US Senate gives green light to Joe Biden’s infrastructure megaproject

Polls show the push to improve the country’s infrastructure, devised by a bipartisan group of senators over months of negotiations, is hugely popular with citizens.

The bill has not yet been sent to Camera of Representatives and the spirit of cooperation in Congress that led to its adoption on Tuesday is likely to be fleeting.

The majority leader in the Senate, Mandrel Schumer, also hopes to pass a budget resolution laying the groundwork for $ 3.5 trillion to go to healthcare, climate change and other Biden priorities that Democrats will almost certainly have to sidestep Republicans’ objections in a maneuver dubbed “budget reconciliation”.

Once the resolution is passed, Democrats will begin crafting the reconciliation package for a vote after returning from their summer vacation in September.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly stated that her body will not accept any bills until they have both in hand, meaning that there are months of work left before Tuesday’s measure reaches Biden’s office to be enacted.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday that the infrastructure bill increase federal budget deficits by $ 256 billion in 10 years, an assessment rejected by negotiators who said the CBO underestimated the amount of revenue it would generate.

The leader of the senatorial minority, Mitch McConnell, noted that Republicans would try to use the voting sessions to gain support from moderate Democrats for what he called package of expenses “radical“It would create a permanent welfare state and usher in the biggest peacetime tax hike in American history.

The new infrastructure regulations provide for the imposition of stricter rules on investors in the crypto-currencies in order to collect more taxes and finance part of the investment.

The result of an unusual compromise between Democrats and some Republicans, the infrastructure investment plan calls for $ 550 billion in new federal spending on roads, bridges, transportation, high-speed internet and climate change.

If we take into account the reorientation of other existing public funds, it reaches a total of 1,200 billion dollars, the equivalent of Spain’s GDP in 2020.

The vice president, Kamala harris, chaired the session to announce this important victory in the Senate.

Former Republican President Donald trump assessed the case as “a shameAnd threatened with electoral reprisals against Republicans who voted in favor, warning that its application would give a “victory” to his Democratic successor.

Influential leader Mitch McConnell voted, well aware of the popularity of such a program in a country with poor infrastructure.

Now that the infrastructure plan has been passed, the Senate is looking at another important part of Joe Biden’s agenda: a titanic plan to invest $ 3.5 trillion in “human infrastructure“.

This represents an avalanche of social spending on education, health, labor market and climate, including energy transition measures designed to “put the United States on track to meet” the ambitious climate goals of Joe Biden who are reducing pollution levels to zero. in the US energy sector by 2035 and make the US economy carbon neutral by 2050.