U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

The Build Back Better Framework
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S PLAN TO REBUILD THE MIDDLE CLASS

President Joe Biden believes that there’s no greater economic engine in the world than the hard work and ingenuity of the American people. But for too long, the economy has worked great for those at the top, while working families get squeezed. President Biden promised to rebuild the backbone of the country – the middle class – so that this time everyone comes along. The Build Back Better Framework does just that.

This framework will set the United States on course to meet its climate goals, create millions of good-paying jobs, enable more Americans to join and remain in the labor force, and grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out.

Here’s what the Build Back Better Framework will mean for Linda from Peoria, IL:



Read more about the Build Back Better Framework:
The most transformative investment in children and caregiving in generations:

- Offers universal and free preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds, the largest expansion of universal and free education since states and communities across the country established public high school 100 years ago.

(Preschool in the United States costs about $8,600 per year. The Build Back Better framework will enable states to expand access to free preschool for more than 6 million children per year and increase the quality of preschool for many more children already enrolled.  Importantly, parents will be able to send children to high-quality preschool in the setting of their choice – from public schools to child care providers to Head Start. The program will lead to lifelong educational and economic benefits for children and parents, and is a transformational investment in America’s future economic competitiveness. In fact, research shows that every $1 invested in high-quality early childhood care and education can yield $3 to $7 over the long-run, as they do better in school, are more likely to graduate high-school and college, and earn more as adults.)

- Makes the largest investment in child care in the nation’s history, saving most American families more than half of their spending on child care.

(For decades, child care prices in the United States have risen faster than family incomes, yet the United States still invests 28 times less than its competitors on helping families afford high-quality care for toddlers. The Build Back Better framework will ensure that middle-class families pay no more than 7 percent of their income on child care and will help states expand access to high-quality, affordable child care to about 20 million children per year – covering 9 out of 10 families across the country with young children. For two parents with one toddler earning $100,000 per year, the framework will produce more than $5,000 in child care savings per year. Nearly all families of four making up to $300,000 per year will be eligible. And, better access to high-quality child care can increase the likelihood that parents, especially mothers, are employed or enrolled in education and training beyond high school, while also providing lifetime benefits for children, especially those who are economically disadvantaged.)

- Delivers affordable, high-quality care for older Americans and people with disabilities in their homes, while supporting the workers who provide this care.

(Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of older Americans and Americans with disabilities are on waiting lists for home care services or struggling to afford the care they need, including more than 800,000 who are on state Medicaid waiting lists. A family paying for home care costs out of pocket currently pays around $5,800 per year for just four hours of home care per week. The Build Back Better framework will permanently improve Medicaid coverage for home care services for seniors and people with disabilities, making the most transformative investment in access to home care in 40 years, when these services were first authorized for Medicaid.)

- Provides 39 million households up to $3,600 (or $300 per month) in tax cuts per child by extending the American Rescue Plan’s expanded Child Tax Credit.

(The Build Back Better framework will provide monthly payments to the parents of nearly 90 percent of American children for 2022 – $300 per month per child under six and $250 per month per child ages 6 to 17. This historic tax cut will help cover the cost of food, housing, health care, and transportation and will continue the largest one-year reduction in child poverty in history. And critically, the framework includes permanent refundability for the Child Tax Credit, meaning that the neediest families will continue to receive the full Child Tax Credit over the long-run.)


The largest effort to combat climate change in American history:

- Delivers substantial consumer rebates and tax credits to reduce costs for middle class families shifting to clean energy and electrification.

(The consumer rebates and credits included in the Build Back Better framework will save the average American family hundreds of dollars per year in energy costs.  These measures include enhancement and expansion of existing home energy and efficiency tax credits, as well as the creation of a new, electrification-focused rebate program.  The framework will cut the cost of installing rooftop solar for a home by around 30 percent, shortening the payback period by around 5 years; and the framework’s electric vehicle tax credit will lower the cost of an electric vehicle that is made in America with American materials and union labor by $12,500 for a middle-class family. In addition, the framework will help rural communities tap into the clean energy opportunity through targeted grants and loans through the Department of Agriculture.)

- Ensures clean energy technology – from wind turbine blades to solar panels to electric cars – will be built in the United States with American made steel and other materials, creating hundreds of thousands of good jobs here at home.

(The Build Back Better legislation will target incentives to grow domestic supply chains in solar, wind, and other critical industries in communities on the frontlines of the energy transition.  In addition, the framework will boost the competitiveness of existing industries, like steel, cement, and aluminum, through grants, loans, tax credits, and procurement to drive capital investment in the decarbonization and revitalization of American manufacturing.)

- Advances environmental justice through a new Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator that will invest in projects around the country, while delivering 40% of the benefits of investment to disadvantaged communities, as part of the President’s Justice40 initiative.

(The framework will also fund port electrification; facilitate the deployment of cleaner transit, buses, and trucks; and support critical community capacity building, including grants to environmental justice communities.  In addition, the framework will create a new Civilian Climate Corps – with over 300,000 members that look like America. This diverse new workforce will conserve our public lands, bolster community resilience, and address the changing climate, all while putting good-paying union jobs within reach for more Americans.)

- Bolsters resilience and natural solutions to climate change through a historic investment in coastal restoration, forest management, and soil conservation.

(The framework will provide resources to farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners, supporting their efforts to reduce emissions. At its peak, the increased investments in climate smart agriculture alone could reach roughly 130 million cropland acres per year, representing as many as 240,000 farms. Farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners have long demonstrated leadership in environmental stewardship with strategies that provide benefits for the farm, the environment, and the public. These investments will help meet the demand from the farming community for conservation support and enable producers to realize the full potential of climate benefits from agriculture.)


The biggest expansion of affordable health care in a decade:

- Reduces prescription drug costs.

Finally let Medicare negotiate drug prices.

Medicare will negotiate prices for high-cost prescription drugs.  This will include drugs seniors get at the pharmacy counter (through Medicare Part D), and drugs that are administered in a doctor’s office (through Medicare Part B). Drugs become eligible for negotiation once they have been on the market for a fixed number of years: 9 years for small molecule drugs and 12 years for biologics. Medicare will negotiate up to 10 drugs per year during 2023, with those prices taking effect in 2025, increasing to up to 20 drugs per year.

The policy will establish a clearly defined negotiation process that is fair for manufacturers, and gets the biggest savings on drugs that have been on the market a long time.  This discourages drug companies from abusing laws to prolong their monopolies, while encouraging investments in research and development of new cures.  Drug companies that refuse to negotiate will owe an excise tax.

Impose a tax penalty if drug companies increase their prices faster than inflation. Starting when this bill becomes law, future drug price increases will be compared to their current prices.  We will finally put an end to the days where drug companies could raise their prices with impunity.  If prices for a drug increase faster than inflation, manufacturers will owe a tax penalty, holding down prices for Americans with all types of health insurance.

Directly lower out-of-pocket costs for seniors. Today, there is no cap on how much seniors and people with disabilities have to pay for drugs, and millions of seniors pay more than $6,000 a year in cost-sharing.  This proposal puts an end to this burden, and ensures that seniors never pay more than $2,000 a year for their drugs under Medicare Part D.

The plan will also lower insulin prices so that Americans with diabetes don’t pay more than $35 per month for their insulin. Lawmakers have also agreed to lower seniors’ cost-sharing for all types of drugs and they are working expeditiously to finalize legislative text that will save seniors money at the pharmacy counter without increasing premiums.


Strengthens the Affordable Care Act and reduces premiums for 9 Million Americans.

(The framework will reduce premiums for more than 9 million Americans who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace by an average of $600 per person per year. For example, a family of four earning $80,000 per year would save nearly $3,000 per year (or $246 per month) on health insurance premiums. Experts predict that more than 3 million people who would otherwise be uninsured will gain health insurance.)

- Closes the Medicaid Coverage Gap, Leading 4 Million Uninsured People to Gain Coverage.

(The Build Back Better framework will deliver health care coverage through Affordable Care Act premium tax credits to up to 4 million uninsured people in states that have locked them out of Medicaid through. A 40-year old in the coverage gap would have to pay $450 per month for benchmark coverage – more than half of their income in many cases. The framework provides individuals $0 premiums, finally making health care affordable and accessible.)

- Expands Medicare to cover hearing benefits.

(The Build Back Better framework will expand Medicare coverage to cover hearing coverage, so that older Americans can access the affordable care they need.)

- Makes the single largest and most comprehensive investment in affordable housing in history.

(The framework will enable the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of more than 1 million affordable homes, boosting housing supply and reducing price pressures for renters and homeowners. It will address the capital needs of the public housing stock in big cities and rural communities all across America and ensure it is not only safe and habitable but healthier and more energy efficient as well. It will make a historic investment in rental assistance, expanding vouchers to hundreds of thousands of additional families. And, it includes one of the largest investments in down payment assistance in history, enabling hundreds of thousands of first-generation homebuyers to purchase their first home and build wealth. This legislation will create more equitable communities, through investing in community-led redevelopments projects in historically under-resourced neighborhoods and removing lead paint from hundreds of thousands of homes, as well as by incentivizing state and local zoning reforms that enable more families to reside in higher opportunity neighborhoods.)

- Extends the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for around 17 million low-wage workers.

(Before this year, the federal tax code taxed low-wage childless workers into poverty or deeper into poverty — the only group of workers it treated this way. The Build Back Better framework will extend the American Rescue Plan’s tripling of the credit for childless workers, benefiting 17 million low-wage workers, many of whom are essential workers, including cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and childcare providers. For example, a childless worker who works 30 hours per week at $9 per hour earns income that, after taxes, leaves them below the federal poverty line. By increasing her EITC to more than $1,100, this EITC expansion helps pull such workers out of poverty.)

- Expands access to affordable, high-quality education beyond high school.

(Expand access to affordable, high-quality education beyond high school. Education beyond high school is increasingly important for economic growth and competitiveness in the 21st century, even as it has become unaffordable for too many families. The Build Back Better framework will make education beyond high school – including training for high-paying jobs available now – more affordable. Specifically, the framework will increase the maximum Pell Grant by $550 for more the more than 5 million students enrolled in public and private, non-profit colleges and expand access to DREAMers. It will also make historic investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to build capacity, modernize research infrastructure, and provide financial aid to low-income students. And, it will invest in practices that help more students complete their degree or credential. The framework will help more people access quality training that leads to good, union, and middle-class jobs. It will enable community colleges to train hundreds of thousands of students, create sector-based training opportunity with in- demand training for at least hundreds of thousands of workers, and invest in proven approaches like Registered Apprenticeships and programs to support underserved communities. The framework will increase the Labor Department’s annual spending on workforce development by 50% for each of the next 5 years.)

- Promotes nutrition security to support children’s health.

(The Build Back Better framework will help children reach their full potential by investing in nutrition security year-round. The legislation will expand free school meals to 8.7 million children during the school year and provide a $65 per child per month benefit to the families of 29 million children to purchase food during the summer.)

- Strengthens the middle class through a historic investment in equity, safety, and fairness.

(The legislation makes a transformative investment in Rural America through a new Rural Partnership Program that will empower rural regions, including Tribal Nations and territories, by providing flexible funding for locally-led projects. The Build Back Better framework will provide nutrition security to millions of American children by expanding free school meals, which are the healthiest meals that children consume during the day. It also will make an historic investment in maternal health and establish a new and innovative community violence intervention initiative, in addition to investing in small businesses and preparing the nation for future pandemics and supply chain disruptions.)

- Invests in immigration reform.

(The framework includes a separate $100 billion investment in immigration reform that is consistent with the Senate’s reconciliation rules, as well as enhancements to reduce backlogs, expand legal representation, and make the asylum system and border processing more efficient and humane.)


The Build Back Better framework is fully paid for:

Combined with savings from repealing the Trump Administration’s rebate rule, the plan is fully paid for by asking more from the very largest corporations and the wealthiest Americans. The 2017 tax cut delivered a windfall to them, and this would help reverse that—and invest in the country’s future. No one making under $400,000 will pay a penny more in taxes.

Specifically, the framework:

- Stops large, profitable corporations from paying zero in tax and tax corporations that buyback stock rather than invest in the company.

(2019, the largest corporations in the United States paid just 8 percent in taxes, and many paid nothing at all. President Biden believes this is fundamentally unfair. The Build Back Better framework will impose a 15% minimum tax on the corporate profits that large corporations—with over $1 billion in profits—report to shareholders.  This means that if a large corporation says it’s profitable, then it can’t avoid paying its tax bill. The framework also includes a 1% surcharge on corporate stock buybacks, which corporate executives too often use to enrich themselves rather than investing workers and growing the economy.)

- Stops rewarding corporations for shipping jobs and profits overseas.

(President Biden has led the world to stop the race to the bottom in corporate taxes and that rewards corporations that ship jobs and profits overseas. That’s why the President won an agreement among 136 countries on a 15% global minimum tax. This framework would help finish the job.  Consistent with that agreement, it’d adopt a 15% minimum tax on foreign profits of U.S. corporations, so that they can no longer claim huge tax benefits by shifting profits and jobs abroad.  And, it’d make sure that other countries abide by the agreement they adopted by imposing a penalty rate on any foreign corporations based in countries that fail to abide by the international agreement.  Other countries will not be able to try to take advantage by failing to meet their commitment.)

- Asks the highest income Americans to pay their fair share.

(The Build Back Better framework includes a new surtax on the income of multi-millionaires and billionaires – the top 0.02 percent of Americans. It would apply a 5 percent rate above income of $10 million, and an additional 3 percent above income of $25 million. The Build Back Better framework will also close the loopholes that allows some wealthy taxpayers to avoid paying the 3.8 Medicare tax on their earnings.)

- Invests in enforcing our existing tax laws, so the wealthy pay what they owe.

(Regular workers pay the taxes they owe on wages and salaries—with a 99 percent compliance rate—while too many wealthy taxpayers hide their income from the IRS so they don’t have to pay. And, as a result of budget cuts, audit rates on those making over $1 million per year fell by 80 percent between 2011-2018. Wage earners have a 99 percent compliance rate, and, by contrast, the top 1 percent evades over $160 billion per year in taxes. President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda will create a fairer tax system – a tax system that requires the wealthy to finally pay their fair share and rewards work, not wealth. The President’s plan will accomplish this through transformation investments in the IRS: hiring enforcement agents who are trained to pursue wealthy evaders, overhauling technology from the 1960s, and investing in taxpayer service, so ordinary Americans can get their questions answered. Additional enforcement resources will be focused on pursuing those with the highest incomes; not Americans with income less than $400,000.)

https://www.whitehouse.gov/build-back-better/

[Rick Plant]

Another historic day for the stock market and the S&P 500. The stock market soared another 104 points to a record high 36,432.22. The S&P 500 closed above 4,700 for the first time. Another Biden record. Good things happen when you have strong and competent Democratic leadership. Remember, every Republican except for 13 in the House voted against this infrastructure bill that benefits ALL Americans.   ​

S&P 500 closes above 4,700 for the first time as infrastructure stocks rally

The S&P 500 closed at a record high Monday after Congress approved an infrastructure spending package.

The broad index gained 0.09% to close above 4,700 for the first time at 4,701.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 104.27 points, or 0.3%, to close at 36,432.22. The Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.07% at 15,982.36. All three stock averages posted record closes.

The U.S. House of Representatives late Friday passed a more than $1 trillion infrastructure bill, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature. First passed by the Senate in August, the package would provide new funding for transportation, utilities and broadband, among other infrastructure projects.

“Investors have waited for a significant step-up in infrastructure spending for decades,” Citi’s Anthony Pettinari said in a note. “We view this generational investment as a significant catalyst for growth for a number of our stocks.”

Industrials and materials stocks rallied Monday with those names set to benefit from the spending package. The Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development exchange-traded fund rose nearly 1.3% and hit a new all-time high Monday morning.



Mining company Freeport-McMoRan, construction materials stock Vulcan and steel corporation Nucor were among the notable gainers on the S&P 500. Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar led the Dow’s rally with a 4% gain. Heavy equipment producer Deere saw its shares rise about 1.6%. United Rentals, Martin Marietta and Jacobs Engineering were among other infrastructure-related gainers.

Elsewhere, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices led gains on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite. AMD rallied 10.1% after the company announced it won Meta, formerly known as Facebook, as a chip customer and revealed new chip products.

Meanwhile, Tesla founder Elon Musk rattled investors this weekend, asking in a Twitter poll whether he should sell 10% of his stock as a response to political clamoring to tax unrealized gains from equity holdings. Nearly 58% of respondents said yes, and shares of Tesla closed 4.8% lower Monday.

The passage of the infrastructure stimulus, an improving Covid situation in the U.S., and a better-than-expected labor market reading boosted investor confidence in the economic recovery. The October jobs report came in Friday better than economists expected as U.S. payrolls added 531,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department.

“We expect Equities to continue to climb the ‘wall of worry’, as risks look largely priced in and showing signs of improvement,” JPMorgan’s Marko Kolanovic said in a note Monday.

The S&P 500 has now posted 64 record closes in 2021 and is up more than 25% this year.

Investors await fresh inflation readings in the week ahead. The producer price index and consumer price index are slated for release on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Economists expect both reports to remain hot for October.

The Federal Reserve is eyeing both inflation and jobs data to guide its timeline on normalizing monetary policy.

Last week, the Fed announced a plan to begin tapering its pandemic-era economic aid by the end of November, putting the central bank on track to end its asset purchase program by the middle of next year.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/07/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html


Dow hits record high as infrastructure bill lifts cyclicals

Nov 8 (Reuters) - The Dow hit a record high on Monday as the passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill lifted industrials, materials and other economy-focused sectors, while Tesla fell on top boss Elon Musk's plan to sell about a tenth of his stake.

Five of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes were higher after the Congress on Saturday passed the long-delayed infrastructure bill hailed by President Joe Biden as a "once in a generation" investment.

"That infrastructure bill is going to put some energy into companies like 3M, Caterpillar and other companies that power the industrial sector, but we also think the materials sector is going to really benefit from that bill," said Greg Bassuk, chief executive at AXS Investments in Port Chester, New York.

Travel and tourism stocks rallied, led by airlines, as the United States lifted travel restrictions slapped on much of the world since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The S&P 1500 Airlines index (.SPCOMAIR) gained 1.1%. read more

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX) rose 1.3% to a record high.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) jumped 9.0% after it signed up Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O) as a data center chip customer and announced new supercomputing chips to take on its bigger rival Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O). read more

Wall Street's main indexes hit record highs last week, supported by an upbeat earnings season, strong October jobs data and a positive update on Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) experimental pill against COVID-19.

https://www.reuters.com/business/futures-tick-higher-after-congress-clears-infrastructure-bill-tesla-falls-2021-11-08/


Dow Heading for Record Highs, Tesla Tumbles—and What Else Is Happening in the Stock Market Today
https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-today-51636365285

Caterpillar Leads Dow Jones Up 116 Points on $1 Trillion Infrastructure Deal
Congress finally passed a bipartisan infrastructure spending bill that investors expect will boost spending for Caterpillar's equipment.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/11/08/caterpillar-leads-dow-jones-up-116-points-on-1-tri

[Rick Plant]

Radical right wing Republicans have no interest in working for the American people. They are only there to promote their racist and fascist agenda. When Republicans in the Party decide to vote to pass legislation aimed at helping their own constituents these radical right wing Republicans try to banish them from the party. The GOP is a radical anti American extremist cult.

'Sedition caucus' trying to strip committee assignments from 13 Republicans because they voted for infrastructure



House Republicans have no problem with one of their members posting a tweet depicting him murdering Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but they are outraged at 13 members of their caucus who voted to pass President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill.

According to Jake Sherman's Punchbowl News, rank and file GOP members of Congress are trying to force Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to strip the 13 of their committee assignments, noting that "GOP leadership is bracing" for the attempt. McCarthy was opposed to the bill, which will vastly improve basic necessities like roads, bridges, rail, and the nation's ports, expand broadband access, and help localities protect against climate change.

Not only are GOP members of Congress angry the 13 voted for the legislation, they are angry they voted "early," rather than forcing Democrats to cross the majority threshold of votes to pass the bill without Republicans.

"Much of the anger is directed at Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), who voted early for the legislation. Katko is the ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee. Katko told multiple lawmakers on the House floor that he had seen Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) on television talking about the infrastructure bill, and he was voting early."

Members of the Sedition Caucus, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Matt Gaetz have publicly attacked their fellow Republicans for voting to help the American people by voting for the bill.

https://www.rawstory.com/gop-infrastructure/

[Rick Plant]

We see the Trump disaster on the left and the Biden transformation on the right.

Under Trump we were losing 1 million jobs per month. Biden came in and got Americans back to work creating an average of 620,000 jobs per month and 5.6 million total which is the most jobs ever created by a President in less than 10 months.

Under Trump the unemployment rate soared. Biden has lowered the unemployment rate way down to 4.6%.

The vaccine rollout under Trump was an absolute dismal failure with less than 1 million shots per day. President Biden completely transformed America's vaccine rollout into the best in the world vaccinating over 4 million people which is an amazing record. 70% of adults have been fully vaccinated.

The GDP has soared under the Biden Administration.

This is amazing progress in just a few months time!         

[Rick Plant]

Biden rolls out multibillion-dollar plan to upgrade aging U.S. ports after passage of infrastructure bill

The Biden administration outlined several initiatives on Tuesday aimed at addressing immediate supply-chain challenges and other disruptions affecting global commerce, a move that follows the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill, the single largest federal investment in American history, includes $17 billion for infrastructure improvements at coastal and inland ports, waterways and ports of entry along the U.S. border.

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration outlined several initiatives on Tuesday aimed at addressing immediate supply chain challenges and other disruptions affecting global commerce.

Several senior administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to share details of the proposed plans, said the administration will begin work within the next 60 days with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on $4 billion worth of construction work at coastal ports, inland waterways as well as other corps-eligible facilities.

The plan will also identify and prioritize $3.4 billion in upgrades to obsolete inspection facilities that will make international trade more efficient through the northern and southern borders, a senior administration official said.

“This is a long-overdue infrastructure improvement and it has clearly been a bottleneck in the past,” the person added.

The officials said the administration plans to standardize data-sharing requirements for shipping lines, terminal operators, railroads, truckers, warehouses and cargo owners.

“There is not a lot of data-sharing among the private sector and participants in the goods movement chain,” the official said, adding that the lack of data exchange causes delays and inefficiencies as cargo moves from one part of the supply chain to another.

The U.S. Digital Service is working with the Federal Maritime Commission and the joint program office at the Department of Transportation to build a data framework that will help move goods more efficiently, the senior Biden administration official said.

“This is one of the more important but less visible parts of this program,” the person added.

The world’s supply chain – already exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic – is continuing to bear the brunt of surging consumer demand, labor shortages and overseas manufacturing delays, which has led to higher transportation costs and inflation.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden will visit the Port of Baltimore to discuss how the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by lawmakers Friday will improve ports and strengthen supply chains.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill, which passed the Senate in August but sat idle in the House for months, will finance colossal upgrades to America’s roads, bridges, airports, seaports and rail systems.

The bill, the single largest federal investment in American history, includes $17 billion in infrastructure improvements at coastal and inland ports, waterways and ports of entry along the U.S. border.

The measure, which Biden has yet to sign into law, includes an additional $110 billion to repair roads, bridges as well as other major transportation projects across the United States.

When asked for the timing of these investments, a senior administration official said that work was “already underway” on some projects while other programs would take anywhere from 45 days to 90 days.

The officials did not indicate when Biden would sign the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The bill’s passage came on the heels of Biden’s attendance at the annual forum of the “Group of 20,” or G-20, referring to the 20 major economies that account for more than 80% of world GDP and 75% of global trade.

While at the G-20, Biden convened a summit alongside leaders from 14 other countries and the European Union calling for their unbending commitment on supply chain issues.

“Supply chains are something that most of our citizens never think twice about until something goes wrong. And during this pandemic, we’ve seen delays and backlogs of goods from automobiles to electronics, from shoes to furniture,” Biden said in his debut at the G-20 since becoming president.

“Ending the pandemic is the ultimate key to unlocking the disruptions we’re all contending with. But, we have to take action now, together with our partners in the private sector, to reduce the backlogs that we’re facing,” he said.

Now that the pandemic has highlighted vulnerabilities in the system, he said, “we cannot go back to business as usual.”

Last month, the Biden administration unveiled a plan to run operations 24/7 at the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s busiest port complex.

Shortly thereafter, the twin California ports, which account for 40% of sea freight entering the United States, announced new fines on carriers in order to clear the intensifying logjam of cargo ships.

Starting on Nov. 1, offloaded containers moved by trucks will have nine days before fines start accruing. Containers scheduled to move by rail will have three days. In accordance with these deadlines, carriers will be charged $100 for each lingering container per day.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/09/supply-chain-fix-biden-administration-to-spend-more-than-4-billion-on-aging-us-ports.html

[Rick Plant]

Pro-infrastructure Republicans are facing a barrage of abuse from furious Trump supporters: report
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-supporters-infrastructure/

[Rick Plant]

‘Somebody’s going to get killed’: Dem lawmaker hammers GOP for refusing to punish Gosar for violent video
https://www.rawstory.com/kevin-mccarthy-paul-gosar/

[Rick Plant]

President Biden touts infrastructure bill at Port of Baltimore, says it will boost economy
https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/president-biden-touts-infrastructure-bill-at-port-of-baltimore-says-it-will-boost-economy