Marsha Blackburn: Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Spends Less than 6% on Road, Bridge Building

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Thursday issued sharp criticism of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, calling it a “Trojan horse for the radical left,” which would provide meager funding for building new roads and bridges.

“Not even six percent of President Joe Biden’s massive $2 trillion ‘infrastructure’ bill would be used to build roads and bridges,” Blackburn said in a statement. “Biden’s plan includes the largest tax hike in nearly three decades, but of course, coastal elites will have their taxes slashed. It will strip Americans of their right to work by forcing them to join Democrat-backed unions. This ‘infrastructure’ plan is another Trojan horse for the radical left.”

“Roads need repair, and commuters are begging for highways to be expanded. Our country needs a bipartisan and targeted approach to improving infrastructure. President Joe Biden ran on a platform of unity, but since taking office has shown his true colors as an unrestrained partisan,” the senator added.

The Biden infrastructure plan’s small allotment for building new roads and bridges is underscored by the fact that only roughly 25 percent of the proposal would fund basic infrastructure, a fact sheet summary of the bill shows.

Around $639 billion would be spent on traditional infrastructure, including $115 billion to revamp highways and roads, while just $25 billion would go toward fixing up airports. The bill sets aside $85 billion to modernize existing transit systems and $111 billion to replace lead pipes and service lines. Another $100 billion would be spent on building high-speed broadband systems and $100 billion for electric transmission infrastructure. Climate change projects, including development for electric vehicles and charging stations, would also receive billions in funding. The plan would see another $400 billion in spending on health care and $213 billion on affordable housing, along with research training, and development programs.

If passed, the infrastructure plan would hike the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, placing it above China’s 25 percent corporate tax rate.

Despite the plan’s price tag, progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) argue that the bills is not anywhere near large enough.

“This is not nearly enough. The important context here is that it’s $2.25T spread out over 10 years. For context, the COVID package was $1.9T for this year *alone,* with some provisions lasting 2 years. Needs to be way bigger,” Ocasio-Cortez said of the bill.

“We’re looking at ideals and what we think is the actual investment that can create tens of millions of good union jobs in this country that can shore up our health care, our infrastructure, our housing, and doing it in a way that draws down our carbon figures to help us get in line with IPCC standards we’re talking about realistically $10 trillion over ten years,” she added. “And I know that may be an eye-popping figure for some people, but we need to understand that we are in a devastating economic moment. Millions of people in the United States are unemployed. We have a truly crippled healthcare system and a planetary crisis on our hands. We’re the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. So we can do $10 trillion.”