Sounds like the prelude to a bipartisan deal. Except that when it comes to trying to upgrade the country’s road, rail, water and broadband systems, Washington frequently veers off the tracks — usually over the bill’s contents and how to pay for it.
“We are an economy that depends on public goods to educate our children, move goods from place to place, ensure our safety,” said Jared Bernstein, who was chief economist to former Vice President Joe Biden. “They simply haven’t been willing to sit down and hammer out an infrastructure plan that both sides could agree on.”
The parties have been bedeviled so consistently by disagreements over a goal both say they embrace that it has been encapsulated in jokes about “infrastructure week” — shorthand for Trump plans to roll out proposals that never materialize.
This time could be different, as leaders of the mostly locked-down country desperately try addressing the historic loss of jobs and averting the worst economic collapse since the Depression. Congress and Trump have already approved over $2.2 trillion to bail out the demolished economy and overwhelmed health care system — all of it by adding to the national debt.
Yet even with both sides agreeing that infrastructure can be a reliable way of creating jobs and modernizing systems that themselves add muscle to the economy, it’s unclear they can reach an election-year compromise.
“A lot of this is theater, staking out the high ground for the fight that’s coming,” said Liam Donovan, a lobbyist who’s specialized in infrastructure work.
Pelosi, D-Calif., and other top Democrats sketched out their own evolving infrastructure plan on Wednesday.
This story is from the April 04, 2020 edition of Techlife News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 04, 2020 edition of Techlife News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
EUROPEAN UNION QUESTIONS TIKTOK ON NEW APP THAT PAYS USERS FOR WATCHING
European Union regulators said this week they’re seeking details from TikTok on a new app from the video sharing platform that pays users to watch videos.
FACED WITH POSSIBLY PAYING FOR NEWS, GOOGLE REMOVES LINKS TO CALIFORNIA NEWS SITES FOR SOME USERS
Google began removing California news websites from some people’s search results, a test that acted as a threat should the state Legislature pass a law requiring the search giant to pay media companies for linking to their content.
UBER AND LYFT DELAY THEIR PLANS TO LEAVE MINNEAPOLIS AFTER OFFICIALS PUSH BACK DRIVER PAY PLAN
The ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft said they will delay their planned exit from Minneapolis after city officials decided to push back the start of a driver pay raise by two months.
NASA IS SEEKING A FASTER AND CHEAPER WAY TO BRING MARS SAMPLES TO EARTH
NASA’s plan to bring samples from Mars back to Earth is on hold until there’s a faster, cheaper way, space agency officials said.
TESLA TO ASK SHAREHOLDERS TO REINSTATE $55 BILLION PAY PACKAGE FOR MUSK REJECTED BY DELAWARE JUDGE
Tesla will ask shareholders to reinstate a compensation package for CEO Elon Musk potentially worth $55 billion that was rejected by a judge in Delaware this year and to move the electric car maker’s corporate home from Delaware to Texas.
MICROSOFT INVESTS $1.5 BILLION IN AI FIRM G42, OVERSEEN BY UAE'S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER
Microsoft is investing $1.5 billion in a technology firm based in the United Arab Emirates and overseen by the country’s powerful national security adviser.
MASSACHUSETTS OFFICIAL WARNS AI SYSTEMS SUBJECT TO CONSUMER PROTECTION, ANTI-BIAS LAWS
Developers, suppliers, and users of artificial intelligence must comply with existing state consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and data privacy laws, the Massachusetts attorney general cautioned this week.
AMAZON REMOVED JUST WALK OUT FROM MANY OF ITS OWN STORES BUT WANTS TO SELL THE SYSTEM TO OTHERS
Amazon wants the public and - especially other businesses - to know it's not giving up on its Just Walk Out technology.
NISSAN SAYS IT WILL MAKE NEXT-GENERATION EV BATTERIES BY EARLY 2029
Nissan expects to mass produce electric vehicles powered by advanced next-generation batteries by early 2029, the company said this week during a media tour of an unfinished pilot plant.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AGREES TO PROVIDE $6.4 BILLION TO SAMSUNG FOR MAKING COMPUTER CHIPS IN TEXAS
The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide up to $6.4 billion in direct funding for Samsung Electronics to develop a computer chip manufacturing and research cluster in Texas.