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President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral coalition represents a political realignment that should be a wake up call to both parties’ previously held understanding of their constituencies, and what they expect from their leaders.

Above all the demographics usually cited in campaign autopsies, we believe class might offer the most complete and actionable understanding of today’s political phenomenon.

Of the 100 poorest counties in America, Trump won 82 of them. Of the 20 poorest counties, Trump won 19.

Compare this to him winning seven of the top 20 wealthiest counties in America and it becomes crystal clear that this isn’t your father’s Republican Party anymore. Consider this: 20 years ago, George W. Bush won only four the 20 poorest counties in America.

(Courtesy of United By Interest)

With the election in the rearview mirror, it is now time to take the power of this coalition from the ballot box to congressional committee rooms.

Trust in both parties has never been lower and Americans have longed for bipartisanship when it puts the country’s interests over party. That was why we founded United By Interest eight years ago, with its sole mission to find bipartisan solutions that align the poorest Republican and Democratic constituencies around stimulative economic solutions and beating back regressive policy prescriptions that harm America’s most vulnerable voters.

Politics is all about incentives. And for the first time in a long time, the policy and political incentives are more aligned than they diverge.

We suggest a proposal to help achieve this worthy goal.

It is called the Generating American Infrastructure and Income Now (the GAIIN Act), and it would harness a one-time sale of distressed government debt assets to fund deficit reduction and infrastructure projects in America’s poorest communities.

Today, many federal agencies offer direct loan programs which total over $1.8 trillion. Issuing these debts may have started as a prudent incentive to kickstart positive economic behavior, but holding onto and servicing this volume of loans is not only an inefficient use of government resources, but it’s also a risk for the taxpayer. The 2023 U.S. budget notes that $87.5 billion of these loans are distressed.

An efficient government should be focused on policy outcomes, not servicing financial instruments or writing off bad loans.

Following a precedent set in 1986 under President Ronald Reagan to help pay for budget shortfalls from tax reform, selling these distressed government debts would generate substantial revenue for the government — which is needed in time of ballooning national debt. As such, half of the proceeds would go to reducing the national debt.

But we know that we cannot just cut our way out of the debt crisis. Growth is powerful tool to increase government revenue. To promote economic activity, particularly in poorer communities that have been overlooked by capital markets, the second half of the sale proceeds would directly fund needed infrastructure projects in the poorest congressional districts. Such investment has the benefit of creating a significant multiplier effect for the whole economy.

According to the Manufacturing Institute, every dollar in final sales of manufactured products supports $1.33 in outputs from other sectors — the largest multiplier of any sector.

When we say infrastructure, we mean real projects that move dirt and bend metal. Projects that create jobs immediately, not only until contractors meet extraneous child care or environmental thresholds.

We are talking about projects these communities need today — whether that is clean water, public transportation, or housing. Not nice-to-haves, but must-haves. Projects that will create jobs and greatly improve the citizen experience.

Whether it was at his rally in the Bronx or his visit to East Palestine, Ohio, Trump resonated with the Americans that have been left behind. And given Trump’s early actions as president-elect, it seems equally apparent that a foundation is being set to address the challenges of these Americans.

This was not a status-quo election. And it cannot be a status-quo government. The GAIIN Act is a revolutionary idea to bring the poorest communities back to the table.

Sam Geduldig is a Managing Partner at CGCN, a Republican lobbying firm; and Mike Williams is the Founder and President of The Williams Group, a Democratic lobbying firm. They are both cofounders of United By Interest, a bipartisan majority-minority owned public affairs firm.