Trump’s latest blow-up proves that his infrastructure “plan” was never a serious one

When Donald Trump was campaigning for president, he promised a $2 trillion infrastructure plan to create jobs and shore-up decaying roads and bridges, the conditions of which the American Society of Civil Engineers has given a grade of D+ and would cost (surprise) $2 trillion to fix; Trump would never come up with anything on his own if it actually made any sense. As one might recall, when he became president, Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled congress—to the intense opposition of Republicans who were more interested in preventing an Obama policy “victory” than with the welfare of the American people—passed a $700 billion economic stimulus  bill that included “just” $111 billion for infrastructure. Only three moderate Republicans in the Senate voted for the bill during the height of the “Great Recession.” But as we have seen repeatedly, Trump’s own infrastructure “plan” has never gotten off the ground, largely because the Republicans in control of Congress his first two years were simply not interested. They passed their tax cut bill that largely benefited corporations and the already well-off, and then  called it a day. 

The lack of seriousness about an infrastructure bill, and merely using it as a political prop, was made plain when Trump held a press conference ostensibly about infrastructure, but almost immediately pivoted into his controversial Charlottesville comments about “fine people,” completely overshadowing what little he had to say about the original topic, soon to be forgotten. Trump has on occasion brought up the topic at his early campaign rallies, but unlike those of Obama which were largely spent to pitch policy initiatives in a rational manner, Trump’s only seems to be interested in throwing red meat—mostly in the form of misinformation and lies—to his faithful fanatics who just want their voices to be “heard.” Mention of “infrastructure” is just more talk and no action, and his supporters couldn’t care less. 

Democrats, of course, support an infrastructure plan because it fits into their own political program, and at least the leadership wants to make a show of “working” with Trump on something that benefits voters. But Trump is not interested in “benefitting” anyone but himself and his “brand”; if anyone benefits who actually needs “benefitting,” that is entirely accidental. His repeated misrepresentations and outright lies about all things that he has “accomplished” as president and his refusal to be “transparent” in his internal policy and financial dealings demonstrates his extreme paranoia, something he shares with Richard Nixon. Such paranoia has created problems of Trump’s own making; no one in their right mind should trust Trump or his principle aiders and abettors with making policy decisions that are based on reasoned examination of the facts, but only those based on  paranoid instincts. 

Thus it should have come as no surprise to any party that the infrastructure meeting the other day between the Democratic leadership and Trump was a trap to force House Democrats to end their investigations of Trump. Infrastructure has been from the start more smoke and mirrors than a serious policy proposal, given the fact that Republican lawmakers themselves when they controlled Congress never discussed or put forward even the barest of bones of a proposal. The Trump administration itself has never provided anything more than a few “ideas” of what an infrastructure plan would like that, only some regulation changes. If there was any “seriousness” to an infrastructure proposal, Trump wouldn’t be using it as a bargaining chip to conceal his crimes; thus Trump’s infrastructure rhetoric should be taken as it is: as rotten in its foundation as many of the nation’s bridges and dams.