The news is that a bold infrastructure policy could be a giant economic boost….
During the Trump years, the phrase “Infrastructure Week” rang out as a sort of Groundhog Day-style punchline. What began in June 2017 as a failed effort by The Donald’s White House and a Republican Senate to focus on the desperately needed rebuilding of American infrastructure morphed into a meme and a running joke in Washington.
Despite the focus in recent years on President Trump’s failure to do anything for the country’s crumbling infrastructure, here’s a sad reality: considered over a longer period of time, Washington’s political failure to fund the repairing, modernizing, or in some cases simply the building of that national infrastructure has proven a remarkably bipartisan “effort.” After all, the same grand unfulfilled ambitions for infrastructure were part and parcel of the Obama White House from 2009 on and could well typify the Biden years, if Congress doesn’t get its act together (or the filibuster doesn’t go down in flames). The disastrous electric grid power outages that occurred during the recent deep freeze in Texas are but the latest example of the pressing need for infrastructure upgrades and investments of every sort. If nothing is done, more people will suffer, more jobs will be lost, and the economy will face drastic consequences.
Since the mid-twentieth century, when most of this country’s modern infrastructure systems were first established, the population has doubled. Not only are American roads, airports, electric grids, waterways, railways and more distinctly outdated, but today’s crucial telecommunications sector hasn’t ever been subjected to a comprehensive broadband strategy.
After the pandemic the infrastructure should be priority one…..for once it starts failing and failing big then all of the country comes to a standstill…..
The problem with a successful infrastructure plan will be the Senate…..you know that part of the government where good bills and plans go to die.
But there may be an solution to this problem….
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speak after a press conference on Capitol Hill on December 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Democrats may use the budget reconciliation mechanism to pass upcoming bills, Politico reported.
The mechanism would allow Democrats to pass infrastructure and drugs bills with no GOP votes.
It was used to pass the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, upsetting Republicans and even some Democrats.
Democratic leaders are considering bypassing Senate Republicans again to pass bills on infrastructure, green energy and drug pricing using the budget reconciliation process, Politico reported Sunday.
If they push those plans ahead, they will create a lot of jobs. That can only be a good thing for the economy. But more ‘green deals’ will be opposed by the big oil companies, so it won’t be easy.
Best wishes, Pete.
If they push those plans ahead, they will create a lot of jobs. That can only be a good thing for the economy. But more ‘green deals’ will be opposed by the big oil companies, so it won’t be easy.
Best wishes, Pete.
Nowadays nothing is easy with our Congress….chuq