Smoky Mountain Journal -President Trump Calling For $1.5T Budget To Fix America's Infrastructure




The Great Smoky Mountain Journal Source: Fox News Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:32 PM

President Trump Calling For $1.5T Budget To Fix America's Infrastructure
President Trump is calling to pump $1.5 trillion into fixing America’s infrastructure while streamlining the often-cumbersome permitting process, as part of a $4 trillion budget plan being unveiled Monday. In the runup to the budget release, the president tweeted: "This will be a big week for Infrastructure. After so stupidly spending $7 trillion in the Middle East, it is now time to start investing in OUR Country!" This will be a big week for Infrastructure. After so stupidly spending $7 trillion in the Middle East, it is now time to start investing in OUR Country! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2018 Unlike last year’s plan, the fiscal 2019 blueprint does not seek to balance the budget over the next decade. Combined with a newly passed spending deal and sweeping tax cuts, the budget would see the federal deficit once again rising past $1 trillion in the near-term. The infrastructure component, however, would not necessarily be a huge driver of Washington’s red ink. Doing so, officials said, would remove “duplicative” elements that currently lead to second-guessing, delays and other problems when multiple agencies weigh in on the same decision. The president, in remarks last week to Republican lawmakers at a West Virginia retreat, emphasized efforts to "streamline the horrible approval process — roadways that take 12, 13, 14 years to get approved." "We used to build them in three months, and now it takes years and years of approvals. We're going to bring that down, ideally, to one year. Two years is our goal, but one year is our real goal," Trump said. Early reaction to the proposal was divided. Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, saluted Trump "for providing the leadership we have desperately needed to reclaim our rightful place as global leader on true 21st-century infrastructure." But a number of Democrats and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have pushed the administration to commit far more federal dollars, funded by tax increases, or by closing tax loopholes. And environmental groups expressed worry about its impact. "President Trump's infrastructure proposal is a disaster," said Shelley Poticha, of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Trump has repeatedly blamed the "crumbling" state of the nation's roads and highways for preventing the American economy from reaching its full potential. Many in Washington believe that Trump should have begun his term a year ago with an infrastructure push, one that could have garnered bipartisan support or, at minimum, placed Democrats in a bind for opposing a popular political measure. On top of the infrastructure push, Trump also will ask for a $13 billion increase over two years for opioid prevention, treatment and long-term recovery. A request of $23 billion for border security, including $18 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and money for more detention beds for detained immigrants, is part of the budget, too. Trump would again spare Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare as he promised during the 2016 campaign. But Trump officials stress that they’re still working to balance the budget. "The budget does bend the trajectory down, it does move us back towards balance. It does get us away from trillion-dollar deficits," budget office head Mick Mulvaney said on "Fox News Sunday." Fox News’ Samuel Chamberlain and Jennifer Bowman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.