A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working on an infrastructure package to help America’s poorest communities, Breitbart News has learned.
The package, which will sell off government debt assets and split the money between deficit reduction and infrastructure spending, would cost taxpayers nothing–as it would transition wasteful government assets into serving as a revenue-raising tool.
The concept is that the bill, per a draft press release obtained by Breitbart News, “would require the Department of Agriculture to sell their distressed debt assets and the proceeds will be distributed between funding much needed infrastructure projects across the country and further paying down U.S. national debt.” The release draft says:
Currently, federal agencies hold more than $2 trillion in debt and lease asset. The sale of a portion of these assets, if expedited, could raise a significant amount of money. The sale of these fixed-rated debt assets at this time will maximize asset value. Interest rates are on the rise, and the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening program is on the horizon. As interest rates rise, the value of the agency assets will decline — perhaps substantially. Importantly, the sales will not alter the terms of the loans. The consumer protection obligations associated with eligible Department of Agriculture loans and guarantees will convey with the sale, thereby minimizing impact on borrowers.
The group of lawmakers, which will be led on the Republican side by Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Ted Budd (R-NC), will also feature Congressional Black Caucus members among likely others on the Democrat side.
The bill is expected to be introduced imminently, and represents a brand new approach to American politics when it comes to passing big picture legislation through Congress: Instead of starting at the establishment of both parties and working outwards to the fringes for votes, it starts at the polar political opposites of both parties and works inwards. In other words, a group of conservative House members like Kelly and House Freedom Caucus member Budd are working with Black Caucus and other Democrat members on the foundations of a major bigpicture piece of legislation, then taking it to the middle of their parties.
The approach, and coming effort, was featured by Breitbart News earlier this year in a Breitbart News radio special with Republican lobbyist Sammy Geduldig and Democrat lobbyist Michael Williams. Geduldig and Williams, together with other top officials from both the Republican and Democrat sides, have formed a new firm called “United By Interest,” a truly minority-owned firm designed to help the most-in-need Americans, who happen to be in Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, and Freedom Caucus districts.
Geduldig, a former staffer for former House Speaker John Boehner, donates as much as if not more than any GOP lobbyist in town to Republican lawmakers on the hill. Williams, meanwhile, is a former staffer in Bill Clinton’s White House, and has deep connections on the Democratic side of the aisle.
Now their efforts are coming to fruition as legislation with a serious chance of congressional approval is on the brink of introduction.
The bill is likely to take off quickly and get enormous support in the House of Representatives, as sources close to the current leadership team tell Breitbart News that House leadership is likely to be supportive of the effort. It represents a serious attempt at an infrastructure package in an election year, and if the White House ends up throwing its weight behind the bill, it could mean that 2018 could see a major infrastructure package–a high-ranking item on President Trump’s agenda that has yet to be completed.
The bill is expected to be introduced imminently, and more co-sponsors are expected to get involved in the process shortly thereafter.
The creative effort to raise capital for infrastructure and deficit reduction has precedent, too. During his administration back in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan used this method to raise funds to pay for a tax bill.
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