Biden Praises Ukrainian 'Iron Will', Refuses To Use Ukrainian Iron in Infrastructure Projects
The president touted his support of cost-increasing 'Buy America' requirements for American infrastructure projects.
The president touted his support of cost-increasing 'Buy America' requirements for American infrastructure projects.
The issue has never been a lack of funds for infrastructure; it's that the money frequently ends up getting spent on something else via a highly politicized decision-making process.
Taxpayers will pay the tab for spruced-up bridges and rebuilt freeways, doubling down on a worrying trend.
A federal gasoline tax holiday would undermine the user fee system for funding highways and could worsen inflation.
Nothing new under the sun as Biden decides to extend Trump's solar panel tariffs for four more years.
Pennsylvania has one of the nation's highest gas taxes, but those user fees haven't helped fix the state's poor roads and bridges.
Too Many (Government) Dollars Are Chasing Too Few Goods.
It's unwise to try to force consumer spending habits in defiance of the market.
It's even worse than the widely-skewered broker provision.
The 90-year-old Davis-Bacon Act artificially makes federal projects more expensive, and Biden seems to want to strengthen it.
The legislation will have a negative impact on the labor supply and send high prices soaring even higher.
Virginia spends around $35,000 per mile of state-controlled road. In New Jersey, it's $1.1 million. Both states are about to get a lot more federal funding.
Get ready to pay for new nanny-state technology and for bypassing the unwelcome intervention.
"Even products as simple as a pencil have to use wood from Brazil and graphite from India before it comes together at a factory in the United States," Biden said.
The one thing that would most help increase efficiency at America's lagging ports is also the one thing that Biden's union allies dislike the most.
It's Biden's bill, but Trump helped set the stage.
The U.S. government doesn't reflect on its spending history, and that shows.
It's one of the most expensive legislative packages in American history, but the $1.2 trillion bill will end up doing far less than it otherwise could have.
For Biden, "build back better’" apparently means eyes on everything in the economy.
Pete Buttigieg attracted some criticism for taking time off. But it's telling that no one initially realized he was gone.
The White House is undoing changes to the National Environmental Policy Act that were supposed to speed up the delivery of infrastructure projects.
"Spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can't even pay for the essential social programs...is the definition of fiscal insanity."
The President's inaugural "unity" rhetoric has given way to apocalyptic condemnation.
Plus: the unintended consequences of mandating COVID vaccines for students
The problem isn’t the GOP or Senate rules. It’s that Democrats can’t agree amongst themselves.
The plan would reduce supply while increasing demand, resulting in harmful shortages.
How spending got out of control and words lost their meaning.
A new grant program that would help states set up privately operated toll roads would also forbid charging tolls to anyone making under $400,000 a year.
It is the equivalent of mandating that all new homes come with at least five bathrooms.
The Senate just passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill—and teed up another $3.5 trillion bill in the process.
Cryptocurrency advocates fight back against major government overreach.
The bill working its way through Congress would create a national pilot program to study replacing the gas tax with a mileage-based user fee.
A CBO report that might have sunk legislation in an earlier era was greeted with a bipartisan shrug.
For now, the side that wants less cryptocurrency regulation and taxation lost.
As early as 2026, new cars will have to come equipped with "advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology."
Washington isn’t helping, so let states take the lead.
The bipartisan infrastructure deal that's expected to pass the Senate this week would spend $65 billion on broadband projects, including more than $40 billion for largely unnecessary municipal broadband efforts.
Amtrak's funding will double under the bipartisan infrastructure bill, while Amtrak passengers will have to put up with more rules.
Plus: California's new pork regulations, Florida's COVID-19 boom, and more...
Plus: Strip clubs help reduce crime rates, tariffs fail to achieve their primary political purposes, Jeff Bezos goes to space, and more.
We don't have a gridlock problem. We have a spending problem.
President Joe Biden announced today that he'd reached an agreement on an infrastructure package with a group of 10 moderate senators.
For many elected Democrats, infrastructure is much more than roads, bridges, dams, and waterways.
A bill approved by the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation would give the money-losing rail company $19 billion over 5 years.
It’s a jobs plan that isn’t about jobs, and an infrastructure plan that isn’t about infrastructure.
Plus: Rep. Joaquin Castro wants Hollywood to hire more Hispanics...or else, lawmakers inch closer to an infrastructure deal, and more...