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Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

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In my day, never was longer.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

People are complicated. Love is not.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

You are here: Home / Climate Change / Climate Change Solutions / Open Thread: President Biden Live on Infrastructure

Reader Interactions

83Comments

  4. 4.

    MisterForkbeard

    It’s a good speech. I can summarize:

    1. It’s a great plan
    2. The tax increases to pay for it are targeted well
    3. We’ll see if it gets any eyeballs because Joe is doing his normal person thing and there’s a distinct lack of bombast

    Also, can I say how nice it is to know that the president is trying to make positive changes rather than sabotage us or sell out our infrastructure to business?

  6. 6.

    Jeffro

    cue Fox News: “…this is just the Green New Deal, only proposed by Joe Biden, stalking horse for the extreme far left…” in 3, 2, 1…

    Good luck with that, GQP!

    (also President Biden just twisted the knife on ‘former leader…I guess he’s no longer the leader’ Mitch McConnell and I AM HERE FOR IT)

  9. 9.

    Brachiator

    I guess it’s a start, but I am not impressed with the infrastructure plan. I would like to see a plan that is more tailored to Covid recovery. I would like to see more done to help small business and those employed by small businesses.

    The GOP revised the entire tax code, individual, corporate, estate and trusts. I want to see more about the Biden plan here. I hope it does not just depend on tax increases. Again, a good start, but they need to be comprehensive.

    When the GOP wrote the 2017 plan, they were sloppy and stupid and gave up a lot to big business. But they had an idea of what they wanted to do. I hope the Democrats have a better, smarter staff of people working on this. And more imaginative guidance from Treasury and other contributors.

  10. 10.

    Nora Lenderbee

    Will they remove the limit on state-tax deductibility from Fed taxes? My Fed taxes went up under the Asswipe.

  12. 12.

    debbie

    @Jeffro:

    Listened to an interview with a GOPer who also used the phrase “Green New Deal.” Clearly this is an ALEC-type talking point.

    I just hope Joe doesn’t try to sell his plan at the next wedding he crashes. //

  14. 14.

    Ken

    @Jeffro:also President Biden just twisted the knife on ‘former leader…I guess he’s no longer the leader’ Mitch McConnell

    BIDEN HAS ANOTHER “SENIOR MOMENT”
    FORGETS WHO IS SENATE MAJORITY LEADER
    ENTIRE INFRASTRUCTURE PITCH UNDERMINED
    — MUST CREDIT SLUDGE —

  15. 15.

    Almost Retired

    I am on Spring Break and sitting by the pool in Palm Springs.  I was scrolling through Balloon Juice posts, and an ad for some sort of skin cream kept popping up promising to fix my sun-damaged crepe skin.  After the fourth time that ad appeared in the comments of the same post, I moved into the shade.

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    @mali muso:

    He sounds so reasonable, so calm and reassuring and also inspiring. 

    How unpresidential!  Where’s Rush Limbaugh when you need him to throw a fit about something stupid?

    Oh right – still dead!

  23. 23.

    hitchhiker

    @Jeffro: ​
     

    President Biden just twisted the knife on ‘former leader…I guess he’s no longer the leader’ Mitch McConnell

    Think how pissed Joe must have been when Mitch refused to hold a hearing for Merrick Garland. Of all the bullshit Mitch has pulled over the years, that brazen fuck-you to the Democrats, to the voters who elected Obama, and to Obama himself was the absolute worst.

    Never, ever going to stop celebrating Mitch’s fall from power, and I laughed to see Joe rub it in.

  24. 24.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Americans have responded favorably to the president’s approach, with 73% approving of his handling of the pandemic. That includes about half of Republicans, a rarity given how divided Americans have been along party lines on many key issues in recent years.

    Sixty percent of Americans now say they approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, compared with 55% a month ago.

    Overall, Biden’s job approval sits at a healthy 61% as he enters his third month in office, according to the AP-NORC survey. That’s well above the approval ratings for [TFG], at this same point in his presidency. [TFG]’s overall approval rating never topped 50% in an AP-NORC survey.

    (link)

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Feathers:

    I am waiting for some sort of pandemic windfall profits tax. 

    Making Amazon, and any others who don’t, pay federal income tax would be what you’re looking for.

  26. 26.

    sab

    I got a surprise telephone town hall call from Tim Ryan yesterday, mostly devoted to infrastructure in the just passed relief bill.

    I do taxes from a very white northern Ohio suburb. Covid has clobbered these people economically. I usually see maybe two unemployment 1099s per year. I have seen dozens this year.

  30. 30.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Jeffro:

    (also President Biden just twisted the knife on ‘former leader…I guess he’s no longer the leader’ Mitch McConnell and I AM HERE FOR IT)

    I missed that. What was the knife-twisting verbiage?

     

    OTA: Doh! I get it now… Leader, no, my bad,… FORMER leader…

  31. 31.

    Ken

    @Almost Retired: How very Big Brother. You may want to turn off the location feature on your phone. Or see if it has an option to only report your location to an accuracy of 50 feet or so.

  32. 32.

    Brachiator

    @sab:

    I do taxes from a very white northern Ohio suburb. Covid has clobbered these people economically. I usually see maybe two unemployment 1099s per year. I have seen dozens this year.

    I hope these people are happy with the breaks the Democrats have given them. Also people taking Covid related early pension distributions.

    Also, the IRS is issuing some new guidance on unemployment calculations for previously filed returns.

  38. 38.

    germy

    How can anyone say this infrastructure plan isn’t comprehensive?

    This thread has some details:

    https://twitter.com/ZacAKAMadu/status/1377236438362816522

    First, it looks like the Biden admin is leaning hard into $115 billion to “modernize the bridges, highways, roads, and main streets that are most in need of repair.” This reads less like business as usual at DOT, and more like smart streets with bike lanes and bus lanes.

    $105 billion for rebuilding and upgrading public transit infrastructure. If I were a city planner for NYC, Philly, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis – cities with rusty, tired commuter trains and subways, I would be dusting off my wish list right about now.

    $80 billion just for improvements to Amtrak, and especially the Northeast Corridor. Gateway Tunnel, Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel 2.0 are absolutely 100% happening.

    $174 billion for the electric vehicle market, starting with 50,000 electric school buses (the latter was very much a MVP Harris idea). Michigan came through for Joe Biden, and he’s repaying the favor. This is how Democrats make the Rust Belt blue again.

    The $20 billion racial justice plank of the American Jobs Plan looks absolutely incredible. Funds dedicated specifically for tearing down highways that cut off access to communities of color. This will transform neighborhoods from the South Bronx to Atlanta to Houston.

    $111 billion for clean water infrastructure, including $45 billion for replacing all lead pipes and $56 billion for water treatment and sewage treatment plants. This former EPA law clerk is squealing with delight as I read this. (I worked primarily on sewer grants)

    $16 billion specifically for plugging abandoned oil wells, gas wells, and coal mines. I don’t think people realize how much methane pollution – a very potent greenhouse gas – is just waste from abandoned mining and drilling sites. This is fucking huge.

    $40 billion for public housing. There are so many NYCHA projects with broken elevators and boilers that don’t provide heat in the winter. This could give some of the most distressed housing stock critical repairs and upgrades.

    $100 billion for construction, renovations, and modernization of public schools – with of course an emphasis on sanitation and cleanliness.

    $25 billion for child care facilities. The fact that child care is being included in a national infrastructure plan has got to be groundbreaking. I don’t think there’s been anything like this since World War II.

  42. 42.

    MisterForkbeard

    OT, but just got my vaccine shot scheduled for mid April. Screw you, covid.

    Gonna see if I can get an earlier appointment when eligibility opens up a bit tomorrow, but the light’s at the end of the tunnel :)

  43. 43.

    Almost Retired

    @mrmoshpotato:  When I say Spring Break, I mean it’s my wife’s Spring Break.  And I should venture to add that she gets a Spring Break because she is a High School administrator, and not a student.  I am not Matt Gaetz.

  44. 44.

    Catherine D.

    WSJ is reporting a (possible) Democratic proposal to drop Medicare age from 65 to 60. Wouldn’t it be loverly!

  47. 47.

    Baud

    @germy:

    $111 billion for clean water infrastructure, including $45 billion for replacing all lead pipes and $56 billion for water treatment and sewage treatment plants. This former EPA law clerk is squealing with delight as I read this. (I worked primarily on sewer grants)

    Shit just got real.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    Well this is unfortunate.

    Workers at a Baltimore plant manufacturing two coronavirus vaccines accidentally conflated the vaccines’ ingredients several weeks ago, ruining about 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and forcing regulators to delay authorization of the plant’s production lines.

    NYT

  52. 52.

    JoyceH

    Let’s start calling the plan Rooseveltesque and referring to Biden as “JRB”. It will give the Republicans fits!

  55. 55.

    Ken

    @West of the Rockies: isrushlimbaughdead.com is available, if you want to set up one of those single-purpose web sites like isabevigodadead.com or istheshipstillstuck.com, just so you can visit every day and see the big YES.

  60. 60.

    L85NJGT

    Chicago Airports Seeing Pre-Pandemic Levels of Traffic, Data Shows

    On track for another spike and lockdown.

  64. 64.

    Brachiator

    @germy:

    Note that the plan reduces the deficit over 15 years

    Also, McConnell did not have problems with Trump’s tax cuts massively increasing the national debt.

    These GOP clowns need to get a new act.

  65. 65.

    mrmoshpotato

    @L85NJGT:

    Chicago Airports Seeing Pre-Pandemic Levels of Traffic, Data Shows 

    Glad I got my first dose today!  Good on ya, ya dumbass slapdicks!

  66. 66.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Brachiator:

    Also, McConnell did not have problems with Trump’s tax cuts massively increasing the national debt.

    These GOP clowns need to get a new act.

    Silly Brachiator.  The national debt is only a problem for Democratic presidents, not for Rethuglican presidents, and definitely not for a Soviet shitpile mobster conman.

  67. 67.

    L85NJGT

    @Baud:

    States are doing a slow walk on expanding who qualifies because there aren’t enough slots for demand. Vaccine supply is now outpacing throughput. Those two shot vaccines are a 50% hit to capacity.

  70. 70.

    Fair Economist

    @germy: Speaking as somebody often concerned about “infrastructure plans” because they mostly build new roads and highways of dubious value, I have to agree this plan is *incredibly* good. Detailed, and covering a lot of ways that improve infrastructure in ways that have never been addressed before (such as taking down highways that mostly just get in the way).

  72. 72.

    Martin

    @germy: Public housing – good. I’ve been telling my state folks that the state should take every NIMBYed development project in the state, eminent domain it, and put up public housing. Either let the developers build, or the state will do it. But not building isn’t a solution. Privileged homeowners don’t get to filibuster housing.

    They’ve already been doing a bit of  this – various state agencies have been putting public housing on parking land around rail stations.

  73. 73.

    Brachiator

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Silly Brachiator.  The national debt is only a problem for Democratic presidents, not for Rethuglican presidents, and definitely not for a Soviet shitpile mobster conman.

    I’m enjoying watching the GOP try to push the same old simplistic bullshit.

  74. 74.

    Martin

    We build electric buses in CA. Harris looking out for her home state.

    Proterra and Gillig are both located in CA. BYDs NA operations are in CA. They’re located here because we created a market here. Hey Ohio – create a market there, you have the workforce to make these.

  75. 75.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Jeffro:

    We have failed our “marshmallow test” so many times during this pandemic that even cynical ol’ me is floored.  Seriously. 

    Hell, some people crammed both jumbo marshmallows in their mouths, and then demanded the rest of the bag!

  76. 76.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Martin:

    Originally read as ‘sewer grates’. Much better on re-reading. 

    Thankfully other people work on sewer grates.  Otherwise, driving would be an axle-busting good time!

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    I found this on whitehouse.gov under the press briefings.  If Biden made this overview clear in his speech, I missed it!

    The plan has four parts, all of which will affect our everyday lives.

    The first is how we move investments in our roads, bridges, rail, and other elements of our transportation infrastructure.

    The second is how we live at home — investments in broadband, water, power, housing, and buildings.

    The third is how we care for one another — investments in home and community-based care for older family members and people with disabilities.

    The fourth is how we make — how we make investments in manufacturing, next-generation research and development, high-quality workforce development, and critical supply chains.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    “I have not had a relationship with a 17-year-old. That is totally false,” Gaetz told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson in an interview Tuesday night. “That is false and records will bear that out to be false.”

    A relationship.

    I love this story because I think Gaetz found out he was under investigation and then concocted a story that the (now former) DOJ official offered 25 million to bury the investigation.

    Which isn’t even exonerating, is the thing. They could both be criminals.

  81. 81.

    sdhays

    @Kay: I’m surprised you’re unaware of the “if someone tries to blackmail you to cover up your crime, you can’t be tried for that crime, ever” statute. Isn’t that covered in law school?

  82. 82.

    Betsy

    @Fair Economist: Yes, I agree completely. No new highways. New highways are climate arson. And tearing down urban highways that destroyed (in fact deliberately targeted) entire minority neighborhoods is one approach to reparations!

  83. 83.

    Another Scott

    I didn’t see the speech, but this is music to my ears. ScienceMag:

    President Joe Biden proposes spending $250 billion on the U.S. research enterprise over the next several years as part of a plan to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, create jobs, and outinnovate the rest of the world.

    A fact sheet issued in advance of Biden’s speech today in Pittsburgh names a host of federal research agencies that would receive pieces of that largesse but provides few details. It targets $180 billion specifically for “R&D and the technologies of the future,” along with an additional $70 billion in research-related areas ranging from combating pandemics to bolstering innovation in rural areas. Several of the new programs appear to dovetail with legislation having similar goals that has recently been introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate, often with bipartisan support.

    ScienceInsider will be following this story. Here are highlights of what we know so far about the president’s plan.

    * The National Science Foundation (NSF) would receive $50 billion, some of which would go to a new technology directorate. NSF’s current budget is $8.5 billion, and the fact sheet doesn’t specify a length of time for the new investment. By comparison, last week a bipartisan group of legislators on the science committee in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation calling for NSF to receive $72 billion over the next 5 years, with $13 billion of that going to a new directorate dubbed Science and Engineering Solutions. Last year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY) introduced the Endless Frontier Act, which would give NSF $100 billion over 5 years and create a technology directorate. A new version, also with bipartisan support, is expected to be introduced next month.

    * Some $40 billion would be spent to upgrade the nation’s research facilities, presumably both federal labs and those at universities around the country. Although the proposal refers to facilities supported by several federal agencies, the only one mentioned by name is the Department of Energy, which operates a network of 17 national laboratories. One-half of the money would go to minority-serving institutions, including the more than 100 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Biden also calls for a new national climate research lab “affiliated with an HBCU.”

    * Minority-serving institutions would also get $10 billion more in research dollars, and an additional $15 billion for up to 200 “centers of excellence.” The centers would serve both as “incubators” for startup companies and as a place to train students across all fields of science and engineering, including fellowships for graduate students.

    * Some $35 billion would be spent to develop technologies “that address the climate crisis and position the United States as the global leader in clean energy technology and clean energy jobs.” Some $15 billion would go to climate-related demonstration projects, ranging from carbon capture to quantum computing, and $5 billion specifically for research. The plan also calls for a new entity, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Climate, presumably within the Department of Energy.

    * Some $30 billion in Biden’s plan represents “additional funding for R&D that spurs innovation and job creation, including in rural areas.” This investment appears to have goals similar to a bill introduced last week by two leading Democratic senators, Dick Durbin (IL) and Chris Coons (DE), that would authorize a multibillion-dollar program at NSF for “innovation centers” located in metropolitan areas with fewer than 500,000 people. The bill, which has a House counterpart, would specifically exclude nine “established tech hubs,” a reference to Silicon Valley; Boston; Austin, Texas; and other high-tech powerhouses.

    * The $1-billion-a-year National Institute of Standards and Technology would receive $14 billion over an unspecified time to further its mission. In particular, the plan asks the Department of Commerce agency to use the money to “bring together industry, academia, and government to advance technologies and capabilities critical to future competitiveness.” Biden would also quadruple the size of the Manufacturing Extension Partnerships, a $150 million program that serves small and medium-size companies making a range of high-tech products.

    It needs to be sustained for generations (people aren’t going to go into STEM unless there are stable, good paying, satisfying jobs at the end of their training), but it’s a great start. Well done.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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