11/7/21: You don’t need to look around for long to understand that all politicians are not alike.
Some think women have the right to choose if they want an abortion. Some, down in Texas, don’t think they do.
Some think grabbing women by the pussy is a perk
of fame. Regardless of party, most men don’t, and don’t.
Let’s start today by comparing Trump and Biden, regarding infrastructure. You may recall that way back on June 4, 2017, President Trump announced that we were all enjoying “Infrastructure Week.”
We just didn’t know it because no infrastructure ever happened while he was leading the country.
On that day, long ago, he announced that he had a $1 trillion plan he wanted Congress to pass, and with nothing better to do on a lazy Saturday, as “Infrastructure Week” drew to a close (June 10), he pulled out his trusty iPhone and tweeted: “America is going to build again. Under budget and ahead of schedule. Time to put #AmericaFirst! #Infrastructure-Week…”
Unfortunately, America never did start
building again while he was in the Oval Office, not “under budget,” or over
budget, or any other budget. And definitely not “ahead of schedule.” The
problem was Trump couldn’t stay on message long
enough to get his plans across to Congress let alone the American people. It
was like having a field mouse in the White House.
 |
Someone gave Trump a big chart to play with. |
It didn’t help that his infrastructure plan had not actually been
released. Kind of like his taxes.
Nor did it help to know that GOP fiscal hawks in Congress, both houses of which they controlled that summer, were as excited about spending $1 trillion on anything new as they would have been about contracting Zika.
And so, it didn’t come to pass. No infrastructure plan was ever approved with Trump as president. Meanwhile, the fiscal hawks chirped contentedly and watched Donald blow the budget anyway. All we had to show for his four years in the White House were massive tax cuts for billionaires.
Yet, as late as April 2020, Trump was still bragging about his infrastructure plans, now grown to $2.2 trillion. All he needed was a second term to work out pesky details. But he promised he had a real plan this time, and that real plan was even bigger than his first real plan. Aides proved it by parking two tractor trailer rigs in front of the White House.
As a reporter for Transport Topics noted at the time – and don’t we all love to read that magazine at bedtime:
As Trump has explained for weeks, a macroeconomic recovery should
include a rebuilding campaign of bridges, tunnels and roadways critical for the
movement of freight via trucks. Significant aspects of the infrastructure
system require repairs. Take for instance a new report by the group
representing road builders which determined that about 46,000 bridges are
structurally deficient.
“We’re working very strongly on an infrastructure package. And if
we could get some Democrat support, we’re going to have a tremendous — you’re
going to have nice roads again, nice, beautiful roads again,” Trump said of
a $2 trillion infrastructure package he proposes to fund through
low-interest borrowing.
Later that day, the president reminded reporters:
“A lot of bridges are in bad shape. They should have been fixed 25 years ago,
and they’re still standing. They have to be fixed. So hopefully we’ll get an
infrastructure bill.”
But he couldn’t.
Trump’s plans fizzled, and he frittered away his days, golfing more than 300 times during his single term as president, tweeting and retweeting more than 50,000 times, and then the field mouse got voted out of office.
“Sleepy Joe” came in, worked tirelessly to bridge divisions, even within his party, got just enough Republican support in Congress to get a real plan – with real details everyone could see and study – passed and signed last Friday. That plan will mean $1.2 trillion in new spending for roads, bridges, railways, airports, power infrastructure, improved broadband access in rural areas and more.
So, that’s one difference
between politicians. With Trump, all we ever got were more potholes.
*
NOW THAT President Biden has an infrastructure plan that has actually passed, we see a third difference. Rejected-President Trump threw a tantrum. If he couldn’t have infrastructure no one could.
“All Republicans who voted for Democrat longevity should be ashamed of themselves, in particular Mitch McConnell, for granting a two month stay which allowed the Democrats time to work things out at our Country’s, and the Republican Party’s, expense!” Trump complained in a Sunday statement.
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