More Than Half of Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Does Not Go Towards Infrastructure

More Than Half of Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Does Not Go Towards Infrastructure

Basic infrastructure makes up $621 billion of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure bill. That means $1.379 trillion of the bill does not go towards infrastructure.

If you combine it with what they call “at home” infrastructure, it makes up $1.272 trillion of the bill.

Either way, projects that have nothing to do with infrastructure will receive more money than basic infrastructure.

Also, forgive my math because my basic calculator has a hard time handling such large numbers.

Infrastructure and “At Home” Infrastructure

So, let’s look at infrastructure:

• The plan would invest $115 billion to revamp highways and roads, including 10 major and 10,000 smaller bridges in need of reconstruction. It also includes $20 billion to improve road safety, including for cyclists and pedestrians.
• The plan calls for $85 billion to modernize existing transit systems and help agencies expand to meet rider demand. The investment would double federal funding for public transit.
• Biden is proposing $80 billion to fix Amtrak’s repair backlog.
• Biden’s proposal establishes $174 billion in grant and incentive programs for state and local governments and the private sector to build a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030.
• The proposal seeks to replace 50,000 diesel transit vehicles and electrify at least 20 percent of the country’s “yellow school bus fleet.”
• The plan invests $25 billion in airports, including programs to renovate terminals and expand car-free access to air travel.
• Biden is also pitching $17 billion for inland waterways, coastal ports, land ports of entry, and ferries to invest in the nation’s freight system.
• The American Jobs Plan targets 40 percent] of the benefits of climate and clean infrastructure investments to disadvantaged communities.

The “at home” infrastructure must be that “human infrastructure” people within the White House told the media about a few weeks ago:

• Biden’s proposal invests $213 billion to build and retrofit more than 2 million homes. The plan would build and rehabilitate more than 500,000 homes for low- and middle-income home buyers and invest $40 billion to improve public housing.
• Biden’s proposal aims to deliver universal broadband, including to more than 35 percent of rural Americans who currently lack access to high-speed Internet.
• The plan invests $111 billion to replace the country’s lead pipes and service lines. The effort would reduce lead exposure in 400,000 schools and child-care facilities and improve the safety of drinking water.
• The proposal calls for $100 billion to upgrade and build new public schools. It also invests $12 billion in community college infrastructure and $25 billion to upgrade child-care facilities.
• The plan would put $16 billion toward hundreds of thousands of jobs plugging oil and gas wells and reclaiming abandoned coal, hardrock and uranium mines. Jobs would also be created to lay transmission lines.
• Biden is proposing $18 billion to modernize the Department of Veterans Affairs’ hospitals and clinics, and $10 billion to revamp federal buildings.
• The plan also invests $10 billion for conservation workers, including those focusing on public lands and environmental justice.

Non-Infrastructure

Remember, even if you combine the infrastructure and “at home” infrastructure totals, you still have over $1 trillion going to non-infrastructure items.

Biden wants $400 billion for the care economy, which targets caretakers and access to care for seniors and adults with disabilities.

Then there’s $580 billion for research and development, manufacturing, and training. The research and development portion concentrates on climate change.

We also have $100 billion to develop the workforce in low-income communities.

But in all honesty, don’t you think a few of the bullet points under infrastructure and “at home” infrastructure belong in this section? I do.

The IRS will also get some money to help agents perform more tax audits on companies. This leads into the next section.

Tax Overhaul

Fair share. Has anyone figured out this fair share? I hear it all the time, but no one can tell me the specific number.

I can hear the left applauding Biden raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, and international taxes would also go up to 21% from 13%.

Biden says changing this rate is changing the tax code. He’s partially correct. I don’t see anything about removing tax breaks or deductions. People know that’s how they get their tax bills so low, right?

The “fact sheet” says this: “A recent study found that 91 Fortune 500 companies paid $0 in federal taxes on U.S. income in 2018. Another study found that the average corporation paid just 8 percent in taxes.”

Think about that for a minute. If the tax rate is 21%, the companies should be paying something to the IRS. People talk about shifting money and jobs overseas or to tax havens.

If you want to make sure people and corporations pay their fair share, you have to throw out the incentives, deductions, breaks, etc.

Or you can repeal the 16th Amendment. (Sorry, Professor. Got too libertarian there!)

Biden’s plan “ends federal tax breaks for fossil fuel companies.” See, that’s what you have to do. You have to end the federal tax breaks.

Because honestly, if the companies paid their full taxes, they need better accountants. They’re not loopholes. It’s all in the tax code.

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