President Biden is set to unveil his infrastructure plan in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, but a Washington Post report previews the key details.
From the WaPo, which cites two unnamed sources:
Biden’s plan will include approximately $650 billion to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, such as its roads, bridges, highways and ports, the people said. The plan will also include in the range of $400 billion toward home care for the elderly and the disabled, $300 billion for housing infrastructure and $300 billion to revive U.S. manufacturing. And it will include hundreds of billions of dollars to bolster the nation’s electric grid, enact nationwide high-speed broadband and revamp the nation’s water systems to ensure clean drinking water, among other major investments, the people said.
Earlier on Thursday, Axios reported that Biden would pursue “tax increases worth about $1.8 trillion to help pay for his infrastructure and social safety net plans.” Under Biden’s proposal, the corporate tax rate would rise from 21% to 28%, according to Axios. Capital gains would also be taxed as regular income – generating about $370 billion for government coffers. The top individual rate for those earning more than $400,000 would return to its pre-Trump levels.
“The president has a plan to fix our infrastructure and a plan to pay for it,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Biden Administration is attempting to usher in a historic transformation:
Mr. Biden and his aides have compared the scope of his efforts to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1960s Great Society and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1930s New Deal, and Mr. Biden has said he hopes to usher in a paradigm shift in economic thinking.
Biden’s infrastructure and tax plans will likely face opposition from Republicans and moderate Democrats, but supporters in the Senate hope to use budget reconciliation to advance the agenda. Budget reconciliation requires a simple majority rather than the 60 votes required to advance most bills in the Senate. But it has its limits and must be approved by the Senate parliamentarian.
