Biden’s $2 Billion “Infrastructure” Plan
Joe Biden’s proposed infrastructure bill allocates over $620 billion towards transportation-related spending. Source: Joe Raedle / Getty Images
President Biden’s first 100 days in office have been an improbable three months of steady progress, kicking off a Biden administration that aims to be far more transformative than progressives initially expected. Few of us expected that this president — given his record, a knife’s-edge Congress, and a COVID-19 crisis that makes it hard to look an inch beyond one’s nose — would begin to be talked about as, potentially, transformational. One of the highlights of this progress is the $2 trillion infrastructure plan the president proposed in March, a plan that he has called “a once-in-a-generation investment in America.”
The proposal aims to rebuild 20,000 miles of roads, repair 10 of the most economically important bridges in the country, eliminate lead pipes across the country, improve wages, accelerate the fight against climate change by shifting the nation towards clean energy sources, and other initiatives to address both economic and social challenges. The first half of that list conforms to the traditional meaning of infrastructure that tends to the nation’s physical and organizational structures, while the rest is what Republicans have responded to with: “A general principle for me is that we shouldn't have a huge bill with a bunch of stuff thrown in.” Even Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has claimed victory with the climate portions of the bill, remarking: “As much as I think some parts of the party try to avoid saying ‘Green New Deal’ and really dance around and try to not use that term, ultimately, the framework I think has been adopted.” It seems like both sides are accurately looking at the proposal for what it is: a sweeping change in America’s infrastructure & what America determines to be infrastructure, even if their feelings towards the proposal could not be more different.
Republican Senators and House members are in talks regarding a counter-proposal that centers around a far stricter view of what infrastructure is, including the traditional roads, bridges — but also expanding the definition to fit widespread access to broadband. The counter-proposal reduces the bill to about $600 to $800 billion, cutting out significant portions of the administration’s focus on reducing CO2 emissions and addressing climate change overall. Although it does make sense for the Grand Old Party to want to stick to their policy of smaller government and limiting the scope of government, the infrastructure of the future should absolutely include making America’s structures sustainable. Sustainability will be the next key challenge the nation faces, greater than attacking stagflation in the 80s or the focus on terrorism in the early 2000’s. Every wide spreading bill the Biden administration proposes should & will have a key chunk of it dedicated to creating a sustainable society. The agreement regarding including broadband into infrastructure is a positive sign from Republicans and, hopefully, the party will come around in general to sustainable practices.