Infrastructure – the Biden Plan
Biden proposes nearly $2 trillion for the nation’s infrastructure: $621 billion for transportation, $650 billion for water, homes, schools and broadband, $400 billion for care at home for the disabled and elderly, and $300 billion for research, development and manufacturing. It would be paid for by increasing the tax rates on corporations and closing loopholes that encourage offshoring of jobs and profits.
All I can say is that it’s about time. Trump talked about it and did nothing. Obama’s proposals were rejected by Republican legislative leaders. When you travel the world, you are struck at how poorly we maintain our roads and bridges, internet and cell phone services, trains and airports, harbors and ports, subways and schools, homes and housing, energy grids and the other essential parts of the nation’s infrastructure. Eisenhower pioneered and funded the interstate highway system, and its an investment that has paid for itself multiple times, same with the internet in more recent vintage, or the railroads and canals of the 19th Century or the Hoover Dam which lights and waters an otherwise desolate wasteland.
When our wise infrastructure investments work better, we have a more productive, more efficient and faster growing economy. When they are not developed or maintained, we have people freezing in Texas, burning in California, drowning in New Orleans and can’t drink safe water in Flint or Jackson. We have people living on the nation’s streets because there is not enough housing, and it is too often unaffordable. We are frequently stuck in interminable traffic jams, and our cell phone and internet services are spotty or simply unavailable. Our competitiveness in American manufacturing has fallen behind in crucial industries of the future. Our care to frail seniors and fragile disabled living at home has been woefully inadequate to meet their needs and safety.
The Biden plan both invests in and transforms our energy, travel and transportation. So what’s in it?
$621 billion for Transportation:
· $174 billion for electric vehicles
· $115 billion for roads and bridges
· $85 billion for public transit systems
· $80 billion for Amtrak
· $25 billion for airports
· $17 billion for ports and waterways
· $20 billion for road safety
· $50 billion for infrastructure resiliency to withstand climate disasters
$650 billion for water, homes, schools and broadband
· $213 billion to build and retrofit 2 million homes and commercial buildings
· $111 billion for clean water, including replacement of lead pipes
· $100 billion for school construction
· $100 billion for universal broadband service
· $100 billion for the electric grid
· $40 billion for public housing
· $18 billion for VA hospitals and clinics
· $25 billion for child care facilities
$400 billion for care at home for the disabled and elderly
· Eliminate backlogs
· Increase pay for caregivers
· Expand services to frail seniors and severely disabled living at home and receiving no assistance
$300 billion for research, development and manufacturing
· $50 billion for semiconductor manufacturing and research
· $52 billion for rural manufacturing and clean energy
· $46 billion for clean energy manufacturing
· $35 billion for technology to address the climate crisis
· $48 billion for workforce development and worker protection
· $31 billion for R and D for small businesses
· $40 billion for dislocated worker retraining
· $50 billion for National Science Foundation for new technologies