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another accomplishment by the Biden administration
The infrastructure bill has passed. It took less than a year. The previous administration was not able to get one passed in......4 years.
Of course now we have the ringleader of the previous administration on tilt bashing everyone. Why can't he post in this forum ? It would be a perfect fit. And he doesn't have a Twitter account so he needs more places to rant.
I suppose we will hear from Jason PiSSant and his capitalized blah blah blah views.
His enlarged font. And his BOLD letters.
VitaMan, PLEASE. You don't have to listen to me on taxes or spending or hydraulic fracturing. But do what it takes to get right with the Almighty, so we'll be able to read your posts. All of your threads become corrupted. Heed what I say:
In the words of a great philosopher and Texas gubernatorial candidate, Clayton Williams, who was defeated by Ann Richards,
"Rape is kinda like the weather. If it's inevitable, relax and enjoy it."
You're getting raped VitaMan. Don't try to fight the order of the universe. Just open a cold one, sit back, relax, and post in other peoples' threads, don't start your own.
The House of Representatives late Friday approved a key element of the Biden administration’s domestic agenda — a $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill. The media focused on the politics of the measure — how it will bolster the president’s approval ratings, conservative pushback at the 13 Republicans who voted “yes” and its opposition by six progressives.
But the politics is a side issue. This outrageously expensive package adds to an annual federal deficit that already tops $2.8 trillion, despite some farcical claims to the contrary. “Democrats claim the bill pays for itself through a multitude of measures and without raising taxes,” CNN reported, but “the Congressional Budget Office brushed aside several of those pay-for provisions.”
Congress said it would repurpose leftover money originally earmarked for COVID-19 relief, but those were always only borrowed dollars. Furthermore, CNN noted Congress’ spending gimmicks to “pay” for the bill, such as delaying the implementation of a new Medicare and Medicaid rule.
We can’t count how often the supporters of some massive new spending bill claim that it will pay for itself or save money in other areas of the budget. This never happens. Typically, bureaucracy and overly generous labor and consulting contracts diminish the appropriated funds.
Infrastructure is indeed crucial for the economic progress of our nation. We all see that our roads, highways, bridges and transit systems have gotten shoddy. The government does a remarkably poor job of maintaining structures that it had previously funded, so we have no gripe with the stated purpose of the bill. The devil, however, always is in the details.
As typically happens, much of what’s termed infrastructure isn’t really traditional infrastructure. The legislation, for instance, spends $15 billion on subsidies for electric vehicles and charging stations. The nation’s ports — especially at Los Angeles and along the West Coast — are struggling with backlogs. Some of the port-directed funds simply mandate investments in low-carbon technologies.
Much of this spending is more properly the responsibility of states and localities. Some of the federal spending is long overdue, such as investments in bridge repairs and our crumbling interstate highways, but the spending bill ends up simply throwing money at problems without much concern for efficient spending practices.
The libertarian Reason magazine explained that the legislation is “larded up with provisions that will make infrastructure projects more costly for taxpayers,” including costly “Buy American” provisions. “The infrastructure bill could have been an opportunity to reform other federal rules that unnecessarily drive up the cost of building infrastructure,” it added.
Those include the convoluted environmental review process and labor rules that require payment of union wages. The president and congressional Democrats seem to view this as a massive make-work project where additional spending is a good in itself — rather than a chance to get as much rebuilding accomplished as possible. It will potentially keep alive poorly conceived boondoggles such as California’s high-speed-rail line to nowhere.
The bill reinforces our usual take on government spending. Lawmakers love to appropriate money without worrying about how that money ultimately is spent. The only good take we have is that matters could have been worse, given some progressives’ failure to use their opposition to this bill to leverage support for an even-worse $1.75-trillion social-spending and climate bill.
Let's try this again. The Biden administration passes an infrastructure bill, in less than one year. The previous administration tried for 4 years, and didn't get it done.
Tiny, you are the one that needs a cold one. More like several.
Many threads get corrupted in this forum.
Well, you should know. The majority of your threads I wanted to read have been corrupted though. . Anyway I’m convinced it’s the anti Trump, pro Biden and pro vaccine threads that are corrupted. Except I believe Offshore Drilling started a couple that don’t fit that pattern
Let's try this again. The Biden administration passes an infrastructure bill, in less than one year. The previous administration tried for 4 years, and didn't get it done.
How much should the U.S. spend on infrastructure projects? President Biden has just proposed to have the government spend approximately $2 trillion dollars on “infrastructure” projects. Where did this number come from?
Homeowners frequently need to spend money on “infrastructure,” whether it is a new air conditioning system, deck or sidewalk replacement, etc. Some expenditure is a structural necessity, others are cosmetic or desired upgrades. If you have a home worth $400,000, you normally do not decide to spend $200,000 in a given year without doing a detailed analysis of how you are going to specifically spend the money and how much each project will cost.
If you live in a condo or a community with a homeowners’ association, most often there is an elected committee of the homeowners that proposes to spend on what they view as necessary repairs (e.g., a new roof) or upgrades (e.g., nicer landscaping). Bids for the projects are solicited, and the owners vote on what to accept or reject.
The elected officials in towns and cities usually propose infrastructure projects each year — a new bridge, or school, or whatever — and the proposals are debated. When infrastructure is going to be financed by bonds, usually the voter has a chance to vote up or down on the proposed bond issue. All of this gives some measure of control and accountability for the projects.
Increasingly, the federal government upends this traditional model and does it all backward. A politician will propose a number — $2 trillion for infrastructure — having no idea of the costs of individual projects that might be funded and whether or not any of them are justified. No citizen can envision how much $ 2 billion is — let alone $2 trillion.
Politicians and somber-looking political commentators will debate whether $2 trillion is too big or too small — none of them, in fact, having the slightest idea of what they are talking about. After all, it is not their money — it is yours. Congress increasingly resembles an old Monty Python skit where everyone is spewing utter nonsense under the guise of dealing with a very serious matter, such as going into battle.
The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) identified several of the absurd items in the bill, including $20 billion (more than the COVID-19 package spent on vaccines), for “a new program that will reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments and ensure new projects increase opportunity, advance racial equity and environmental justice, and promote affordable access.”
9 Crazy Examples of Unrelated Waste and Partisan Spending in Biden’s $2 Trillion ‘Infrastructure’ Proposal
Just roughly one-third of the money goes to the kinds of spending people would usually associate with infrastructure.
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
he Biden administration on Wednesday released a comprehensive $2+ trillion spending proposal ostensibly focused on infrastructure. But there’s much more to this plan than meets the eye. A glance at the proposal reveals many items that appear only tenuously related to infrastructure. In fact, several don’t appear to be related to infrastructure at all.
Here are 9 of the most suspect items in Biden’s “infrastructure” proposal, taken directly from a fact-sheet on the plan the White House released.
1. $10 Billion to Create a ‘Civilian Climate Corp’
The Biden administration proposes spending $10 billion to create a “Civilian Climate Corp.” The White House claims that “This $10 billion investment will put a new, diverse generation of Americans to work conserving our public lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, and advancing environmental justice through a new Civilian Climate Corps.”
2. $20 Billion to ‘Advance Racial Equity and Environmental Justice’
The proposal sets aside a whopping $20 billion—more than the latest COVID package spent on vaccines—for “a new program that will reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments and ensure new projects increase opportunity, advance racial equity and environmental justice, and promote affordable access.”
3. $175 Billion in Subsidies for Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicles: A technological novelty so good it won’t catch on without hundreds of billions in subsidies. At least, that’s apparently what the Biden administration thinks, as its infrastructure proposal earmarks a “$174 billion investment to win the electric vehicle market.”
The spending will take the form of manufacturing subsidies and consumer tax credits, which historically have benefitted wealthy families most. For comparison, the proposal carves out more for green energy goodies than it does on the total $115 billion to “modernize the bridges, highways, roads, and main streets that are in most critical need of repair.”
4. $213 Billion to Build/Retrofit 2 Million Houses & Buildings
When most people hear “infrastructure,” they think of roads, bridges, tunnels, and so on. But the Biden administration’s definition of the term is Olympian-gymnastics-level flexible. Apparently, the president considers it “infrastructure spending” to allocate $213 billion to build or retrofit 2 million “sustainable” houses and buildings. They also slip in $40 billion for public housing, stating this will “disproportionately benefit women, people of color, and people with disabilities.”
5. $100 Billion for New Public Schools and Making School Lunches ‘Greener’
You might remember that the last “COVID” legislation had $128.5 billion in taxpayer dole-outs for public schools; much of the money will be spent years after the pandemic and there was no requirement that schools actually open. Yet this was, evidently, just the beginning. The Biden “infrastructure” plan includes another “$100 billion to upgrade and build new public schools.”
“Funds also will be provided to improve our school kitchens, so they can be used to better prepare nutritious meals for our students and go green by reducing or eliminating the use of paper plates and other disposable materials,” the proposal reads. (Emphasis mine).
6. $12 Billion for Community Colleges
One generally thinks of infrastructure and higher education as separate, distinct sectors. Yet the Biden “infrastructure” plan slips in $12 billion for states to spend on community colleges.
7. Billions to Eliminate ‘Racial and Gender Inequities’ in STEM
The proposal includes several billion dollars allocated to reduce supposed “racial and gender inequities” in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) research and development.
What this has to do with interstate infrastructure is not adequately explained.
8. $100 Billion to Expand Broadband Internet (And Government Control of It)
Loosely lumped under the broad term “digital infrastructure,” the plan allocates $100 billion to “bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American.” Interestingly, the proposal openly states that it wishes to promote government and NGO control of broadband and push out private sector providers: It “prioritizes support for broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and co-operatives—providers with less pressure to turn profits.”
9. $25 Billion for Government Childcare Programs
The plan includes $25 billion “to help upgrade child care facilities and increase the supply of child care in areas that need it most.” According to the White House, “funding would be provided through a Child Care Growth and Innovation Fund for states to build a supply of infant and toddler care in high-need areas.”
Just Scratching the Surface
The above list totals hundreds of billions in waste and unrelated partisan spending slipped into the Biden administration’s expensive “infrastructure” plan. But it should be stressed that this list is far from exhaustive; it’s what one reporter was able to find in a few hours of research.
By the time this proposal is translated into hundreds of pages of legislation (if not thousands) and subjected to Congress’s (and lobbyists’) influence, there will no doubt be even more waste and partisan policies slipped into it.
Yes, there is serious debate about the state of American infrastructure and the proper role of the federal government in addressing its deficiencies. However, of this plan’s more than $2 trillion in proposed spending, just $621 billion goes to “transportation infrastructure and resilience.” That’s right, just roughly one-third of the money goes to the kinds of spending people would usually associate with infrastructure, like repairing roads and bridges and modernizing public transit.
Can Biden get away with this?
Well, remember that only 10 percent of the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion in "COVID relief" spending was actually directly related to COVID-19, with much of it going to waste, politician pet projects, and partisan priorities. The president appears to have taken a similar approach to infrastructure spending.
Unfortunately, it’s not much of a surprise. As the American journalist and satirist PJ O’Rourke once said, “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”
TWK - thank you for a concise post on teh Reality of teh waste, self-centered pork , and spending to control the Peoples of America - in teh democraticommunist wasteful, horrendous criminal spending spree.
Let's try this again. The Biden administration passes an infrastructure bill, .....
Another FAIL! Biden doesn't "pass" shit ... except gas.
BTW:
Quote:
8. $100 Billion to Expand Broadband Internet (And Government Control of It)
Loosely lumped under the broad term “digital infrastructure,” the plan allocates $100 billion to “bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American.” Interestingly, the proposal openly states that it wishes to promote government and NGO control of broadband and push out private sector providers: It “prioritizes support for broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and co-operatives—providers with less pressure to turn profits.”
another accomplishment by the Biden administration
