Steve Baldwin
Beware of the phony "infrastructure" bill. The liberals are lying to you
As we all expected, Biden is moving forth with a massive $2 trillion infrastructure bill and, of course, he is calling for massive new taxes to pay for it. I’m a little astounded that some Republicans and even some “conservatives” utter supportive words of the need for such a bill. First of all, there is not a “infrastructure” crises; rather there is a crises of public agencies not spending the billions of dollars Americans give them in a responsible manner.
For example, Americans already pay billions of dollars in Federal gas taxes to repair and maintain federal highways, freeways and bridges. We pay billions more in various state fees and taxes on gasoline, which is supposedly used to pay for state roads and bridges. The bill mentions railroads but railroads already assess their consumers fees to pay for such improvements. Likewise, we pay billions of dollars in fees to our water and electric companies, so they can pay for improvements in the water system and improvements to the grid.
Moreover, the bill calls for spending billions on “public transportation” but cities and counties already charge us all kinds of taxes and user fees to operate and maintain those systems. And it calls for upgrading airports but Americans already pay billions in “airport taxes” that is factored into every airfare transaction.
Incredibly, the bill will force us to pay for electric car charging stations but this is something that private entrepreneurs will do and are already doing. As electric cars increase, service station owners will add that feature in order to attract people who will spend money on food and drinks while there. And there is no need to spend billions on providing “broadband access” when existing internet and cable companies routinely charge their customers to pay for this.
In fact, the “infrastructure” bill is full of activities that either can and are performed by the private sector or will facilitate a federal takeover into areas traditionally controlled by state and local governments. Essentially, this bill will spend billions of our hard-earned tax dollars to do what we already pay fees and taxes to public agencies to do.
The problem is that government agencies pay top dollar for everything. They create pension plans and pay salaries far more generous than comparable private sector pension plans and salaries. They refuse to privatize jobs and projects even when that will save tons of money. And on and on. If there’s not enough money for infrastructure, it’s because existing government agencies are not run efficiently. Instead of allowing the Federal government even more power over the states and counties, what politicians should be doing is forcing these local public agencies to manage their budgets like a private company would.
And naturally, Biden is lying about the bill. It won’t create “new jobs” as he claims, but will instead crowd out private sector jobs. And it will allow our federal government to become bigger and have more control over our lives. Secondly, much of the bill has little to do with infrastructure. Its pours billions into pet liberal causes such as the bogus “climate change” issue and also eliminates “right to work” laws passed in 27 states, which will force millions of Americans to join a union.