US’ Biden sets out $2 trillion infrastructure mega package
US PRESIDENT Joe Biden on March 31 unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure plan aimed at modernising the country’s crumbling transport network, creating millions of jobs and delivering a “once-in-a-generation” investment.
Biden compared his “transformational” plan to the ambitious US space programme of the 1960s, saying it would boost the livelihoods of the poor and middleclass, take aim at global warming, and be funded by increased taxes on large companies and the rich.
He said: “Today I’m proposing a plan for the nation that rewards work, not just rewards wealth. It builds a fair economy that gives everybody a chance to succeed. It’s going to create the strongest, most resilient, innovative economy in the world.
‘Once-in-a-generation’
“It’s a once-in-a-generation investment in America, unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago.”
The plan called for sweeping upgrades to transportation, telecommunications and energy infrastructure, which the US leader said was both about revitalising an economy weakened by the Covid19 pandemic and restoring its global competitiveness.
“We can’t delay another minute. It’s long past due,” he said in the city of Pittsburgh.
“The rest of the world is closing in and closing in fast – we can’t allow this to continue.”
Biden’s infrastructure plan – the second massive spending initiative of his 10-week old administration after the $1.9 trillion shortterm Covid-19 rescue bill passed earlier this month – faces tough tests in a Congress worried about soaring deficits.
But it also seeks to address crumbling bridges, roads and other public works around the country that successive administrations have failed to take on.
In doing so, it would expand the role of the government in the US economy to levels not seen in decades.
“In fact, it’s the largest American jobs investment since World War II. It will create millions of jobs, good-paying jobs,” Biden said.