, and will become critical of the money being spent, no different than the Cons. did the day after Obama was sworn in, i don't recall any nashing of teeth when their boy Bush was spending.

 Lowering of the bar again, and so soon for Trump is what I see.

second, all one has to do is look at what the Repub Gov and Repub Legislature did in WI with taking from the Road fund and putting it elsewhere. Nothing new under the sun, just depends whose ox is being gored.

[Canuck_2]

Estimates for the 'WALL' are from $25-40 Billion and how would an investment like that in one little corner of the country help anyone except of course a few contractors.

Paid for out of the Farm Plan I guess since he is going to lower your taxes..............well maybe not I see one of his supporters on here is proposing raising taxes on fuel.

One promise broken? either the WALL or tax cuts.

[bruce MN]

Much more to infrastructure than roads and bridges. Those of us out here where rural electrification was undertaken as a "liberal" project and has been aggressively maintained and improved upon probably don't have a very good frame of reference for the overall precarious state of the power grid. And just how few people have affordable access to reliable internet.

[BA Deere]

The federal fuel tax has been 18¢/gal for 30yrs, what else has stayed the same especially to do with government that long?   Teachers have the same wages they did 30yrs ago?   Meanwhile our roads and bridges have been pounded to rumble, so yes RAISE the FUEL TAX!

I don`t care if my taxes are raised to build a Mexican wall, I don`t care if it is a fly dropping on the national debt...every mexican coming across the border costs this country Billions and eventually Trillions MORE.  You gotta educate their kids a @ $12,000 each kid each year, then when they retire you gotta give `me social security and in the meantime the get welfare because the "jobs Americans won`t do" don`t pay a living wage.  So yeah keep `em out and throw out as many as you can that are here.