Summary of Biden's Infrastructure PlanThe digest of the plan is gleaned from a White House Fact Sheet.[1] Comments are in double parentheses ((The public funds involved in the infrastructure plan serve to pay the rich and their particular private interests, not the general welfare. The amounts in the infrastructure bill before Congress coupled with the budgeted amounts already approved for the U.S. military, Homeland Security and the numerous spy agencies, are breathtaking in their size and scope. They show the extraordinary productive capacity of the modern working class and the socialized productive forces on which they work. If the available social wealth were channelled into human-centred nation-building projects serving the people, remarkable progress could be made on all fronts and a start made to humanize the social and natural environment. Already, the fight of the peoples worldwide against war, for anti-war governments and peace economies, is showing the way forward.)) Transportation
$621 billion to build and repair physical transportation infrastructure: roads, bridges, public transit, rail, ports, waterways, airports and electric vehicles. Repair American roads and bridges. One in five miles or 173,000 total miles of highways and major roads are in poor condition, as well as 45,000 bridges. $115 billion of the total is specifically for
highways, streets and to fix the most economically
significant large bridges and repair the worst
10,000 smaller bridges. Public Mass Transit
The Department of Transportation declares the current transit infrastructure inadequate. It estimates a repair backlog of over $105 billion in purchasing is necessary. This represents more than 24,000 buses, 5,000 rail cars, 200 stations, and thousands of miles of track, signals, and power systems in need of replacement. An additional $85 billion is earmarked to modernize existing transit, which means doubling federal funding for public transit. $80 billion is required to address Amtrak's repair backlog and modernize the Northeast Corridor line between Boston and Washington, DC. The plan will improve ports, waterways, and airports: $17 billion will go to deal with inland waterways, coastal ports, land ports of entry, and ferries, which are all essential to the nation's freight. The nation's airports lag far behind global competitors. According to some rankings, no U.S. airports rank in the top 25 of airports worldwide. The plan will invest $25 billion in airports, including funding for the Airport Improvement Program, upgrades to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) assets that ensure safe and efficient air travel, and a new program to support terminal renovations and multimodal connections for affordable, convenient, car-free access to air travel. ((Mass public transit is an important part of the social infrastructure as means of production for the socialized economy. No modern economy can function without mass transit to move workers to and from work and consumers to and from shopping areas and for other purposes. All enterprises in the economy more or less are responsible to realize (pay for) the price of production of the social means of production. The amount each enterprise should pay for mass transit could easily be determined, which should go directly to the producing entities and not into general government coffers. Also, the price of production for mass transit could be broadly reduced and its use by the people humanized, if building, maintaining and supplying mass transit with the necessary buildings, vehicles, machinery and material were consistently organized as human-centred public enterprises where the added-value workers produce is reinvested into improving all aspects of mass transit instead of having the added-value expropriated as private profit. The large size of investment needed in modern transportation means that the rate of profit for private investors is low – if it were not for governments paying the rich. This is evident in aviation where private airline companies are among the most heavily subsidized by governments. This not only includes direct handouts to these companies but all the necessary social means of production such as airports and research that governments fund. Research and development and production of airplanes are also closely connected with the military and government procurement of war machinery and materiel at inflated prices.)) America First
This changes the rules regarding federal spending on American-made goods, equipment, vehicles and materials for infrastructure projects: $180 billion to invest to advance U.S. leadership in research and development in critical technologies, upgrade the U.S.'s research infrastructure and establish the U.S. as a leader in climate science, innovation and research and development. Spurs domestic supply chains from raw materials to parts, retooling of factories to compete globally, and support for having American workers make batteries and electric vehicles. ((The U.S.-dominated imperialist system of states already follows the "America First" mantra, where "First" is understood as the U.S. ruling oligarchy. The globalized U.S. military roams the world to ensure the dominance of the U.S. oligarchy and that the world's humanity bows to its demands and aim of maximum profit for the rich. The rulers evidently think all this talk of America First will somehow convince everyone that strengthening the very oligarchy responsible for the current social and natural problems and conditions the working people face in the U.S. can lead to solutions. The peoples have not forgotten their experience, present and past and everywhere consider that the rulers have no legitimacy, no answers and that it is the peoples in their many struggles for rights that are providing an alternative.)) Manufacturing
The White House writes, "The U.S. manufacturing sector accounts for 70 per cent of business research and development (R&D) expenditure, 30 per cent of productivity growth, and 60 per cent of exports. Manufacturing is a critical node that helps convert research and innovation into sustained economic growth." The plan invests $300 billion to strengthen manufacturing supply chains for critical goods and invests $50 billion to create a new office at the Department of Commerce dedicated to monitoring domestic industrial capacity and funding investments to support production of critical goods. The plan also invests $50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing and research. ((The Biden plan has nothing to do with solving the problems of contemporary relations of production and how to utilize the enormous productive powers of socialized production for the common good. For example, public education and research developed the knowledge to produce vaccines and other modern pharmaceuticals yet the private manufacturers of Big Pharma declare this collective human knowledge their private property, their "intellectual property." They are expropriating billions in profit from Covid-19 vaccines that governments are buying, not to speak of the dark money they are seizing from the opioid pain-killer disaster they have unleashed on the world that last year resulted in 93,331 overdose deaths in the U.S. alone.)) Increase Access to Capital for Domestic Manufacturers
The plan will invest more than $52 billion in domestic manufacturers and includes specific supports for modernizing supply chains, including in the auto sector, like extending the "48C tax credit" program. It calls for the creation of a new financing program to support debt and equity investments for manufacturing to strengthen the resilience of America's supply chains and will invest $31 billion in programs that give small businesses access to credit, venture capital, and R&D dollars. ((Wealthy private interests have seized control of governments at all levels, seizing the public purse to serve their private interests while the people are demanding that the common good be served, with increased investments in social programs and an end to funding war and massive policing.)) Research and Development
The
White House writes: "Public investments in R&D lay the foundation
for the future breakthroughs that over time yield new businesses, new
jobs, and more exports. However, we need more investment if we want to
maintain our economic edge in today's global economy. We are one of the
few major economies whose public investments in R&D have declined
as a per cent of GDP in the past 25 years. Countries like China are
investing aggressively in R&D, and China now ranks number two in
the world in R&D expenditures [...] In order to win the 21st
century economy, President Biden believes America must get back to
investing in the researchers, laboratories, and universities across our
nation. But this time, we must do so with a commitment to lifting up
workers and regions who were left out of past investments. ((All hail the financial oligarchy that dictates all the affairs that affect the people's lives! This reads like a manifesto for war to defeat all competitors, and "win the 21st century" for the U.S. oligarchs. The demand in the U.S. is for All Troops Home Now! Everywhere there is the demand that breakthroughs in science, including vaccines, are not for war and profit but to be shared by all and serve humanity.)) Digital Infrastructure
$100 billion to build a high-speed broadband infrastructure in order to reach 100 per cent coverage across the nation. ((Big tech already controls the Internet and social media. This will make the rich even more powerful at the expense of the people.)) Workforce Development
The plan will invest $100 billion in proven workforce development programs. It will pair job creation efforts with next generation training programs including high-quality training and effective partnerships between educational institutions, unions, and employers. The plan includes $40 billion for a new Dislocated Workers Program including job training for formerly incarcerated individuals and justice-involved youth, and sector-based training to educate workers in new skills for in-demand jobs. Sector-based training programs will be focused on growing high demand sectors such as clean energy, manufacturing, and caregiving. In sum, the plan is to build the capacity of the existing workforce including registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships, creating one to two million new registered apprenticeships slots. ((This is disguised as helping the working class while in fact public funds are being used to train workers for the oligopolies especially in modern production techniques without having big business pay the social price of production of workers' capacity to work.)) Green Energy, Electric Vehicles and Their Grid
Electric vehicle (EV) sales will not accelerate without an electric transportation infrastructure. Shift to electric vehicles: $174 billion public investment in private companies to win the global EV market. Plan will give consumers point of sale rebates and tax incentives to buy American-made EVs, establish grant and incentive programs for state and local governments and the private sector to build a national network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030, consumers' rebates and tax incentives to buy American-made electric vehicles. Direct $100 billion towards electric grid modernization. Replace 50,000 diesel transit vehicles and electrify at least 20 per cent of the yellow school bus fleet. Government will utilize the vast tools of federal procurement to electrify the federal fleet, including the United States Postal Service; $46 billion for federal purchases of electric cars, charging ports, and electric heat pumps for housing and commercial buildings. $27 billion for "clean energy and sustainability accelerator," which extends tax credits to promote solar and wind energy alternatives. $10 billion to create a "Civilian Climate Corps" to promote public investment in private green enterprises. The plan will invest $16 billion in putting the energy industry to work plugging orphan oil and gas wells and cleaning up abandoned coal, hardrock, and uranium mines. In thousands of rural and urban communities around the country, hundreds of thousands of former industrial and energy sites are now idle. The plan will invest $5 billion for the remediation and redevelopment of these Brownfield and "Superfund" sites. The plan will reactivate the Appalachian Regional Commission's POWER grant program, Department of Energy retooling grants for idled factories and capacity and project grants to address legacy pollution. Biden believes that the market-based shift toward clean energy presents enormous opportunities for the development of new markets and new industries. The plan will establish ten pioneer facilities that demonstrate carbon capture retrofits for large steel, cement, and chemical production facilities. The plan reforms and expands the Section 45Q tax credit making it direct pay and easier to use for hard-to-decarbonize industrial applications, direct air capture, and retrofits of existing power plants. ((The green sector is fast becoming a dominant one for the oligarchy with new billionaires such as former Vice-President Al Gore emerging with enormous power and the political influence to control and direct public funds in their direction. Any undertakings and investments of the size announced in the Biden plan require funds beyond the willingness of the private sector to provide without government guarantees of the security of the investment and return. The oligarchy is striving to use their power to deprive the working class from bringing into being new relations of production in conformity with the already socialized means of production, which would open a path for a pro-social, anti-war direction for the economy and political affairs.) Water
The plan invests $111 billion to replace 100 per cent of the nation's lead pipes and service lines and is to upgrade the country's drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems, tackle new contaminants and support clean water infrastructure in rural parts of the country. The plan will put $45 billion in the Environmental Protection Agency's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and in Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN) grants. Housing
The plan invests $213 billion to produce, preserve, and retrofit more than 2 million affordable and sustainable places to live through targeted tax credits, formula funding, grants, and project-based rental assistance. It will invest $40 billion to improve the infrastructure of the public housing system in America. The plan establishes a grant program that awards flexible funding to jurisdictions that take steps to eliminate barriers to creating affordable housing. The plan will contract companies to upgrade homes and businesses through block grant programs, the Weatherization Assistance Program, and by extending and expanding home and commercial efficiency tax credits. The plan will establish a $27 billion Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to mobilize private investment into distributed energy resources; retrofits of residential, commercial and municipal buildings; and clean transportation. ((This public money is directed at private construction enterprises and lending institutions, making the rich richer and the poor poorer. What is needed are social housing projects dedicated to providing housing for all at the highest cultural and material levels that exist at this point, with decision making in the hands of the people.)) Schools
There is $100 billion to build new public schools and upgrade existing buildings with better ventilation systems, updated technology labs, and improved school kitchens that can prepare more nutritious meals. $12 billion would go to states to use towards infrastructure needs at community colleges with conditions attached to address existing physical and technological infrastructure. The money is to be made available through $50 billion in direct grants and an additional $50 billion leveraged through bonds. ((The right to education is required for society to function and educational facilities need to be put on a modern basis to meet that right, including decision-making by teachers, staff, parents and students.)) Child Care
$25 billion is allocated to upgrade privately owned and controlled child care facilities. The plan also wants to expand a tax credit to encourage employers to build care facilities at places of work. Employers will receive 50 per cent of the first $1 million of construction costs per facility. ((This is yet another plan to pay the rich not only by giving public money to the increasingly monopolized private daycare centres but also to the privately owned construction companies. Child daycare and early learning centres should be part of a human-centred public education system from birth to passing away that affirms the right to education for all at the highest level society has attained.)) Medical Investments
The plan allocates $30 billion for new investments in medical pandemic countermeasures in manufacturing; research and development and related biopreparedness and biosecurity to shore up our nation's strategic national stockpile. It accelerates the timeline to research, develop and field test and therapeutics for emerging and future outbreaks; accelerate response time by developing prototype vaccines through Phase I and II trials, test technologies for the rapid scaling of vaccine production, and ensure sufficient production capacity in an emergency; train personnel for epidemic and pandemic response; and onshore active pharmaceutical ingredients. The plan invests $10 billion in the American Rescue Plan to prevent future pandemics. ((This is all well and good but these investments really help private Big Pharma to become richer than they already are. The scandal with government purchasing of vaccines from private cartels that have benefited from public funds for research and development and scientists with a modern education should not be repeated. Human thought material belongs to all humanity and should not be a matter of private ownership and manipulated to enrich a few individuals.)) Elderly Long-term Care
The plan provides a $400 billion expenditure on mostly privately owned and controlled long-term care for the elderly and disabled. ((Note that these care homes have been a centre of death and misery during the pandemic and yet are to be rewarded with public funds instead of being held to account for their crimes.)) The plan expands access to long-term care services under Medicaid. It provides more opportunity for people to receive care at home through community-based services or from family members. $450 billion to allow more older Americans and their families to receive care at home or in their communities, as opposed to nursing homes and other institutions. The plan notes that caregivers have been underpaid and undervalued for far too long. Wages for essential home care workers are approximately $12 per hour, putting them among the lowest paid workers in the economy. In fact, one in six workers in this sector lives in poverty. Research shows that increasing the pay of direct care workers greatly enhances workers' financial security, improves productivity, and increases the quality of care offered. Another study showed that increased pay for care workers prevented deaths, reduced the number of health violations, and lowered the cost of preventative care. ((The entire long-term care sector needs a new direction as does health care generally. All social programs must be human-centred. The workers who do the work, including the professionals, and the people they serve, are the ones that know what is needed to humanize elderly long-term care. Their many struggles for rights during the pandemic bring out that they are the ones that need to decide, something Biden's plan rejects.)) More on How the Plan Pays the Rich and Strengthens Their Control
The White House writes: "Jumpstart clean energy manufacturing through federal procurement. The federal government spends more than half-a-trillion dollars buying goods and services each year. As a result, it has the ability to be a first-mover in markets [...] By 2050, the United States will need more electric vehicles, charging ports, and electric heat pumps for residential heating and commercial buildings. The President is calling on Congress to enable the manufacture of those cars, ports, pumps, and clean materials, as well as critical technologies like advanced nuclear reactors and fuel, here at home through a $46 billion investment in federal buying power [...] Make it in ALL of America. The President believes we must build social infrastructure to support innovation and productivity across the country. He is calling on Congress to invest $20 billion in regional innovation hubs and a Community Revitalization Fund. At least ten regional innovation hubs will leverage private investment to fuel technology development, link urban and rural economies, and create new businesses in regions beyond the current handful of high-growth centers [... The plan will] invest $14 billion in NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] to bring together industry, academia, and government to advance technologies and capabilities critical to future competitiveness [and] to quadruple support for the Manufacturing Extensions Partnership." ((The Biden infrastructure plan demands that the strength of the modern productive forces be mobilized to enhance the power, wealth and privilege of the ruling oligarchy. But this private control and ownership is in contradiction with the modern socialized productive forces. The productive forces must come under the control of socialized humanity, the working people who can utilize the tremendous actual and potential power of the modern means of production to humanize the social and natural environment and put an end to the outdated and backward motive for maximum private profit that exploits the working people and tears the socialized economy apart through reckless greed and unbridled competition and war.)) Note 1. "FACT
SHEET: President Biden Announces Support for
the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework,"
White House, June 24, 2021
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