Nationwide Smart Infrastructure: Part I
The United States must invest $20 Trillion in Nationwide Smart Infrastructure for the next 10 years, $2 Trillion per year, to compete globally, especially against China. President Biden's $2.25 Trillion Infrastructure Budget is a non-starter and should be shelved immediately. It's too little too late to give the United States any advantage in the current fierce global competition for Technological Dominance and National Development. So, why are We Americans not investing in Smart Infrastructure Nationwide? How to pay for it, and that's easy. We do not need taxation to fund the $20 Trillion Nationwide Smart Infrastructure, and no law or statute in the United States Constitution compels the United States Congress to use Taxation for the funding. Besides, the $20 Trillion has no impact on the phony and completely useless but very deadly Federal Government Budget Deficit, and its totally irrelevant and meaningless but extremely dangerous companion, the Federal Government Debt, falsely and fraudulently touted as our National Debt. These will all be addressed fully in the Four Part Series of the Nationwide Smart Infrastructure.
Introduction
These four-Part Nationwide Smart Infrastructure Series start with this Part I, and the following are the titles of all four Parts:
Part I: Why not $1? Why waste $600 Billion to $800 Billion or worse, $1 Trillion of Tax Payers' Money for Infrastructure?
Part II: What Exactly is Infrastructure and What types do we Americans need and Why?
Part III: Why are We Americans still confused about Money, Circulation of Money, the useless and meaningless but deadly Federal Government Budget Deficit and the equally deadly Federal Government Debt falsely and fraudulently touted as our National Debt?
Part IV. Why We must and How We can Fund a $20 Trillion Nationwide Smart Infrastructure within the next 10 Years, without Taxation.
Part I
Why not $1? Why waste $600 Billion to $800 Billion or worse, $1 Trillion of Tax Payers' Money for Infrastructure?
Yes, why not $1. With $1 or less "We the People of the United States" can all go back to our original Human Infrastructure, the Tree, to hide from the marauding Wild Animals intent on eating us, hoping that there are no deadly Snakes on the Tree. What is wrong with that? Why waste Tax Payers' precious $600 billion to $800 Billion or even worse, $1 Trillion? "We the People of the United States" do not even need the next Human Infrastructure after the Tree, the Cave, because it will cost more than $1. Thus, our fellow American-Citizen-Political Actors, hiding under the color of Congress as Senators and House Reps., should start debating whether we Americans can afford the Tree, which is less than $1 or the Cave which is slightly more than $1. By racing to the Financial Bottom of a Total Budget of $1 or a little bit more, there would be no more argument about Bipartisanship, Filibuster and Cloture, and/or Byrd Rule.
When Congress has decided on either the Tree or the Cave, the Senators and House Reps. can inform us, the non-existent or maybe insignificant, powerless and passive American-Citizen-non-Political Actors, of their decision - the Tree or the Cave for $1 or a little bit more. It's all about Politics and Money, isn't it? Yes, Politics and Money. Hiding under the color of Government or more specifically Congress, our fellow American-Citizen-Political Actors, We the American-Citizen-non-Political Actors, voted into office to lead us, do not care about our opinions on the Infrastructure. Indeed, without even asking us and getting our consent, they have decided to drag us back into the Stone Age Infrastructure of Caves or even the original Trees, just because they value Politics or Political Ideological Fights, and Money more than the Lives of "We the non-Political People of the United States".
The following 5/21/2021 headline in the Hill depict the contentious issues We the People of the United States are facing: https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/554901-how-to-build-back-better-with-public-private-partnerships.
Senate Republicans said there are “vast differences” between them and senior White House officials over how much to spend on a new infrastructure package and how to pay for it, leaving little hope of a bipartisan deal anytime soon.
White House officials presented to the Senate Republicans a $1.7 trillion infrastructure spending plan, which represents a $550 billion reduction to President Biden’s $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan.
That offer fell flat with Capito and other Republicans.
The following 5/26/2021 headline on ABCNews further shows the contentious issues We the People of the United States are facing: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republicans-plan-send-biden-infrastructure-counteroffer-worth-trillion/story?id=77897431.
Senate Republicans intend to send President Joe Biden a nearly $1 trillion counter-proposal on infrastructure spending Thursday, the latest attempt to make progress toward a bipartisan compromise just days before the president's deadline.
There are still disagreements about how much the bill should cost, how it should be funded and what ought to be considered infrastructure.
Talks stalled Friday after Republicans flatly rejected a $1.7 trillion offer from the White House, a pared down version of Biden's American Jobs Plan, initially valued at $2.2 trillion. Republicans opposed the overall price of the White House package, but also rejected the proposed White House funding mechanism.
Negotiators have been locked in a stalemate for weeks over how to fund the massive package, with Republicans refusing tax hikes on corporations, which they say as a referendum on the 2017 tax bill, and Democrats refusing to consider using user fees, such as tolls or a gas tax, to pay for the package.
The new Republican offer relies on neither, Wicker said. Instead, it will propose that unused funds already approved by Congress -- for example, those allocated in the multiple COVID-19 relief packages -- be repurposed for infrastructure.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki threw cold water on Wicker's proposal at a briefing Tuesday, specifically his vow not to touch the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
"We're waiting to hear that -- hear back from Republicans on how they would propose to pay for it," Psaki said. "So if they don't want to touch the 2017 tax cuts, $2 trillion tax cuts that did not end up having a windfall back to the American public, I guess that's their choice what they put in their proposal, but they have to propose an alternative."
The following 5/27/2021 headline in the Hill describes the still continuous contentious issues We the People of the United States are facing: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/555700-senate-republicans-pitch-928-billion-infrastructure-offer
Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a $928 billion infrastructure proposal that includes $506 billion for roads, bridges and major projects and $98 billion for public transit systems.
The latest offer is substantially more than the $568 billion infrastructure framework the group led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) introduced in April, but it’s still far short of the $1.7 trillion counteroffer that White House officials came back with last week.
Where are "We the (insignificant) People of the United States" in this Infrastructure Dialog? Do We the People of the United States have any say in the Infrastructure that affects and would continue affecting our lives for decades. Of course not. This aside, the following are our other problems as succinctly stated by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) on January 12, 2021: https://www.asce.org/templates/press-release-detail.aspx?id=39801
Infrastructure inadequacies will stifle U.S. economic growth, cost each American household $3,300 a year, cause the loss of $10 trillion in GDP and lead to a decline of more than $23 trillion in business productivity cumulatively over the next two decades if the U.S. does not close a growing gap in the investments needed for bridges, roads, airports, power grid, water supplies and more, according to a new economic study released today.
Major sectors like manufacturing, health care, housing, food services, recreation and more would also be harmed, the study said. The study finds that U.S. manufacturers are especially vulnerable to underinvestment because the production of goods - such as cars, chemicals, foods and metals - requires energy, water, transportation systems and ports for those of goods being shipped, including to international markets. If the infrastructure investment gap is not closed , the report says U.S. exports will be reduced by $2.4 trillion and the country will lose $4 trillion in trade, which will lead to the national trade deficit to balloon by $626 billion by 2039.
Jobs losses nationally will amount to 3 million jobs in 2039. The report estimates that about 47% of the jobs lost in 2039 will be in high wage and high production jobs including manufacturing, finance, insurance and real estate, professional services and healthcare.
"America's infrastructure bill is overdue, and we have been ignoring it for years," said Tom Smith, ASCE Executive Director. "There's no better way to jumpstart the economy, while also lessening the financial burden on businesses and families, than by making a down payment on our infrastructure now - transit systems, bridges, water treatment plants, and the grid - to ensure these systems are sustainable, resilient and safe for communities across the nation."
Between now and 2039, the ASCE report estimates that nearly $13 trillion is needed across 11 infrastructure areas: highways, bridges, rail, transit, drinking water, stormwater, wastewater, electricity, airports, seaports and inland waterways. With planned investments in infrastructure currently totaling $7.3 trillion, that leaves a $5.6 trillion investment gap by 2039.
On one hand, ASCE is informing us that "Infrastructure inadequacies will stifle U.S. economic growth, cost each American household $3,300 a year, cause the loss of $10 trillion in GDP and lead to a decline of more than $23 trillion in business productivity cumulatively over the next two decades", and on the other hand, our fellow American-Citizen Political Actors in Congress, especially the Senate Republicans are telling us that there are “vast differences” between them and senior White House officials over how much to spend on a new infrastructure package and how to pay for it, leaving little hope of a bipartisan deal anytime soon. So, the argument of financial race to the bottom continues while our dilapidating Infrastructure crumbles, and We the People of the United States are paying and continue to pay the costly price of the Politics of our collapsing Infrastructure.
Ironically, ASCE emphatically states that the United States must fork out additional $5.6 trillion between now and 2039 to fill the investment gap for our old Infrastructure to be sound enough for us to compete globally. This $5.6 Trillion does no include our sorely needed $15 Trillion New and Smart Infrastructure (encompassing Smart Digital Twin Cities and Rural Communities) for the next 10 years, that would make the United States more competitive globally, especially against China. So, what's going on? Do we Americans want to compete globally or keep fighting over irrelevant Politics and Ideologies over nothing?
When a Society values Politics and Ideologies more than Real Visionary Governance, with a Purpose, that Society is dead. In his September 17, 1796 Farewell Address, the first President of the United States, George Washington warned us Americans that a few bad apples among us will try to supplant the actual will of the people with their own. If We the people of the United States let them, Washington said, “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.” Continuing, he emphasized that, “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism,” "........... “But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.” This is exactly what is happening in the United States currently, and We Americans, especially our American Political Actors, our New Divine Rulers, are not heeding the warning of Washington, but careening towards permanent despotism.
Furthermore, when a Society values Money, an intrinsically valueless artifact or electronic number that has value only at the point of transactional exchange, more than the Real Wealth of Life, Happiness, Love, Harmony, Peace, Security, Family, Community, and Smart Infrastructure {Transport Systems (Roads, Bridges, Airports, Bullet Trains, etc), Communication Systems and Energy Systems}upon which we play our individual and collective parts in the Cosmic Game of Life, that Society is Dead. Money is not Wealth, never has been and never will be, and it's not that important. So, why are our fellow American-Citizen Political Actors hiding under the color of Government, always fighting over the totally irrelevant and intrinsically valueless artifact or electronic number called Money, while destroying our lives?
And even worse, the political fight has spilled into the meaning of Infrastructure, as explicitly expressed in the Hill on 5/21/2021, by Kelley Moore, Senator Capito's Spokesperson: https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/554901-how-to-build-back-better-with-public-private-partnerships.
“There continue to be vast differences between the White House and Senate Republicans when it comes to the definition of infrastructure, the magnitude of proposed spending, and how to pay for it,” said Kelley Moore, a spokeswoman for Capito.
Having an Infrastructure of the Tree, the Cave or the most modern Mansion, or Transport by "Footron" on footpaths or the most modern Maglev Hyperloop on Magnetic Rails is a collective choice by a particular Society and not an accident. So, What Exactly is Infrastructure and What types do we Americans need and Why? That's Part II of the Nationwide Smart Infrastructure Series, which follows next, but we must start designing and building our $20 Trillion Nationwide Smart Infrastructure NOW. Time is no longer on our side, and China will eat our Lunch with President Biden's puny $2.25 Trillion Infrastructure Budget, a non-starter.
Bright Harry is the author off America, Wake Up!, where he debunks the Federal Government Budget Deficit and National Debt as mere illusions, albeit extremely deadly ones, with facts, logic, mathematics and history. He succinctly describes what the Real National Deficit is - a shortfall in the money in circulation and in the hands of American Citizens compared to the Wealth of Goods and Services we have already Produced.
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