Is Trump's Infrastructure Plan Right?

President Donald Trump launched "infrastructure week" on Monday to promote his push to improve America's infrastructure projects. The president's infrastructure plan includes $200 billion dollars in government spending over 10 years, which is intended to ultimately generate a total of $1 trillion in public and private investment. Speaking in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Trump said, "Our infrastructure program will be based on forging new partnerships and demanding new accountability for every federal taxpayer dollar. Under this vision, the federal government will drastically reduce burdensome regulations and massively streamline approvals and permitting."

Trump stressed the need to overhaul America's infrastructure during his 2016 campaign and has billed that part of his White House agenda as a key opportunity for bipartisanship. "I'm calling on all Democrats and Republicans to join together, if that's possible, in the great rebuilding of America," Trump declared to the crowd gathered near the Ohio River.

However, the president's approach to infrastructure – specifically his embrace of alternatives to government funding – has proved divisive.

Gary Cohn, head of Trump's National Economic Council, told The New York Times last week, "We like the template of not using taxpayer dollars to give taxpayers wins." Regarding the administration's "partnership" method, Cohn explained, "We want to be in the facilitation business, and we're willing to provide capital wherever necessary to help certain infrastructure along."

Congressional Democrats have expressed criticism of the administration's plan as too advantageous to the private sector, though. After the administration released its plan this week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who had initially shown interest working with the president on infrastructure, stated, "A private-sector-driven infrastructure plan means tolls, tolls, tolls – paid by average, working Americans."

"Not only are they not putting serious dollars into infrastructure, they're actually going to do it by selling off to private individuals and private companies on Wall Street the ability to supposedly create this infrastructure investment and these jobs," said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., on Wednesday, as reported by U.S. News' Andrew Soergel. "The problem is, in places like Wisconsin, for the vast majority of our state, we're not going to see a dime, because it's not a profitable enterprise."

So, is Trump taking the right approach to infrastructure? Here's the Debate Club's take.