President Joe Biden seemed optimistic regarding the bipartisan new deal reached with all 10 Democratic and Republican Senators Thursday on the infrastructure bill which will benefit renovations to roads, tunnels, bridges, improving Broadband internet and transportation hubs such as airports when he announced it from the White House driveway, “We have finally reached a deal,” going forward.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) has not signed off yet on the deal even though it was agreed upon by the Senators and the Biden Administration. The bill has yet to be officially passed in the House.
He addressed reporters from the White House driveway that he had reached a ‘really good deal’ even though none of them got all that they wanted, but felt that they gave more than they were inclined to give in the first place.
The Daily Mail reports that The White House said the deal will include $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending over an eight-year period. Over a five-year period, there will be $973 billion in infrastructure spending.
The proposal would be paid for by reducing the IRS tax gap – essentially going after tax cheats – as well as repurposing unemployment insurance relief funds and redirecting unused funds from the 2020 relief legislation.
The President said they made serious compromises on both ends. It reminds him of the days of getting an awful lot done in Congress.
Biden was joined by a bipartisan group of Senators, including Democratic Sen. Kyrstin Sinema and Republican Sen. Rob Portman.
Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, said the two parties agreed on the ‘price tag, the scope and how to pay for it.’
Here’s the ABC News YouTube video:
The President also said that there were no guarantees that a deal would be reached but in the end, working together pays off.
Biden went on to explain that even though they didn’t get everything they wanted 100 percent—he felt confident that a deal was finally reached, even though they may disagree on a lot of issues.
“I don’t have any guarantee, but what I do have is a pretty good read over the years of how the Congress or the Senate works,’ Biden said. ‘And the idea that … because someone’s not going to be able to get every single thing they want, they’re going to vote against some of things I just named, with nothing in here that’s a quote-“bad” for the environment, bad for the economy, bad for the transportation, is unlikely.”
Biden promises not to raise gas taxes, no fees on electric cars, and no tax increases on citizens making less than $400,000 a year in order to pay for this bill.
The next bill the President and Congress will be working on will be the ‘human infrastructure’ bill also known as the ‘Stimulus Bill.’ Let’s hope they can agree on that bill and not add too much unwanted pork to it!