According to published reports, President Joe Biden will shortly announce his plans to invest nearly $ 1 trillion in infrastructure to repair and upgrade roads, bridges, ports, railways, improve high-speed internet access in rural communities, Improve water and sewage systems and improve the power grid, including expanded charging stations for electric vehicles to serve a new generation of vehicles.
Such an investment is long overdue. The United States has lagged behind other industrialized nations because it failed to adapt its infrastructure to a new century. Investing in infrastructure will create well-paying jobs, support economic expansion, make the US more globally competitive and, done right, reduce the country's collective carbon footprint to combat climate change.
The Americans support the rebuilding of our nation's infrastructure on all other political issues. It is backed by the business community, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.
Congress must achieve this.
Why not? For one, Republicans reject the idea of collecting taxes to pay for them. That's absurd. The Republicans, once the party of budget discipline, have turned into the anti-tax party. Ensuring adequate infrastructure is one of the most fundamental tasks of government. Therefore, of course, it makes sense to estimate a tax that will have to be paid for it.
The discussion should focus on how to pay for it, not whether or not to pay for it.
According to reports, the Biden administration is considering a motion to increase the corporate tax rate, which was cut from 35% to an absurdly low 21% during the Trump administration. It also wants to close loopholes that allow multinational corporations to protect their revenues from taxes. No one benefits more from a healthy infrastructure than these large companies.
However, the government is also looking to save money to fund the investment, such as by having Medicare negotiate the cost of prescription drugs with Big Pharma. This approach is long overdue and could cut federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.
What the government did not, but should, propose to increase the excise tax on gasoline, which has been frozen at 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel since 1993.
In revealing the details of his infrastructure plan, Biden should use his bullying pulpit to press Republicans to compromise as they are back on the wrong side of a popular problem. Without the support of the Republicans in the 50:50 Senate, the Democrats could attempt a final procedural run again to bypass the filibuster determination and the need to find 60 votes.
As for the filibuster, we are calling for a return to its “speaking” roots – Senate votes blocked by ongoing debates – and an end to the current practice of only having to declare one virtual filibuster to enforce the cloture provision with 60 votes. When Senate Republicans are forced to keep talking about why they're against an infrastructure program, they can quickly find that a filibuster isn't such a good idea, after all.
The Biden administration has other big plans – including Free Community College, general pre-k and national paid vacation policies, and extending the extended child tax credit included in the American Rescue Plan – but these should be separate be treated. First, get the infrastructure ready.
News of a major federal infrastructure bill is a reminder that Connecticut has yet to devise a plan to meet its infrastructure needs. This could affect the ability to adapt and use the available federal funds. We were disappointed that Governor Ned Lamont, whose nose was bloody in the first half of his tenure when legislative support for his toll proposal was lacking, was unwilling to renew his call for tolls for the procurement of transportation this year.
Lamont came up with the idea of a mile-based fee for tractor units instead, to raise an estimated $ 90 million a year, but, so to speak, it hasn't found much favor in the state legislature.
It would be a terrible mistake if Connecticut were not able to take full advantage of a massive federal infrastructure initiative.
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