Biden’s Infrastructure Bills: Big Spending with Little to Show For It
Biden’s ambitious infrastructure plans face criticism for slow progress and minimal results
Biden, Infrastructure, Electric Vehicles, Broadband, Government Spending, USA
Washington: So, as President Biden wraps up his time in office, folks are starting to wonder what he really achieved. He came in with some big promises, but the results? Not so impressive.
Take the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act from 2021. It threw over a trillion bucks at various projects, including $550 billion for new stuff. They even earmarked $7.5 billion for electric vehicle chargers. Sounds great, right?
But here’s the kicker: only 183 chargers have been set up at 44 stations since the bill was signed. That’s a bit of a letdown, especially when they promised a national network of 500,000 charging stations.
And it’s not like all the money has been spent yet. The program has only handed out $520 million of the $2.4 billion allocated so far. So, there’s still some cash left, but it’s just sitting there.
Then there’s the broadband program, which was supposed to expand internet access with $42 billion. Biden even compared it to the New Deal! But three years in, not a single dollar has been distributed, and no households have gotten connected.
States are having a tough time navigating the complicated process to get that funding. It’s like trying to build a plane while flying it, according to one state official. They’re just not getting the guidance they need.
Supporters of Biden might say that the spending will pay off in the long run. The NEVI program, for instance, has a budget of $1 billion a year until 2026. But right now, it feels like a lot of talk with not much action.
Even when Biden dropped out of the presidential race, some said his legacy would be about rebuilding the country over the next decade. But it’s clear that red tape and bureaucracy are holding back those big dreams.
For the broadband program, states have to meet all these requirements that are tough to implement. And the NEVI program? It’s complicated, and there’s a shortage of the equipment needed to set up all those chargers.
Senator Jeff Merkley called the delays a huge administrative failure. Meanwhile, private companies like Tesla are racing ahead, doubling their charging stations without the same government support.
So, who knows? Maybe in the future, Biden will have something to brag about. But right now, when you compare what the government has done to what private companies have achieved, it’s not even close.