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Monday, September 06, 2010

Not Bad

Much better than the warmed over tax cuts I was worried we were going to hear about, Obama is indeed making the turn into jobs via infrastructure. Not yet the Democratic Green Jobs for All Versus Republican Billionaire Bailouts Plan I dream of hearing from Democrats, but not half bad either.

Politico:
Seeking to bolster the sluggish economy, President Barack Obama is using a Labor Day appearance in Milwaukee to announce he will ask Congress for $50 billion to kick off a new infrastructure plan designed to expand and renew the nation’s roads, railways and runways.
The goals, according to the White House: “Rebuild 150,000 miles of roads... Construct and maintain 4,000 miles of rail —- enough to go coast-to-coast... Rehabilitate or reconstruct 150 miles of runway -— while putting in place a NextGen system that will reduce travel time and delays.”

The measures include the “establishment of an Infrastructure Bank to leverage federal dollars and focus on investments of national and regional significance that often fall through the cracks in the current siloed transportation programs," and “the integration of high-speed rail on an equal footing into the surface transportation program.”

“To jumpstart job creation, this long-run policy front-loads — through a $50 billion up-front investment — a significant share of the new infrastructure resources,” the White House said.

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