January 23, 2019
Infrastructure
Everyone agrees that we need to spend billions, if not trillions, of dollars on a massive infrastructure program. Roads, bridges, airports, and train service are decaying. Broad-band internet service lags many industrialized countries. I could go on. The political and financial problem is where is the money going to come from to pay for this program? Trump should have made this his top priority rather than focusing on repealing Obama care, and pushing through a huge corporate tax cut. I think many Republicans would agree. We are now living with the fallout. The federal deficit is growing, and the economy is slowing.
It seems to me that some of our most successful companies are the most dependent on public infrastructure. Amazon, like Apple, Google, and Microsoft, is fabulously successful. However, what happens when you order something from a company like Amazon? You place the order over the public internet. A worker, who either drove to work on public roads or took a train or subway to work, packages your order, and puts it on a truck. The truck travels on public highways, probably heading to a public airport. Once it arrives at its destination, it goes back on a truck, which goes back on public roads and over bridges until it gets to your home.
Given this scenario, I think it’s time to roll back the corporate tax cut, and get serious about infrastructure. The corporate tax cut has crowded out all other government initiatives, which is exactly what it was designed to do. Good luck to any company when it has to deal with potholes, unsafe bridges, slow and unreliable train service, and crowded airports.
The Spin Doctor 