Forget the wall
The president’s focus should be on repairing America’s crumbling bridges and roads.
In another clear sign that the U.S. economy is beginning to falter, more than 6,000 retail stores across America have either closed or likely will close in the coming months, including: Toys R Us, 735 stores; Mattress Firm, 700; Rite Aid, 600; Ann Taylor, 547; and Subway, 500.
The store closings and the stock market’s wild fluctuations in 2018 make it easy to see why some economists think the country is headed for rough waters, possibly including a recession. Last month’s drop in consumer confidence makes sense given that the tax cuts pushed by President Donald Trump were barely felt by people who don’t benefit from stock buybacks.
The government shutdown brought on by Trump’s insistence on spending $5 billion to build a wall on the Mexican border didn’t help. Guess he forgot there’s a ripple effect when hundreds of thousands of federal workers aren’t paid on time. He should talk to some of the business owners in the furloughed workers’ communities.
In fact, the border-wall imbroglio raises a question: Why isn’t Trump as focused on building the U.S. economy as he is on building his wall? Maybe because the economic miracle he brags about isn’t the reality.
Trump made a campaign promise to build the wall, but he also made a promise to fix this country’s crumbling infrastructure and create thousands of jobs that would help boost the economy.
The president apparently has given up on his idea to give tax credits to private investors who agree to participate in a $1.7 trillion infrastructure plan. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, noted rural states like his were unlikely to attract private investment.
Trump needs to come up with another idea “before we get into the silliness of the presidential election year,” as Rep. Peter A. DeFazio put it. The Oregon Democrat, in line to become the next chairman of the Transportation Committee, says the House could pass a bill within six months to spend $500 billion on infrastructure.
That would only be a starting point. The American Society of Civil Engineers, which every four years grades the nation’s infrastructure, says $4.6 trillion in improvements is needed. The nation hasn’t gotten above a D+ grade from the ASCE since 1988, when it received a C for the overall condition of infrastructure ranging from wastewater treatment to schools. Texas got a C- in the ASCE’s last report in 2017.
Among other ideas, the engineers recommend raising the federal motorfuel tax from 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel to put more money in the Highway Trust Fund.
The ASCE also noted that in too many cases Americans aren’t paying rates and fees that reflect the true cost of using, maintaining and improving infrastructure. In other words, we get what we pay for, and what we’ve got isn’t good enough.
Not all economists agree that an infrastructure-improvement program will build a healthier economy. There is no similar disagreement, however, on the need to keep the country from literally falling apart.
It’s been 10 years since a “structurally deficient” bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, killing 13 people. Does a similar tragedy have to occur to move Washington?
Repairing and improving America’s infrastructure is a campaign promise Trump could fulfill with bipartisan support. Democrats want to fix bridges, roads and dams; so do Republicans. If Washington can get past the rancor created by Trump’s border-wall antics and leave the 2020 presidential election out of their calculations, it just might happen.