* Cradled in a Manhattan highrise during the summer of 2015, Donald Trump fired off a tweet. He promised that he would fix our roads, airports and bridges. In rallies across Pennsylvania, he would repeat those promises with guarantees to fix the Turnpike and grow jobs.
* Donald Trump’s plans to improve our nation’s infrastructure are still just a fantasy. Not only has Trump failed to deliver on his promises, but he has actively worked to sabotage the programs that do have success. Nowhere is this more clear than in his annual spending proposals.
* All of these broken promises are part of the same pattern we’ve seen from Donald Trump since the moment he took office. He is far more interested in working for his biggest donors and wealthy friends than working families in Pennsylvania. [His] budget is just another attempt to stick you with the bill.
TIMES LEADER: THEIR VIEW: PRESIDENT IS FAILING NEPA ON INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN
By Nancy Patton Mills
February 22, 2020
Cradled in a Manhattan highrise during the summer of 2015, Donald Trump fired off a tweet.
He promised that he would fix our roads, airports and bridges. In rallies across Pennsylvania, he would repeat those promises with guarantees to fix the Turnpike and grow jobs.
He made those promises because they spoke to workers in Kingston who withstand potholes on the way to work. They spoke to parents Wilkes-Barre whose children attend aging schools. And they spoke to rural communities across Northeastern Pennsylvania that rely on highway access to grow businesses and provide for their families.
But these families are still waiting on Donald Trump to honor his promise.
Two years ago this week, the president convened a meeting with state and local officials from around the country. He outlined his administration’s path forward on our nation’s infrastructure.
Here’s what his “solution” looked like:
• Massively underfunding infrastructure development, and allowing wealthy developers — not our communities — to collect the revenue.
• Enormous cuts to federal funding for infrastructure.
• Passing the cost of rebuilding roads, bridges and airports onto states.
The president, however, failed to inform the public that these bad ideas would be paid for out of your pocket — with higher prices at Pennsylvania toll booths.
Two years later, Donald Trump’s plans to improve our nation’s infrastructure are still just a fantasy. Not only has Trump failed to deliver on his promises, but he has actively worked to sabotage the programs that do have success. Nowhere is this more clear than in his annual spending proposals.
Just this week, he proposed a new budget that would:
• Eliminate a community development grant program that has created jobs, grown small businesses and provided affordable housing for Luzerne County residents.
• Slash funding for Amtrak — which would make congestion worse along the northeast corridor and eliminate bus service for rural Pennsylvanians.
• Gut earned benefits like Medicaid, Medicaid and Social Security and target funding for public education.
All of these broken promises are part of the same pattern we’ve seen from Donald Trump since the moment he took office. He is far more interested in working for his biggest donors and wealthy friends than working families in Pennsylvania. This budget is just another attempt to stick you with the bill.
Wilkes-Barre deserves better. You deserve a president who will deliver on infrastructure. You deserve a leader like Bob Casey, who is committed to fixing our crumbling roads, bridges and airports. Democrats in Congress have proposed their own path forward. The “Moving Forward Framework” unveiled earlier this year includes a large investment that would help grow jobs, make us safer and spur economic activity. It’s a plan to expand rural broadband, repair wastewater systems and improve our transportation network.
Infrastructure is a central part of Democrats’ vision for the country. We are fighting for safe, modern schools, and reliable roads and bridges. Our vision puts the families of Northeastern Pennsylvania first. And we’re doing the work here in Wilkes-Barre — not just firing off tweets from Florida resorts or Manhattan high-rises.
Read the piece here.
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