*WALL STREET'S WAND*

PRESIDENT TRUMP has announced the details of his infrastructure plan, and it paints a frightening picture.

At best, it's money-making scam, writes Mary Grant, and adds- At its worst, it endangers our families, communities and the planet.

The plan reads like a to-do list of How to Give Public Land and Water to Wall Street. The end goal : to privatize our local water system and public services so corporations can make a profit.

Meanwhile, everyday people will pay the cost: price increases, a lack of public accountability and a loss of jobs.

Many of our systems were built a hundred years ago [that's not an exaggeration]. But the government has invested less and less into keeping our infrastructure up to date-

Meaning affordable water service rates and undrinkable tap water in places like Flint. Selling our roads, bridges and water systems off to the highest bidder is not the solution.?

The bulk of this agenda is to raise rates and privatize public systems. Water bills would need to skyrocket to Wall Street to profit, leading too unaffordable bills and more and more water shutoffs.

Food & Water Watch has researched the price of privatization : privately owned water systems charge 59 percent more than publicly owned systems.

Already, more than one in ten people nationally are struggling to pay their water bills - and the consequences can be dire.

Water service can be shut-off for nonpayment, leaving families without running water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, bathing, flushing toilets and washing hands.

People can even lose their homes through eviction or tax sales and foreclosures and because of  unpaid water bills.

Trump is setting up people to fail. Maybe he's forgotten : water is a human right.

Federal assistance will not go to places that need the support, but instead, it would be prioritized for wealthier municipalities that can already pay for infrastructure projects.

The only possible reason for this : this is not a plan designed to improve people's lives.
 
The Operational Research in Life and Living continues to Part 2. And The World Students Society thanks author and researcher Mary Grant.