FIRST PRESS RELEASE

July X, 2024

Dr. Joseph A. Arminio is among those launching The Coalition for the American Infrastructure Bank.

Wilmington Native Seeks Support for a Populist, Pro-America Version of What Some Call a “National Infrastructure Bank.”

Author, publisher, policy analyst and native Delawarean, Dr. Joseph A. Arminio is calling for a multi-state, lobbying effort to persuade Congress to establish a $5-trillion, pro-fossil-fuel American Infrastructure Bank; the Treasury Department would operate the Bank.

“Expanding its duties, the US Treasury should provide a desperately needed infusion of infrastructure loans to worthy projects, at a steeply discounted, below market rate. Without raising taxes, and without borrowing, preexisting capital can be put to stunning effect, for years to come. Every American–rich, middle class and poor–would benefit tremendously. The US GDP would grow at a sustained pace not experienced since the 1950s and 60s. An estimated 25 million good paying jobs would emerge.”

Arminio attended St. Edmond’s Academy and Tower Hill in Wilmington.  He holds a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in political science, with a concentration in national defense policy, from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He worked in the foreign policy arena with the American Enterprise Institute, the Department of Defense and the Government Systems Division of telecommunications giant Sprint.  He founded and chaired the advocacy group National Coalition for Defense, which included several sitting members of Congress and a number of high-ranking, retired officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force and intelligence community.  His second book, The Rise and Fall of the American Way (2007), takes an in-depth look at U.S. domestic and foreign affairs. His award-winning tabloid, The Citizens’ Monitor, covered mostly domestic policy.

“Americans are suffering because of exorbitant increases in the cost of living.  We should repeal the Inflation Reduction Act (2022), which has the opposite of the advertised effect.  

“To tame inflation – and provide millions of good paying jobs – we should establish the American Infrastructure Bank (AIB).

“The AIB would underwrite all the infrastructure projects—roads, bridges, water, schools and waste removal–that the American Society of Civil Engineers have identified as needing repair or expansion; we are talking about $2.5 trillion of unfunded projects and sizeable portions of another $2.5 trillion of partially funded projects. It would fund affordable housing, perhaps to the sum of about $750 billion, and underwrite the deployment of several high-speed rail networks, perhaps to the sum of about $1 trillion. In all instances, the AIB would sustain fossil-fuel use. There would be no underwriting of the fraudulent “climate-change” agenda, as per the foolhardy Inflation Reduction Act.

“With a $5-trillion AIB in place, manufacturing and other production would soar.  This is one of the keys to taming inflation and solving a host of other problems.  The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would boom, jumping from a projected, substandard growth rate of about 1.8%, up to 5%, or a level not experienced for a sustained period of time since the 1950s and 1960s.  There would be no increase in taxes and no borrowing to sustain the Bank.  The public debt load (debt as a share of GDP) would decline sharply.  Federal and state fiscal integrity would be much easier to achieve. The dollar would regain its strength on the world market.

“The way the Federal Government now pays for infrastructure is nonsensical.  It either raises taxes or borrows at unnecessarily high rates from Wall Street, or some mixture of both.  Because all it can do is tax or borrow (and not lend), it can only fund a small fraction of the infrastructure America desperately needs.  Meanwhile, the national debt threatens to destroy us all.

“Where would the AIB, managed by the Treasury Department, get the money to lend and operate? Not by raising taxes and not by borrowing.  Instead, it would “capitalize” already existing government securities (“treasuries”) held by the private sector.  Capitalization involves two steps: first, the Treasury would attract private-sector capital by swapping bank stock for securities, and paying a dividend above and beyond what the security was already paying.  Second, for every $1 it now holds as capital, the Treasury, pursuant to the law, would be able to lend up to $10.  

“Here is an illustration of the operations of the AIB.  The Treasury Department would seek $500 billion in treasuries already held by the private sector. Let’s say a holder of $1 million in treasuries comes forward. This holder received bank stock in exchange for the treasuries. He or she would continue to receive their annual dividend, perhaps $40,000. As a holder of bank stock, he or she is now entitled to an additional $20,000 per year. (The AIB would pay out 2% annually per share of bank stock.)

“Making use of what is called fractional reserve banking, lawful multiplication of capital, the AIB would loan up to 10 times its capital to qualified state and local governments who, in turn, would fund infrastructure projects. Whereas Wall Street might charge 5 or 6% in interest per loan, the AIB would charge 2%. Assuming that the AIB has lent out $5 trillion, it follows that the Treasury would take in, as profit, $100 billion per year. $100 billion compares handsomely to the $10 billion that the AIB would be obligated to pay in dividends to the holders of AIB stock. (2% of $500 billion is $10 billion.) This profit defers operating expenses of the AIB.

“Infrastructure funding is about even more than restoring or expanding infrastructure. It furnishes an incredible, economic stimuli. Based on historical precedents, of the first half of the 19^th century and first half of the 20^th centuries, for every $1 of infrastructure spending, the return would be between $3 and $7!

“The US economy approximates to $28 trillion. It is quite conceivable that the $5-trillion AIB would result in a doubling of the economy in about 10 years. Highly credible estimates foresee the addition of 25 million good paying jobs, as a matter of course.

“Some on the Left have been promoting the “National Infrastructure Bank” (NIB), which suffers from a fatal flaw. The NIB advances the fraudulent climate-change agenda. Like the AIB, the NIB would rely upon the very same financial concept, including the issuing of US Treasury bank stock, and would lend out $5 trillion, most of which would supposedly go to worthy projects. Unlike the AIB, the NIB would boost so-called renewable energy at the expense of fossil fuel. Worse, advocates of the NIB, by the value that they assign to certain projects, massively reinforce the climate-change hoax.

“NIB advocates help legitimize climate-change boondoggles, such as electric vehicles (EVs).  Although they dare not presently propose that the NIB underwrite the conversion to EVs, NIB advocates trot out an estimate of $3 trillion for the conversion as if such a conversion were a dire necessity. Is their plan to win approval for a “palatable” NIB today, and to push for colossal NIB underwriting of destructive, radical environmental projects tomorrow?

“The Coalition for the AIB will expound upon the climate-change hoax as its educational and lobbying efforts unfold.

“The unfolding of the AIB promises very broad appeal. It would benefit liberal, independents and conservatives; it would lift poor and middle class and rich. There is the lucrative bank stock for investors. There is even a benefit for Wall Street; and although Wall Street would not participate in the lending of the aforementioned $5-trillion, it would find ample opportunity, as before, to invest in the rest of the economy. Moreover, this is an economy that would grow anywhere from half again to twice as large in 10 years! Above all, the very rich would continue to be able to enjoy life in the powerfully restored United States.

“Our political goal is to build support for the AIB across party lines.

“One of the keys to reviving America, moreover, to taking the country to yet greater heights, is to establish a truly populist AIB. I ask that Americans support the AIB.”