Below is the Rabobank’s strategist preview of what could be the next big thing from the Biden admin: the $2 trillion infrastructure deal.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramilla Jayapal tweeted that this (the American Rescue Plan) is a crucial down-payment on the $3-to-$4.5 trillion in stimulus needed to fully recover. Now that the American Rescue Plan has been signed into law by President Biden, he wants to proceed with a $2 trillion infrastructure package as part of the American Recovery Plan.
While there may be some common ground between Democrats and Republicans on infrastructure, for a large part they are thinking about different forms of infrastructure. While Republicans may be willing to spend federal money on highways, bridges and airports, Democrats are thinking of green infrastructure facilitating clean energy and electric vehicles. Last week Biden had a bipartisan meeting with members of the House of Representatives on infrastructure spending, but Republican Representative Sam Graves said that Republicans won’t support another Green New Deal disguising itself as a transportation bill. In fact, moderate Democrats may also be opposed to it.
Besides different preferences regarding the type of infrastructure to invest in, finding the funds to invest tends to be a challenge. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg may find it difficult to find the funding as did President Trump who promised a $1 billion infrastructure bill during his 2016 campaign. And President Trump was focused on the Republican definition of infrastructure, not the greener Democratic one. While financial markets are currently focusing on Biden’s spending spree, funding infrastructure investment may very well involve raising taxes. – READ MORE
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