An infrastructure program is what's needed

On June 25, 2020, after I had submitted my previous letter, the Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court to void the Affordable Care Act. The date for the subsequent presentations has not been specified but expected before the presidential election.

News analysts have noted that there is no “Plan B.” If the ACA were voided, some 20 million more people would be without coverage because the Republican Party has no alternative available.

For those who believe the foregoing is an acceptable situation, I offer my maxim: “You can lead people to information, but you can’t make them think.”

Moving on, I can’t think of a better time than right now to start planning a nationwide infrastructure maintenance and upgrade program.

A harsh fact is that many people have lost their jobs. A harsher fact is that many of those jobs are not coming back, and for those just entering the job market, there really isn’t one to enter. But a well-planned infrastructure program can provide as many jobs as we need, at all economic levels, in numerous specialties and with real possibilities for advancement. It is not, or certainly should not be, a partisan issue.

Note that infrastructure includes “hard” and “soft” elements. The hard infrastructure includes transport-related items, like road and bridges, and what are considered physical elements for essential services such as water treatment facilities, while the soft infrastructure consists of the personnel who operate and maintain the facilities. In short, it is a really big effort.

Some people have bandied about the notion of a guaranteed minimum income. I don’t believe that is consistent with our ethos – maybe in another generation or two. But the infrastructure program would in effect be a guaranteed job plan.

So, let’s get the planning done now and ready to be put into place. Then, as people are able to return to work, those who don’t have a previous job to return to will have a new job waiting for them.

John Terrell