We collect cookies to analyze our website traffic and performance; we never collect any personal data. Cookie Policy
Accept
NEW YORK DAWN™NEW YORK DAWN™NEW YORK DAWN™
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • Trending
  • New York
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economy
    • Real Estate
  • Crypto & NFTs
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Art
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
Reading: Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Is a Big Success
Share
Font ResizerAa
NEW YORK DAWN™NEW YORK DAWN™
Search
  • Home
  • Trending
  • New York
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economy
    • Real Estate
  • Crypto & NFTs
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Art
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
Follow US
NEW YORK DAWN™ > Blog > Trending > Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Is a Big Success
Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Is a Big Success
Trending

Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Is a Big Success

Last updated: November 19, 2021 7:53 pm
Editorial Board Published November 19, 2021
Share
SHARE
18brooks 2 facebookJumbo

Joe Biden came to the White House at a pivotal moment in American history. We had become a country dividing into two nations, one highly educated and affluent and the other left behind. The economic gaps further inflamed cultural and social gaps, creating an atmosphere of intense polarization, cultural hostility, alienation, bitterness and resentment.

As president, Biden had mostly economic levers to try to bridge this cold civil war. He championed three gigantic pieces of legislation to create a more equal, more just and more united society: the Covid stimulus bill, the infrastructure bill and what became Build Back Better, to invest in human infrastructure.

All of these bills were written to funnel money to the parts of the country that were less educated, less affluent, left behind. Adam Hersh, a visiting economist at the Economic Policy Institute, projects that more than 80 percent of the new jobs created by the infrastructure plan will not require a college degree.

These gigantic proposals were bold endeavors. Some thought them too bold. Economist Larry Summers thought the stimulus package, for example, was too big. It could overstimulate the economy and lead to inflation.

Larry is one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known and someone I really admire. If I were an economist, I might have agreed with him. But I’m a journalist with a sociological bent. For over a decade I have been covering a country that was economically, socially and morally coming apart. I figured one way to reverse that was to turbocharge the economy and create white-hot labor markets that would lift wages at the bottom. If inflation was a byproduct, so be it. The trade-off is worth it to prevent a national rupture.

The Biden $1.9 trillion stimulus package passed and has been tremendously successful. It heated the overall economy. The Conference Board projects that real G.D.P. growth will be about 5 percent this quarter. The unemployment rate is falling. Retail sales are surging. About two-thirds of Americans feel their household’s financial situation is good.

But the best part is that the benefits are flowing to those down the educational and income ladder. In just the first month of payments, the expanded child tax credit piece of the stimulus bill kept three million American children out of poverty. Pay for hourly workers in the leisure and hospitality sector jumped 13 percent in August compared to the previous year. By June, there were more nonfarm job openings than there had been at any other time in American history. Workers have tremendous power these days.

The infrastructure bill Biden just signed will boost American productivity for years to come. As Ellen Zentner of Morgan Stanley told The Economist recently, it’s a rule of thumb that an extra $100 billion in annual infrastructure spending could increase growth by roughly a tenth of a percentage point — which is significant in an economy the size of ours. Federal infrastructure spending will be almost as large a share of annual GDP as the average level during Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

But Summers was right. The stimulus — along with all the supply chain and labor shortage disruptions that are inevitable when coming out of a pandemic — has boosted inflation. In addition, Americans are exhausted by a pandemic that seems to never end.

And they are taking it out on Democrats. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll revealed that voters now prefer Republican congressional candidates in their own districts by 51 percent to 41 percent. That’s the largest G.O.P. lead since this poll started asking the question, 40 years ago.

If presidencies were judged by short-term popularity, the Biden effort would look pretty bad. But that’s a terrible measure. First-term presidents almost always see their party get hammered in the midterm after their inauguration. That’s especially true if the president achieved big things. Michigan State political scientist Matt Grossmann looked at House popular vote trends since 1953. Often when presidents succeeded in passing major legislation — Republicans as well as Democrats — voters swung against the president’s party. Look, just to take a recent example, at how Obamacare preceded a Democratic shellacking in 2010. People distrust change. Success mobilizes opposition. It’s often only in retrospect that these policies become popular and even sacred.

Presidents are judged by history, not the distraction and exhaustion of the moment. Did the person in the Oval Office address the core problem of the moment? The Biden administration passes that test. Sure, there have been failures — the shameful Afghanistan withdrawal, failing to renounce the excesses of the cultural left. But this administration will be judged by whether it reduced inequality, spread opportunity, created the material basis for greater national unity.

It is doing that.

My fear is not that Democrats lose the midterms — it will have totally been worth it. My fear is that Democrats in Congress will make fantastic policies like the expanded child tax credit temporary to make budget numbers look good. If they do that the coming Republican majorities will simply let these policies expire.

If that happens then all this will have been in vain. The Democrats will have squandered what has truly been a set of historic accomplishments. Voters may judge Democrats harshly next November, but if they act with strength, history will judge them well.

You Might Also Like

Reserving the Future with GreenFlow: Glacier Vault’s Global Education Initiative

Debut Novel The Revenant’s Mark Blends Revolutionary War History with Dark Fantasy in a Haunting Tale of Resurrection and Reckoning

GARI Emerges as a Global Leader in Research Mentorship and Scholarly InnovationAustin, Texas

“A Family’s Fight to Reclaim Their Legacy”

Streamline, Scale, Succeed: Why Global Enterprises Are Moving to Odoo ERP

TAGGED:American Rescue Plan (2021)Biden, Joseph R JrChild Tax Credits and StipendsConsumer BehaviorCoronavirus (2019-nCoV)Democratic PartyInflation (Economics)Infrastructure (Public Works)Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021)Labor and JobsLaw and LegislationStimulus (Economic)The Washington MailUnited StatesUnited States EconomyUnited States Politics and GovernmentWages and Salaries
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Email Print

Follow US

Find US on Social Medias
FacebookLike
TwitterFollow
YoutubeSubscribe
TelegramFollow
Popular News
Pandemic settlement: key factors
Health

Pandemic settlement: key factors

Editorial Board May 20, 2025
Stranded dolphin dies on Lengthy Island seashore regardless of rescue try
As Conan O’Brien receives Mark Twain humor prize on the Kennedy Middle, the joke is on Trump
10 Artwork Reveals to See in Upstate New York This July 
Google’s Gemini AI simply shattered the principles of visible processing — right here’s what meaning for you

You Might Also Like

Beloved Children’s Book 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒑 𝑴𝒚 𝑴𝒐𝒎𝒔 𝑮𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑴𝒆 Returns to Best-Seller Status Years After Its Release — and Fans Are Begging for More
LifestyleTrending

Beloved Children’s Book 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒑 𝑴𝒚 𝑴𝒐𝒎𝒔 𝑮𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑴𝒆 Returns to Best-Seller Status Years After Its Release — and Fans Are Begging for More

June 23, 2025
Model With a Mission: In Conversation With Maurice Giovanni
EntertainmentTrending

Model With a Mission: In Conversation With Maurice Giovanni

June 22, 2025
AI Architecture Pioneer: How Abdul Muqtadir Mohammed Is Reshaping Cloud, Code, and Supply Chains
TechnologyTrending

AI Architecture Pioneer: How Abdul Muqtadir Mohammed Is Reshaping Cloud, Code, and Supply Chains

June 17, 2025
Global Security and Health Resilience: How AI-Driven Systems Could Reinvent National Safety—And the Visionary Behind the Shift
Trending

Global Security and Health Resilience: How AI-Driven Systems Could Reinvent National Safety—And the Visionary Behind the Shift

June 16, 2025

Categories

  • Health
  • Sports
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Technology
  • World
  • Art

About US

New York Dawn is a proud and integral publication of the Enspirers News Group, embodying the values of journalistic integrity and excellence.
Company
  • About Us
  • Newsroom Policies & Standards
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Careers
  • Media & Community Relations
  • Accessibility Statement
Contact Us
  • Contact Us
  • Contact Customer Care
  • Advertise
  • Licensing & Syndication
  • Request a Correction
  • Contact the Newsroom
  • Send a News Tip
  • Report a Vulnerability
Term of Use
  • Digital Products Terms of Sale
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Settings
  • Submissions & Discussion Policy
  • RSS Terms of Service
  • Ad Choices
© 2024 New York Dawn. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?