An Empty Plan
President Trump’s long-awaited infrastructure plan turned out to be . . . nothing really worth the wait. It’s not so much bad as empty.
To be fair, with Uncle Sam gushing red ink, it’s hard to justify massive new federal outlays for the nation’s roads, bridges and mass transit. But this leaves Trump’s “$1.5 trillion,” 10-year infrastructure plan actually calling for just $20 billion a year, on average, in new funding from Washington — with states and the private sector expected to pony up the rest. And the “new” federal funds are offset by
cuts in infrastructure spending in the president’s $4.4 trillion operating budget, also released Monday.
The good news here is that Trump isn’t going to hand the country another con like President Barack Obama’s $1 trillion stimulus. That was sold as aiming mainly to fix infrastructure — but instead wound up chiefly helping states avoid government-worker layoffs, as well as future failures like solarpanel maker Solyndra.
And America’s highways and bridges may actually be in better-than-advertised condition. A recent Reuters analysis, for example, found that only 2 percent of bridges in America with at least 200,000 vehicle crossings a day — i.e., fewer than 20 — need significant repairs.
That doesn’t mean no project deserves aid. In New York, the 108-year-old crossHudson rail tunnel, the only way into Manhattan from Jersey for Amtrak and commuter trains, is on its last legs. Yet it’s a key link for the entire Northeast Corridor. Not only is federal aid warranted; without it, a new tunnel seems unaffordable.
Now the metro area, which relies heavily on that tunnel, has to hope its elected officials in DC — especially Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — can swing some deal for the funds, even if that means making concessions to Trump, instead of #resisting him on everything.
Hey, the White House calls the plan just “the start of a negotiation” and not “a take it or leave it” deal. So: Are New York and New Jersey leaders willing to negotiate — or would they rather just whine?