Posted on 04/04/2017 10:38:55 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to cut red tape to speed up approval of infrastructure projects and said his overhaul could top $1 trillion on roads, tunnels and bridges, one of his 2016 election campaign promises.
Trump, a real estate businessman before he was elected, did not provide further details on the amount or where the money would come from.
Trump said building a highway can require dozens of approvals and take 10 to 20 years, a process he vowed to speed up. Trump said he would not fund projects that cannot be started within 90 days.
The administration wants to improve the electrical grid and water systems, rebuild airports, bridges, roads and potentially hospitals for military veterans and broadband.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Union bosses will make out like bandits.
“Didn’t provide any information on where the money would come from”
Where does all government money come from? This yet another stupid reporter sounding out in a quest for relevance. Doesn’t this ignoramus understand that taxpayers are the source of money for any government to run!
if they come in under budget and on time will be something that America has not seen in these past 70 yrs.
If Trump is running the the show likely will be
If it takes years to get a building permit, Trump could be gone before any of this would happen. So obviously they have to streamline the usual processes or its smothered in the cradle.
I have been supportive of this, but I do have some questions.
Aren’t gas tax dollars supposed to fund road improvements? Bridges too?
Don’t the utilities own the electrical grid?
Don’t the utilities own the (natural) gas lines?
Don’t municipalities and the local water utilities own the water pipes?
Folks, I want it very clear what the Feds plan on updating.
Utilities should be upgrading their infrastructure.
Gas tax dollars should be paying for highway upgrades.
Where does this $1 trillion dollar bill come from?
Simple tell the utilities to get to work. They’ve been taking in fees for decades. Those fees were to fund the operation of the business. Infrastructure is a natural cost of the administration of that business.
Get to work.
The idea my tax dollars must be used to DOUBLE PAY for these things rubs me the wrong way.
The roads? Sure spend out gas tax dollars.
The rest, the utilities should take care of.
You make a good point. The trillion dollars isn’t all tax money. Some of it is private money.
The key to unlocking it is in many cases a regulatory thing, clearing EPA hurdles, making a multi-year approval process a mere multi-month process.
If companies know the feds aren’t going to fight them every step of the way, they’ll be more inclined to invest in new pipelines and what-have-you, and get it going now while Trump is still president.
But, you also make a another good point, it looks like they have played games with money that was supposed to be spent on infrastructure, like gas tax money. So again, some of this trillion dollars already exists.
From ten to twenty years for permits to ninety days with Tump! That’s the ticket!
And if President Trump is serious about reducing costs he can get rid of the prevailing wage rates on federal projects.
The Davis Bacon Act maybe had a purpose many years ago, not now.
We do not need to pay sign holders fifty bucks an hour.
Thanks for the note of agreement on a few points there.
I want to be very protective of our national debt, and the possibility it will be increased.
Even if we’re going to bring in new revenues, I want that spent to bring the deficit down.
..and he will get the $$$ from Mexico!
or not.
“If it takes years to get a building permit, Trump could be gone before any of this would happen. So obviously they have to streamline the usual processes or its smothered in the cradle.”
They can do it when they want to. We own a medim-sized commercial office building in Napa, CA that suffered some major damage from the earthquake that took place there three years ago. The city took over an abandoned supermarket, put in facilities for all pertinent city departments, and brought in FEMA, local banks and the SBA. The Planning and Building departments were there on the spot to render decisions regarding the rebuilding process, the SBA gave us a loan in a matter of days (including their survey of the property). They set up local sites for contractors to dump their debris that were free, permit fees were barely the cost of the required paperwork, drawing approvals were while you waited, and building inspectors worked round the clock to facilitate rebuilding.
So we have first-hand experience with how government can behave when they are forced by circumstances to do so. Trump needs to make that kind of government support commonplace and things will get done quickly. The day of the Lazy Bureaucrat needs to end immediately, and interference from ambulance chasing lawyers must stop.
Absolutely agree with the need to eliminate the Prevailing Wage scam. The Blue State politicians [like in Delaware] scream whenever the Republicans suggest tax dollars could be better used than by inflating costs to union level rip-offs.
Some of it is because Federal money comes with strings requiring Prevailing Wage on the jobs.
http://workplace.doli.state.mn.us/prevwage/highway_data.php?region=09
47.44 per hour to hold a flag on the highway in Minnesota.
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