Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in the Huffington Post.
Want that pothole on your street fixed? What about the rusty bridge you cross every day on the way to work? Want the subway to run on time? Then we need to talk infrastructure.
Specifically, we need to talk about how we pay for it. Word is (President Donald) Trump is weeks away from pushing his so-called “$1 trillion” infrastructure plan to rebuild America, so it’s crucial to get some facts straight before the dog and pony show begins.
First, it very likely won’t actually be $1 trillion. The administration says they’ll offer up $200 billion in federal funding to, as they put it, “leverage” the rest from other sources. What they really mean is cities, counties, and states will have to make up the $800 billion difference. This will make a dire situation even worse, as decades of tax cuts have drained public budgets.