Dan Kildee: “This week, the long-awaited Trump infrastructure plan was finally released. What a disappointment, after coming here a…”

“This week, the long-awaited Trump infrastructure plan was finally released. What a disappointment, after coming here a year ago and promising a $1 trillion plan. Then, in his State of the Union, saying it is going to be even bigger--huge--$1.5 trillion. In the fine print, however, $1.3 trillion of the $1.5 trillion comes from communities like my hometown of Flint, Michigan. Now, let's be clear. If States and local communities had an extra $1.3 trillion laying around, they would be servicing those roads and bridges. They would be rebuilding their water systems. They would be doing this work already. If we are going to have a Federal infrastructure plan, we need to have a Federal infrastructure plan that is really investment and not just checking the box so that the President can say he submitted a big, bold infrastructure plan. Well, it is not big and bold, from the Federal Government's point of view. The $200 billion investment from the Federal Government, offset by a $170 billion reduction, boils down to $3 billion a year over 10 years. That is not big. That is not bold. That won't fix the roads and bridges in this country. ____________________”