On a recent trip to Florida, President Obama highlighted proposals to help boost investment in the infrastructure in the U.S, which is designed to show he is still focused on the U.S. economy amidst battles over other policy items in Washington.
Obama’s speech in Miami and his tour of the new tunnel project in the Port of Miami was aimed at urging members of Congress to support proposals that could leverage dollars from taxpayers into funds that would help rebuild roads, bridges and other infrastructure in the U.S.
Obama stressed that his main message was to get things done and rebuild the country we all love.
The president said, as he did in the past, he wanted a national infrastructure bank developed and capitalized with $10 billion. His idea is to attract funding from the private sector and pick different projects passed on their merit.
Obama wants to also create the “America Fast Forward Bonds,” which would help local and state governments attract private money for their own projects related to infrastructure.
The bonds would be direct subsidy in which the one who issues them would receive a subsidy of 28% of the cost of borrowing to attract a broader set of possible investors.
Obama would also add more than $4 billion to support two additional programs used to provide infrastructure project grants like the tunnel to the Miami port.
What is unclear is how far the new proposals will make it in Congress. Republican leaders have shown reluctance to support what they claim is government stimulus spending following the much criticized stimulus plan of $787 billion Obama pushed through Capitol Hill back in 2009.
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