Infrastructure, Schminfrastructure.

[Catseye3]

http://www.williamengdahl.com/englishNEO2June2021.php

[N]ow the Biden team has rushed another multi-trillion bill to Congress. The $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan is a bill where way less than half of the measures have to do with conventional infrastructure investment in roads, rails, electric grids, water supplies, ports or airports—all the areas essential to the efficient functioning of the economy. A total of $750 billion or only 32% of the total actually goes for infrastructure such as highway or bridge repairs. Yet even that total includes only $115 billion of real infrastructure for highways, bridges, and surface streets. But the $750 transportation infrastructure section proposes $174 billion for more government subsidies for Green Agenda electric vehicles in what might be called a “make Elon Musk richer” subsidy. The White House fact sheet says that this will help make the US more competitive with China’s electric cars. But the best selling E-car in China today is Musk’s Tesla. That $174 billion is far more than the total $115 billion earmarked for real highway, bridge and transportation infrastructure spending. Yet the White House promotes the bill by referring to the need to address America’s crumbling highways and bridges as though this was what the bill is focused on."

[George K]

If you started spending a dollar per second on January 1, year 1, by today, you would have spent $63,767,692,800 - about $64 billion dollars.

[Catseye3]

@george-k Yeah, I was thinking . . . this thing's sheer size may be what saves us a few bucks. The Senate cut it back to one trillion, but the House will demand more -- who'da thunk. All that wrassling will take time. Then if/when Biden signs it, it will go through the bureaucratic mill, taking endlessly more time. Then it will be divvied up to the states, who will squabble over it some more before passing the gelt on to the counties and cities which will also screw around with it forever.

It's possible all this will take the thing past the Biden expy date. Then it starts all over again, and we can breathe easy. Over that, at least.

[Mik]

He needs to get something on infrastructure over the finish line and I doubt he much cares what's in it. He's just trying not to be a lame duck, even though he's about 75% there already. I look for a GOP senate and house come 2023.