Topic: Port of Bellingham (206)

How Do You Spell Budget And Disaster Relief?  N…I…B

An off-budget $5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), along the lines of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) that operated between 1932-1957, means low-cost loans and no additions to the deficit.

An off-budget $5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), along the lines of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) that operated between 1932-1957, means low-cost loans and no additions to the deficit.

The wave of natural disasters continues to batter the United States in the form of wildfires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and heat domes. Money to deal with such horrific events is, effectively, no longer possible through the current budget processes at federal, state, county, tribal, port, and city levels. Nor can these government entities deal simultaneously with the chronic crises of housing, homelessness, decaying roads, collapsing bridges, electrical grid failures, lack of broadband service, deteriorating health care systems, outdated water treatment facilities… ad nauseam et ad infinitum.

As I have written about before (see RELATED LINKS below), bold moves must be taken, as was done by Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt with the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) during the worst of the Great Depression era. Even before Hoover and Roosevelt, other presidents, e.g., Washington, Adams, and Lincoln, seized on the idea of a public bank to successfully deal with the crises of their eras.  

“A revitalized Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) can effectively address today’s daunting challenges like it did during the Great Depression and World War II. The RFC rescued thousands of banks, businesses, homes and farms; stabilized the railroads; rebuilt communities after environmental calamities; built bridges, dams and aqueducts across the nation; and brought electricity and appliances to rural America. The RFC accomplished these gigantic feats during the Great Depression through judicious lending, not spending, and returned a profit to the government and its taxpayers while doing so” [ Source: To prevent economic disaster, Congress should resurrect the Great Depression-era RFC]

The means to bring us through the current crises are available, immediately. The $5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bank is, speaking frankly and in the vernacular, a “no-brainer.” HR 4052 (National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2023), with its 42 sponsors, is sitting right in front of Congress. Its passage will bring the necessary fiscal means to repair and replace our infrastructure while building for the future. Support is broad across the nation but more needs to be said through resolutions at the level of state legislatures, county and city councils, and other government entities such as port authorities. Awareness at these levels must come from citizens who inform their representatives of the existence of the legislation and the need for the off-budget infrastructure bank.  

HR 4052 is tantamount to a gift from Santa Claus. But even Santa needs his helpers. We can be helpers by sending a copy of this article (or a link to it) to our representatives at all levels of government, municipal to state to federal.  

Related Links

About Dick Conoboy

Citizen Journalist and Editor • Member since Jan 26, 2008

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How Do You Spell Budget And Disaster Relief?  N…I…B

By Dick ConoboyOn Oct 27, 2024

An off-budget $5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), along the lines of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) that operated between 1932-1957, means low-cost loans and no additions to the deficit.

The Scrap Heap - The Real Message

By David Netboy On Jun 12, 2024

Aggressive citizen involvement carried the day.

5 comments, most recent 4 months ago

All Remaining ABC Scrap Metal Is On Ship

By John ServaisOn Jun 10, 2024

The last of the scrap metal is loaded on the ship and it will be gone from our town.

1 comment, most recent 4 months ago

The $5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bank Is Looking Better Every Day

By Dick ConoboyOn Mar 27, 2024

With such a bank in place, we would likely not be scrambling around and asking Congress for rebuild monies, as we are now with the catastrophic event involving the Francis Scott Key bridge on March 26, 2024.

Scrap metal shipping from Port dock ends this summer

By John ServaisOn Mar 25, 2024

Port of Bellingham commissioners terminate last 13 years of ABC Recycling lease

5 comments, most recent 7 months ago

Three Wise Men?

By Tip JohnsonOn Jan 09, 2024

The Port Commission has decreed that Bellingham’s waterfront will remain a toxic, festering sore

6 comments, most recent 9 months ago

The ABC Recycling Hook

By David Netboy On Dec 26, 2023

We needed a hook, and we think we found it.

13 comments, most recent 9 months ago

Dementors attack the Sehome Neighborhood

By David A. SwansonOn Dec 08, 2023

"Sweet Jesus,” shrieked the thralls of the Sehomus Republic,as ABC the Yochlowitz,successor to GorgoPacificus the Destroyer,...

3 comments, most recent 10 months ago

ABC Recycling Meets the Public

By Guest WriterOn Nov 28, 2023

Tuesday, Dec, 5, will be the first time ABC Recycling has agreed to answer the public. Don’t miss this meeting. Here are the issues.

6 comments, most recent 11 months ago

Memorial Event for Wendy Harris

By Dick ConoboyOn Oct 19, 2023

Wendy was an intrepid voice for the environment and the humane treatment of animals. May her memory be for a blessing.

3 comments, most recent 1 year ago

The Hazards of Metal Shredding near Bellingham: Cancer, Pollution and Fire

By Guest WriterOn Oct 02, 2023

The passage of time alone will not save Bellingham from this dangerous situation. Only strong and persistent action on the part of its citizens will be effective against this menace.

Scrap Metal Pile Includes Many Hazards and Few Benefits

By Guest WriterOn Sep 27, 2023

[Our Guest Writer, Scott Jones, is a Bellingham resident along with his family.  He is President of ...

7 comments, most recent 1 year ago

Renewed Push for a National Infrastructure Bank

By Dick ConoboyOn Jul 28, 2023

This legislation calls for a $5 trillion National Infrastructure Bank that will finance the nation’s infrastructure needs without involving the budget or adding to the national debt.

4 comments, most recent 1 year ago

Define “Mandate”

By David Netboy On Jun 15, 2023

The Port contends it is mandated to increase revenue and jobs for the Port. But just what does that mean?

18 comments, most recent 1 year ago

Restoring Health of Land and Water—Bellingham Style

By David Netboy On Apr 30, 2023

Toxic waste, scrap recycling, jarring noise, and dubious processes on the waterfront: How did this happen?

10 comments, most recent 1 year ago

It Always Comes Back to the Toxic Sludge

By David Netboy On Apr 15, 2023

David Netboy contends “business as usual” is no longer acceptable, and here’s why.

15 comments, most recent 1 year ago

The Other Side of the Scrap Pile

By Doug KarlbergOn Apr 14, 2023

Long-time Port watcher, Doug Karlberg, suggests a different point of view on the waterfront scrap pile.

5 comments, most recent 1 year ago

Port Priorities Subvert Their Own Plan

By David Netboy On Apr 01, 2023

David Netboy writes: So how, exactly, does ABC Scrap Metal “restore the health of the land and water” on our waterfront?

11 comments, most recent 1 year ago

TAGNW Recaptured By Big Telecom

By Jon HumphreyOn Feb 22, 2023

With the loss of Michael Gan, TAGNW has become a puppet organization of big telecom that is aggressively working against the public interest.

4 comments, most recent 1 year ago

The Impression of Progress on F-Street

By Jon HumphreyOn Jan 23, 2023

Public Works successfully gave the impression of progress, without actually having to bother