Mike Rowe Concerned That Trump’s Trillion Dollar Infrastructure Plan Has Huge Problems [VIDEO]

Mike Rowe Concerned That Trump’s Trillion Dollar Infrastructure Plan Has Huge Problems [VIDEO]

I just love Mike Rowe. He reminds me of my dad, only much younger… but with the same work ethic and common sense. He spoke to Chuck Todd about hard work here in the US. He and I both agree that there should be apprentice programs used for young people. I think they would be much more effective than college. And I’m talking about all fields… from blue collar jobs to accounting to software engineering. Rowe has issues with President Trump’s $1 trillion dollar infrastructure plan. So do I. Lots of them.

“I thought we were gonna have a big infrastructure bill already passed, and we would see an attempt to put some folks back to work,” Chuck Todd asked in the interview. “Are you disappointed we’re not there yet?”

“Yeah, I think I am, a little bit,” Rowe responded, “but I’m not shocked because the thing I noticed about the last administration that actually does have something in common with this one is a kind of, there’s a tendency to talk about job creation as if there’s a giant trained workforce standing by, waiting to fill jobs that get created.”

“I wrote to the last president modestly, right after his inauguration,” he said, “not long after my foundation started just to say, ‘look the idea that 3 million shovel ready jobs are going to be created sounds great, but from what I’ve seen our country does have a bit of a dysfunctional relationship with regard to the shovel.’” That’s where apprenticeships come in. But my other problem with Trump’s infrastructure plan is that we are already broke and don’t have $1 trillion for his plan.

Rowe went on, “So before we say poof, here are the jobs, we need to talk about the aspirational element and the practical reality of whether anybody is standing by to do the work. Today I’m still saying the same thing,” Rowe said, “you know if you’re gonna throw a trillion dollars into infrastructure, it kinda presupposes the idea that you’ve got a trained workforce standing by to do those jobs.” He bluntly pointed out that we don’t. “And that to me,” he added, “is the most interesting disconnect in the whole dialogue.” And it’s dumb… because it’s easily fixable through an apprenticeship program like they do in union work. It’s hands on experience and it is exactly what is needed here.

As Rowe points out, we have a very lopsided workforce because we insist on a college degree for everyone. “6.2 million jobs are available as you and I speak,” Rowe continued, “the vast majority of them do not require a four year degree. So why are we still talking as if the best path for the most people is the most expensive path, it just doesn’t add up.” Rowe also pointed out what I learned growing up in construction… you have to be willing to go where the work is. I know everyone wants to own a home and put down roots, but that is not always for the best.

It’s not realistic that you go to school for four years and a job will just be waiting for you when you get out. It’s also not realistic to demand a job in a specific zip code. Somewhere along the way, we bought into that and it doesn’t work. That’s when a lot of the job situation fell apart. I grew up mobile… we traveled a lot and I had a fantastic childhood. I also came out very strong and a survivor on the other end of my childhood thanks to my father.

President Trump has said that he’s willing to push for a trillion dollar infrastructure bill to help spur job growth and improve roads, bridges and other edifices in the country. Y’all know that isn’t conservative right? It’s more of ‘we have to spend money to make money’. Yes, we should take care of our infrastructure… at the state level. As for jobs, put Mike Rowe at the helm of a nationwide apprenticeship movement and you will see that area boom. I guarantee it.

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at NoisyRoom.net. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - trevorloudon.com. She also does research at KeyWiki.org. You can email Terresa here. NoisyRoom can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.

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