Biden, White House, want to make sure America knows who is responsible for fixing stuff
President Joe Biden is not, as of yet, calling out the Republicans who are taking credit for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) a large majority of them voted against. Not yet, but he’s making it very clear in his road trip to celebrate the bill who got the job done. He signed the bill on Monday, and then hit the road, starting in New Hampshire.
At his event there, Biden made a point of repeatedly and at length thanking the all-Democratic congressional delegation: Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen and Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas. “Folks, it’s not hyperbole to say that your delegation is laser-focused on your needs—the people of New Hampshire—the concerns that are discussed around our kitchen tables. This isn’t esoteric,” Biden said. “This isn’t some gigantic bill—it is. But it’s about what happens to ordinary people.”
“My message to the people of New Hampshire is simple,” the president said. “It’s this: Because of this delegation, New Hampshire and America are moving again.” The size of the bill, with $550 billion in new investments, will definitely create jobs. It includes $110 billion for highways, bridges, and roads; $65 billion for power grid upgrades; $39 billion for transit; $65 billion for high-speed internet expansion, with targeted funding for rural areas and low-income communities; and $55 billion to invest in clean water, focused on replacing lead drinking water pipes.
Biden is taking that message to Michigan on Wednesday, the second stop in what a White House official describes as “an administration-wide effort where the president, vice president, and Cabinet members will travel across the country promoting” the IIJA and “communicating directly with the American people about how it will change their lives for the better.”
There will be Biden officials in “red states, blue states, big cities, small towns, rural areas, tribal communities, and more” the official said, saying they would “underscore what the law means in tangible terms.” Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Ohio on Friday, and other officials will be in states including Arizona, Georgia, and Texas in coming weeks.
In Michigan, Biden will tour the newly retooled General Motors assembly plant, Factory ZERO, where GM is going to build all-electric vehicles. GM has pledged that by 2035, all of its cars and light-duty vehicles will be electric. Michigan will receive as much as $10 billion from the IIJA. Biden will also have his chance to reprise his famous test drive of the new all-electric Ford F150, this time in one of the first production 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickups to roll off the Factory ZERO line, a GM spokesperson said.
The president is expected to stump for the Build Back Better plan, his jobs, education, and climate change bill working through the House of Representatives now, as he did in New Hampshire, where he talked about his “plan to build back better for our people—getting folks back to work and reducing costs of things like childcare, eldercare, housing, healthcare, prescription drugs.”
“I’m confident that the House is going to pass this bill,” Biden said. “And when it passes, it’ll go to the Senate. I think we’ll get it passed within a week.” Maybe? The House is indeed on track to pass it this week (the lure of a week off for Thanksgiving always works), with opposition from the Sabotage Squad finally squelched. And Sen. Joe Manchin has, at least for now, indicated he won’t object to the bill coming before the Senate before Christmas. That’s new; he’s been arguing for weeks that there’s no rush, inflation, they should put it off into next year, blah, blah, blah.
It’s possible, just possible, that it really does happen, and Biden and Democrats can spend the next year touting the very concrete benefits they’ve brought to the American people.