New Dem Slush Fund Proposed – “Infrastructure Bank”
bank must take into account …. “responsible employment practices, use of renewable energy, reduction in carbon emissions, poverty and inequality reduction, training for low-income workers and public health benefits.” – WSJ
[Editor’s note: We wrote about this last year when Obama first brought up the idea in “Obama announces $50+ billion 2012 campaign funding push.”
From The Wall Street Journal
EXCERPTS:
Here’s a novel idea: Have Congress create a “bank” that could borrow huge sums with only a small federal outlay and would be independent of any political interference. If you believe in this miracle, you probably thought Fannie Mae was a private company that wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime.
For the low, low price of $30 billion or so, President Obama says Congress can conjure hundreds of billions in new “grants and loans” to rebuild “roads, bridges, and ports and broadband lines and smart grids.”
This is the Fannie Mae model applied to public works. The new bank would be a government-sponsored enterprise, or GSE, whether or not anyone admits it. The bank would have an implicit subsidy for its debt because it is backed by the government. And the debt it issued would be “off-budget,” which means it wouldn’t show up in annual outlays.
Such an outfit will inevitably be politicized, as similar examples have been all over the world. Japan’s postal bank has been used for decades to finance public works. Japan’s roads and bridges are grand but its economy has grown little in 20 years. Agribanks, regional development banks, Brazil’s BNDES national bank have all become vehicles for the political allocation of credit.
Ms. DeLauro’s bill admits as much, stating that the bank must take into account the “economic, environmental, social benefits and costs” of the projects seeking financial assistance. Among the considerations: responsible employment practices, use of renewable energy, reduction in carbon emissions, poverty and inequality reduction, training for low-income workers and public health benefits.
FULL ARTICLE
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