President Trump’s impetuousness and his simplistic view of American interests have again put national security at risk. He has taken sides with Saudi Arabia and four other Sunni states in their attempt to isolate and bully Qatar, the tiny gulf nation that is arguably America’s most important military outpost in the region.
.. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen chose to cut ties to Qatar for a number of reasons .. principally because Qatar has a relatively close relationship with the Sunni states’ greatest rival, Shiite Iran.
.. even if his goal is to isolate Iran, allying with Saudi Arabia to punish Qatar is a self-defeating way to go about it: Qatar is home to the forward headquarters of the United States Central Command and is a major intelligence hub. It hosts Al Udeid Air Base, with more than 11,000 U.S. and coalition forces.
There is no sign that Mr. Trump has actually thought any of this through.
.. It is true that Qatar, like Saudi Arabia, can be a troublesome partner, but Saudi Arabia’s complaint about Qatar and terrorism is hypocritical. Qatar has long been accused of funneling arms and money to radical groups in Syria, Libya and other Arab countries. But so has Saudi Arabia
.. Qatar has a reason to work with Iran: They share a large natural gas field in the Persian Gulf. At the same time, Qatar is helping a Saudi-led coalition fight the Iranian-linked Houthi rebels in Yemen, and backing insurgents fighting an Iranian ally, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
.. Even the $110 billion weapons package he signed in Riyadh turned out to be fantasy, a collection of letters of interest or intent, not contracts, all begun during the Obama administration
.. Legislation blocking this deal is working its way through Congress. At a minimum, lawmakers should refuse to resupply the Saudis with precision-guided munitions that are killing civilians in Yemen and implicating America in the process. Even better would be to hold up the package until the Saudis enter into serious negotiations on Yemen and resolve their differences with Qatar.
Private Funding Is Key Challenge of Trump Infrastructure Plan
Effort reflects the difficulty of coming up with taxpayer dollars in era of constrained budgeting; administration has released few details
President Donald Trump’s proposed infusion of funding for infrastructure turns on a critical question: how the administration will get private investors to put up most of the money... Mr. Trump’s advisers say they can get private investors to flock to put up the capital for such projects by curtailing permitting requirements and regulations, and by offering incentives to states and cities to turn to the private sector for financing... it plans to encourage cities and towns to raise fees—like roadway tolls or water-usage charges—that will provide the revenue streams for private-equity investors... The municipal bond market remains a more attractive source of funding to many state and local officials needing funding for major projects, Ms. Crebo-Rediker said, and many local governments lack expertise in how to structure public-private partnership deals...finding money for projects isn’t the problem; it is the dearth of attractive investments... Blackstone Group LP last month disclosed that Saudi Arabia has agreed to invest $20 billion in an infrastructure fund that the New York firm hopes will reach $40 billion and have spending power of as much as $100 billion once debt is added... while the administration says it will devote $200 billion more to infrastructure over the coming 10 years, the department is also cutting funding to existing programs that support major projects.
Trump Sides With Saudis, Other Gulf States in Rift With Qatar
Mr. Trump said in Twitter messages Tuesday that Gulf Arab leaders cited Qatar as a source of funding for extremism during his trip to the region last month, before a diplomatic rupture this week that holds implications for regional cooperation.
He tweeted: “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!”
America’s Great Working-Class Colleges
The new data shows, for example, that the City University of New York system propelled almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all eight Ivy League campuses, plus Duke, M.I.T. ..
.. State funding for higher education has plummeted. It’s down 18 percent per student, adjusted for inflation, since 2008, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The financial crisis pinched state budgets, and facing a pinch, some states decided education wasn’t a top priority.
.. Change in per-student funding of higher education in the 15 largest states, 2008–2016