As usual, these two bills were cumbersome, complicated and jam packed.  For example, phase one of the American Jobs Plan was sold as the physical infrastructure piece of the plan, served with a heaping side of investment in research and development.

​

First, let us say unequivocally that we are all for spending money on our deteriorating infrastructure. The U.S. transportation system has almost 13 million miles of highway; 19,639 airports; 185 ports; 8,250 cargo handling docks; almost 114 thousand miles of railroad; two and a half million miles of pipeline; 617,084 bridges; and 25,000 miles of navigable waterways.  Every year, this labyrinth carries passengers over 3 trillion miles in their vehicles, almost 7 billion miles in the air, and 1.5 billion miles by rail.  It also transports, literally, a boatload of merchandise. In 2018, the U.S. transportation system moved over 18 billion tons of freight, valued at almost $19 trillion.  By 2045, that number is expected to be $37 trillion.

​

Practically every one of these categories have been neglected for years, and it shows.  Big time! The American Society of Civil Engineers gives U.S. infrastructure an overall grade of C- and estimates it will take an investment of over two and a half trillion dollars over the next ten years to even get us a B.  The group also warns that, if we continue to underinvest in infrastructure, by 2039 the costs to society will equal $10 trillion in GDP, over 3 million jobs, and over $2 trillion dollars in exports.

​

Our C- infrastructure is yet another textbook example of the importance of being proactive versus reactive.  This is happening.  We can’t twitch our noses and wish a new bridge to appear, and we can’t afford to keep slapping Band-Aids on gaping wounds. We must mobilize our resources to get these things done...immediately.  It’s bad enough that things are about to collapse, but our outdated infrastructure also makes us look bush-league.  We all know you can’t exactly be the shining city upon the hill if everything is falling down.

 

We’re not talking about a third world country; we’re talking about the United States of America!

 

There is no excuse for the world’s largest national economy to lack state-of-the-art airports, subways, railways and ports; sophisticated fiber-optic lines, bandwidth and wireless networks; modern schools, roads, bridges, levees, dams and water systems; hi-tech oil and gas pipelines and electricity-distribution grids; and extensive high-speed rail systems.

 

Modernizing our infrastructure creates a safer nation, helps revitalize hard-hit sectors like construction and heavy manufacturing, and makes our economy more productive and efficient.  Investment in infrastructure also produces jobs, both directly (jobs involved in the actual projects) and indirectly (jobs created by the need for supplies and support for the projects).  This, in turn, sparks a cycle of growth that will eventually create even more jobs — employed people spend money in the economy so more people will be needed to handle the higher demand.  #TheButterflyEffect

​

Additionally, we cannot ignore the fact that our infrastructure is integral to our global competitiveness. These two are intricately intertwined because infrastructure is one of the main things domestic and international companies evaluate when they choose locations for their business operations, not to mention the absolute necessity of safely and swiftly moving the people, goods and services that are already here.  Time is money, people!  : )

​

Hence President Biden’s American Jobs Plan. In the original proposal, money was allocated for roads and bridges; airports; public schools; the U.S. freight system; public transit; Amtrak and other railways; ports and airports; universal broadband; the electric grid; electric vehicle chargers; lead pipe replacement; affordable housing improvements; the modernization of community colleges, Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics and child-care facilities; and even the electrification of 20 percent of our yellow school buses.

 

But wait!  There’s more!  This one bill also covered investments in the manufacturing sector; the improvement of working conditions; increasing road safety for cyclists and pedestrians; worker training; refilling our Strategic National Stockpile; and expanding home or community-based care for older and disabled Americans.

 

Good grief!  I mean, where’s the kitchen sink?

 

Now, we know some of you may think we're being hypocritical because we have used the word “comprehensive” a thousand times, and Lord knows Biden’s bill was comprehensive in the truest sense of the word.

​

Yes, we have used the word comprehensive quite a bit, but only as it pertains to looking at our entire policy agenda to ensure that seemingly disparate policies work together for the biggest bang for our buck, not as a mechanism for loading so much into a bill that there is zero chance for smooth implementation and proper oversight. 

​

Plus, these massive bills tend to be Trojan Horses heavily influenced by lobbyists.  For example, if the American Jobs Plan was really meant to address our physical infrastructure, why was only 5 percent of the funding allocated to roads and bridges but almost 20 percent allocated for expanding elderly and disabled care? 

​

Let us be clear: We're certainly not against our elderly and disabled getting the very best care — we assure you, we're very much for protecting our elderly and disabled — but $400 billion for their “home or community-based care” being in a bill supposedly focused on physical infrastructure is suspicious.  As was the Biden administration’s explanation for it.  After being grilled over these semantics, they explained that elderly and disabled Americans are indeed infrastructure, just in human form — which is just a ridiculously silly thing to say and makes the entire thing even more questionable.

​

Another part of the Biden administration’s explanation was that the jobs involved in taking care of our elderly and disabled are disproportionally filled by women of color, and they should be making more money…something that, again, we agree with 100%.  But this justification instantly lost credibility with us when we learned that the $400 billion allocated for “home or community-based care” — which constitutes a fifth of the cost of the entire bill — was included mainly because special interest organizations like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lobbied hard for it to be.

​

Of course, it makes perfect sense that the SEIU would get special treatment from a Democrat-led White House and Congress since the organization has given $136,075,857 in political contributions since 1990 and spent $22,950,291 on lobbying since 1998.  This is in addition to spending $74,920,001 in so-called outside spending, which are political expenditures made “independent” of candidates’ committees (i.e., party committees, Super PACS and 501(c) “dark money” groups.)  The SEIU contributed $27,992,765 during the 2020 election cycle alone.

​

What is that brilliant phrase that the wise sage Sarah Palin used about lipstick and pigs?