Obama unveils $50-billion plan

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled plans on Monday to spend at least $50 billion to expand and renew U.S. roads, railways and airports, in a fresh bid to fire up sluggish economic growth.

Mr. Obama, under intense pressure over a sputtering economy ahead of November's mid-term congressional elections, in which his Democrats fear heavy losses, was set to formally announce the new funding in a speech in Wisconsin.

The White House hopes to win quick passage of the $50-billion measure, which would be the “front-loaded” first part of a broader measure to reauthorise transportation funding over the coming six years. A senior White House official said the new projects would be funded, without increasing the deficit, by ending various tax breaks for oil and gas companies.

The $50-billion plan, to be announced at the Milwaukee Laborfest, a union gathering, also targets improvements to the U.S. air traffic control system, an acceleration of high-speed rail projects, and establishes an “Infrastructure Bank” to coordinate federal funding and planning for projects.

It calls for the rebuilding or restoring of 240,000 km of roads; adding 6,400 km of rail and renewing 240 km of runway. Critics have long complained that the US highway system is crumbling and suffers from underinvestment, so Mr. Obama will target modernisations that could quickly employ jobless workers while improving the U.S. transportation backbone. — AFP