The White House is amplifying the push for its $2.3 trillion infrastructure package. It shows the dire shape of roads, bridges, the power grid, and housing affordability. The Biden administration said there is too much unsafe infrastructure for vehicles at any speed. President Biden was scheduled to meet with Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Monday afternoon. The White House said the data highlights the urgent need in every state across the country for the investments proposed by President Biden in the American Jobs Plan. Additional fact sheets on specific issues are poised to be released in the coming days and weeks. The reports were finalized from an array of private and public data. It shows there are 7,300 miles of highway in Michigan alone that are in poor condition. Damaged streets in North Carolina impose an average yearly cost of $500 on motorists.
Point to be noted that Iowa has 4,571 bridges in need of repair. There is a roughly 4-in-10 chance that a public transit vehicle in Indiana might be ready for the scrap yard. Pennsylvania’s schools are short $1.4 billion for maintenance and upgrades. The administration says the data will confirm the everyday experiences of Americans as they bump over potholes, get trapped in traffic jams, and wait for buses. There is already a receptive audience to the sales pitch and it is the strategy that public support can overcome any congressional misgivings. The US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “We don’t have a lot of work to do to persuade the American people that US infrastructure needs major improvement. The American people already know it”.
It is noteworthy that Republican legislators immediately rejected the infrastructure proposal of President Biden. They said that just a fraction of the spending goes to traditional infrastructure, as $400 billion would expand Medicaid support for caregivers and substantial portions would fund electric vehicle charging stations and address the racial injustice of highways. However, Biden’s plan would modernize 20,000 miles worth of roadways, but California by itself has 14,220 miles of highway in poor condition. Republican legislators also object to funding the package by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and increasing the global minimum tax. It was among other tax changes including stepped-up IRS enforcement being proposed by the Biden administration. Senator Roger Wicker said, “This is a massive social welfare spending program combined with a massive tax increase on small-business job creators. I can’t think of a worse thing to do”.