The president, Joe Biden, presented on Wednesday a
two trillion dollars
investment plan
in infrastructure with which the president also hopes to add millions of better paying jobs for American families, as part of his economic recovery program 'Rebuild Better' (
Build Back Better
, in English).
Biden's plan to improve infrastructure - which some see as a cornerstone of his economic agenda - includes investment in
roads
,
ports
,
bridges
and
airports
, but also in less traditional elements such as
high-speed
broadband
and other neglected priorities. side for a long time, including the renovation of
the electrical grid
, the
replacement of lead pipes
in homes and schools,
home care for the elderly and disabled,
and the
generation of clean energy.
"You are going to create the strongest, most resilient and innovative economy in the world," the president said in a speech Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
"It's big, yes, it's daring, yes, and we can do it."
The plan, which is set to be completed over a period of eight years, is part of the Administration's efforts to make generational investments in infrastructure, reactivate domestic manufacturing, combat climate change, and "increase the economic competitiveness of the United States against to China, ”a senior White House official said hours before Biden's announcement.
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"We have to move now because I am convinced that if we act now, in 50 years time people will look back and say 'This was the moment America conquered the future," added Biden.
"This plan reflects the President's commitment to recognize the moment in which we find ourselves as an important moment to demonstrate that the United States and democracies can deliver on the people they serve, and that what is at stake right now is important, "he added.
The Administration is proposing to Congress to pay for these investments with an increase in corporate taxes from 21% to 28% over 15 years, which would reverse the lower tax rates set by the Trump Administration.
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Biden made the announcement from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a city the White House sees as an example of how a former factory site was revitalized and modernized with new healthcare and tech industries.
Investments in infrastructure are just the first part of Biden's 'Rebuild Better' plan.
The White House is expected to unveil a second part of the plan in the coming weeks with investment proposals more towards the human plane, such as
the expansion of child care, health insurance coverage, expanded tax benefits for children and licenses. family and paid doctors
, among other efforts directed at families.
In total, the first and second parts of the plan combined are expected to cost approximately $ 4 trillion.
Biden's investment plan is so comprehensive that it has been compared to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, launched in the 1930s or Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, in the 1960s.
This first part consists specifically of 4 stages or components:
1: How we move (transportation infrastructure)
• Provides 620,000 million for infrastructure in the area of transportation.
• Double federal funding for transit.
• Electrification of the transportation system, including investments in electric vehicles.
2: How we live (modern infrastructure)
• Provides 650,000 million to promote broadband connection, drinking water, the electricity grid and the construction of affordable housing.
• Seeks to replace all lead pipes in the United States to achieve universal access to clean water.
• Seeks to achieve universal access to broadband.
3: How we take care of each other
• Expects to invest $ 400 billion in the "care economy" and expand jobs in the home care workforce.
4: How we build (Research, development and innovation)
• Provides 580,000 million for research, development, manufacturing and training.
• Work on rebuilding supply chains, including domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
• Support clean energy manufacturing projects in coal communities.
Biden hopes to take a more collaborative approach with lawmakers to this plan than he did with the COVID-19 bailout package, which was not supported by Republicans.
Some leaders of that party in Congress have already described the plan as too big and expensive to support.
"It appears that President Biden has an insatiable appetite to spend more money and increase people's taxes," said Rep. Of Louisiana, Republican Steve Scalis in an interview.
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Scalise predicted that, if approved, the new spending and taxes "would begin to have a negative impact on the economy, which is of great concern to us."
During the presidential campaign, Biden promised that he would not raise individual taxes on those who earn less than $ 400,000 a year.
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The Administration expects to see progress on new
Memorial Day
legislation
and it will pass over the summer, according to White House officials.
Biden's approach is about "making an investment in America," said Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki.
"Not only modernizing our roads, our railways and our bridges, but also building an infrastructure of the future," he said, pointing to broadband access and "needs in homes and communities."
Investing in infrastructure is a unique opportunity for Biden to succeed on an issue where his two predecessors, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, made big promises that never materialized.
With information from The Washington Post and The Associated Press