LAST WEEK IN DC IT WAS INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK.
NOT REALLY,
THEY WANTED IT TO BE, IT WAS COMEY WEEK -- BUT TRUMP WANTED
IT TO BE INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK, HE HAD HIS PLAN FOR INFRASTRUCTURE.
THE WAY THINGS NORMALLY GO ON TYT I WOULD GO THROUGH THAT PLAN
AND MAKE A BUNCH OF GRAPHICS BREAKING DOWN ALL THE SPECIFICS,
THE STATS, THE QUOTES, AND ALL THAT.
I CAN'T DO THAT BECAUSE
THERE IS NO PLAN, THERE ARE NO DETAILS, AND DESPITE THE FACT
THAT THEY WANTED ALL WEEK TO BE NAMED AFTER THIS, WE KNOW ALMOST
NOTHING.
AT LEAST WITH SHARK WEEK THERE ARE MULTIPLE SHOWS
YOU CAN WATCH, THEY ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING.
WE ONLY KNOW ONE
THING ABOUT HIS PLAN, BUT EVEN JUST THAT IS ENOUGH TO KNOW WHAT
THEIR GOAL HERE IS.
>>THAT IT'S GOING TO BE THE BEST PLAN EVER?
>>I HAVE TWO THINGS THEN.
ROBERT REICH HAD AN AWESOME BREAKDOWN
OF THIS.
ONE OF THE INTERESTING DETAILS --
>>THAT'S WEIRD, A PRESIDENT WHO IS SUPPOSEDLY, PRESUMABLY A
WEALTHY DEVELOPER, IS GOING TO GET PROJECTS FOR DEVELOPERS.
THAT'S STRANGE.
>>JUST AS AN ASIDE, ALL THOSE ROADS AND BRIDGES YOU SEEN THAT
REALLY WERE IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE WHEN THEY WERE FIRST BUILT BUT
NOW HAVE FALLEN INTO DISREPAIR -- THEY WERE BUILT BY THE
GOVERNMENT, WEREN'T THEY?
IS NOT LIKE THE GOVERNMENT WILL ALWAYS SCREW IT UP, WE HAVE
ONE OF THE BEST HIGHWAY SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD AND IT WAS
BUILT BY THE GOVERNMENT.
>>THAT WAS WELL AND GOOD BUT LET'S GIVE ERIC TRUMP A CHANCE,
SEE WHAT HE CAN BUILD.
THAT WAS THE GOAL THERE --
>>A CASE COULD BE MADE THAT THEORETICALLY IF THE GOVERNMENT
WAS DOING IT THEMSELVES, TAXPAYERS WOULD BE PAYING FOR
THAT TOO.
SO YOU MIGHT SAY WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IF YOU PAY
THE GOVERNMENT OR YOU PAY THE DEVELOPERS?
WELL, THERE IS A BIG
DIFFERENCE, BECAUSE THE WAY THEY WOULD DO IT --
>>SO RATHER THAN ALL OF US CONTRIBUTING AS A COUNTRY AND
THEN BENEFITING FROM THOSE ROADS AND BRIDGES AND PIPES AND ALL OF
THAT, WE WOULD INSTEAD SUBSIDIZE PRIVATE CONTRACTORS TO BUILD AND
THEN OWN AND THEN FINE AND TOLL YOUR ASS TO THE REST OF TIME.
>>I'M SURE THERE WOULD BE AN OPEN BIDDING PROCESS AS TO WHO
GETS THE JOBS, LIKE THERE ARE WHEN GOVERNMENTS PUT THEM OUT TO
BID.
THIS IS A SCAM, THIS IS ENTIRELY UNTENABLE.
THE NOTION
THAT THEY WOULD THEN BE RESPONSIBLE FOR AND OWN THESE
STRUCTURES IS SO CONTRARY TO THE WAY IT EVER WORKED.
>>BUT IT'S SO CONSISTENT WITH THIS WHOLE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION,
WAS SELLING OF AMERICA, WHICH WE'VE ALWAYS SEEN ON SOME LEVEL,
BUT IT'S SORT OF SO NAKED NOW.
HE'S SELLING THESE PROJECTS TO
HIS BUDDIES, TO HIS BILLIONAIRE CONTRACTOR PALS.
AND AS YOU SEE
THEM LEASING PUBLIC LANDS FOR MINERAL EXPLOITS AND PETROLEUM
DRILLING, THAT'S THE SAME THING.
THE SELLING OF AMERICA.
WAS ALSO
WHERE IT'S NOT BROKEN.
THAT THE OTHER PART.
GOING OFF WHAT YOU
JUST SAID, MARK, WE HAVE BEEN DRIVING OVER THESE BRIDGES AND
GOING THROUGH THESE TUNNELS AND ROADS FOR DECADES, AND GUESS
WHAT?
THEY ARE BREAKING DOWN.
NOT BECAUSE OF HOW THEY WERE
MADE, THEY WERE MADE REALLY WELL.
SO THAT'S WHAT YOU DO
AGAIN, THAT'S THE WAY IT WORKS.
PRIVATIZING IT WILL ONLY GET --
LOOK AT THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL.
AIR SAFETY IN AMERICA IS
EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD.
COMMERCIAL AIR TRAFFIC IS UNBELIEVABLE, THE
WAY THEY WORK.
NOW TRUMP WANTS TO PRIVATIZE IT.
THERE ARE
PROBLEMS WITH IT, BUT THIS GUY THINKS THE PROBLEM IS ONLY
SOLVED BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE RICH AND PRIVATIZING AN
INDUSTRY, THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS TO DO WITH INFRASTRUCTURE, WITH
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS -- IT'S A REFLEX, A KNEE-JERK REACTION.
>>AND AS AN ASIDE, THE MAINTENANCE OF THE ROADS, WHICH
IS REALLY WHAT WE NEED, A LOT OF THIS STUFF JUST NEEDS -- IT'S
DEFERRED MAINTENANCE --
>>DO IT WITH PRIVATE PRISONERS.
>>THERE IS NOT AS MUCH MONEY IN THAT.
NEW CONSTRUCTION IS WHERE THE MONEY IS FOR THESE GUYS.
IT DOESN'T EVEN ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF THIS COUNTRY.
>>MAYBE THERE ARE SOME PLACES WHERE THEORETICALLY THEY COULD
DO SOME SORT OF MAJOR DEVELOPMENT, LIKE I KNOW
AUSTIN'S HIGHWAY SYSTEM SUCKS, IT CAN'T ACCOMMODATE THE NUMBER
OF PEOPLE THERE.
THEORETICALLY MAYBE YOU NEED SOME ADDITIONAL
ROADS.
BUT A LOT OF THESE BRIDGES AND ROADS JUST NEED TO
BE MAINTAINED.
BUT IF YOU HAVE A PRIVATE CONTRACTOR DO IT, THEY
CAN SPEND A LITTLE MONEY -- THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE WORK IS
ALREADY DONE, EXCEPT THEY GET TO TURN IT INTO A TOLL ROAD.
WE'VE
HAD THIS PROBLEM FOR A WHILE IN AMERICA, SOME STATES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS DESPERATELY NEED MONEY SO THEY BOND OUT THESE
ROADS AND STUFF LIKE THAT, GIVE THEM THESE 50, 100-YEAR LEASES
ON THESE PRIVATE ROADS, BUT A LOT OF TIMES IT'S SHORTSIGHTED,
OR IT'S LOCAL OR STATE LEVEL CONSTRUCTION.
BUT IT'S BEEN
HAPHAZARD AND SLOW, IN ONE FELL THROUGH YOU CAN DO THIS TO THE
WHOLE COUNTRY.
HAVE YOU LIVED IN AN AREA WHERE A ROAD HAS BEEN
CONVERTED TO TOLLS?
ITS HORRIBLE.
ESPECIALLY IN
CALIFORNIA WHERE YOU DON'T EVEN PAY, YOU HAVE TO GO TO A
WEBSITE AND PAY LATER ON.
THAT SURRENDERS.
THAT'S A TANGENT, PERHAPS.
>>IT'S NOT A TANGENT BECAUSE WHO GETS THE PENALTY MONEY?
>>THEY WANT YOU TO FORGET SO THEY CHARGE YOU MORE.
>>IT'S PART OF THE SAME KIND OF SCAM EVERYONE IS FALLING FOR.
AND IF PRODUCTIVITY AND PRODUCTION IS ONE OF THE AIMS OF
AMERICA, MAKING IT GREAT AGAIN, WHAT DOES THIS DO?
IT SENDS THE
RICH PEOPLE ON THE ROADS, OR THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO PAY TO GET
OUT OF IT, NOT JUST RICH PEOPLE, ON THE TOLL ROADS, AND THEN THE
TRAFFIC IS COMPLICATED ON ALL OTHER ROADS.
TO THE EXPEDITIOUS
MOVING FROM POINT A TO POINT B IS HARMED, THE PEOPLE ARE MAKING
MONEY.
IT SOUND LIKE A BASIC ARGUMENT, BUT IT'S TRUE.
IT WAS
BORN OUT IN CALIFORNIA THAT TRAFFIC INCREASED ON THE
NON-TOLL ROADS, THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD SEPARATE IT AND MAKE
PEOPLE MOVE FASTER.
IT'S NOT, IT'S A BAD THING.
>>I'M GLAD YOU BROUGHT UP THE CLASS COMPONENT BECAUSE WE CAN'T
MISS THAT.
IF YOU HAVE RAW TAX MONEY PAY FOR THE MAINTENANCE,
THEN THEORETICALLY SOMEONE PAYING MORE FOR TAXES IS PAYING
A GREATER ABSOLUTE AMOUNT OF MONEY.
BUT IF YOU INSTEAD
SUBSIDIZE IT BY EACH INDIVIDUAL HUMAN PAYING EVERY TIME THEY USE
THIS, THAT'S INHERENTLY REGRESSIVE.
AND THE HUGE AMOUNT
OF POOR OR MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICANS WHO HAVE TO USE THOSE
ROADS EVERY DAY JUST TO GET TO WORK AND HOME, THEY WILL BE
PAYING A LARGER PERCENTAGE OF THEIR INCOME THAN HAVING THE
RICH CONTRIBUTE IN THE WAY WE'VE ALWAYS EXPECTED IN AMERICA'S
PAST.