Biden's Infrastructure Proposal

[knapplc]

This is going to be quite a big topic with the number of projects and jobs it's going to create. 


— EV stations nationwide

Absolutely necessary if we're going to convert away from internal combustion. 

— Replace every lead pipe

This should be a cinch! (sorry)

But really, that's a big project. One estimate I read said there were 6-10 million lead service lines in America. 

— Universal clean drinking water

Great idea. Complete no-brainer. LOT of work to do to accomplish this.

— 2M homes retrofitted or built

I don't know much about this proposal. Who would these homes be for? Anyone know?

— Universal affordable high speed broadband by 2030

Great idea, especially for rural areas which are criminally underserved right now. That's a lot of miles of fiber to lay. 

— Fix 20K miles of roads/bridges

I feel like this is a fraction of the miles of roads & bridges we need to fix in this country. This could be a decades-long project just on its own. 

 

[SECHusker]

All in all I like it, but I would have changed a few things and invested more in the grid and clean energy production.

 

[TGHusker]

All in all I like it, but I would have changed a few things and invested more in the grid and clean energy production.

Agreed.  After the Texas disaster this past winter and the normal outages during the peak summer months, we do need an upgrade. 

Plus -I wonder if our system has been updated against an EMP missile attack? :ahhhhhhhh    Is there anything in the proposal for those issues??

The article I read on the topic noted that, if passed, this legislation would put Biden on par wt FDR (all of the depression era recovery legislation)  and LBJ (Great Society programs) as a transformative president.   Very few predicted Biden would be so aggressive.  It not just his dog, Major, that has a bite it appears.   

 

[BigRedBuster]

— Universal clean drinking water

Great idea. Complete no-brainer. LOT of work to do to accomplish this.

I would be interested in knowing exactly where this is a major issue and what exactly needs done.

— 2M homes retrofitted or built

I don't know much about this proposal. Who would these homes be for? Anyone know?

Yes, this is an interesting one.  How is this going to be done?  I know in central Nebraska, there is a housing shortage.  But, is the government going to finance developers to build homes cheaper?  Are they going to make financing cheaper for people buying them?  I can't imagine that the government is just going to go out and build 2 million speck homes.  If they are going to push for making finance easier for people who are struggling to afford the home, that sounds like part of what caused the housing crash in 2007-2008.

 

[BigRedBuster]

— Universal affordable high speed broadband by 2030

Great idea, especially for rural areas which are criminally underserved right now. That's a lot of miles of fiber to lay. 

Obama did a program for rural fiber.  It's just now getting completed in my area.  I should have high speed fiber in the next couple months.  That's how long projects like this take to get done.

 

[TGHusker]

Yes, this is an interesting one.  How is this going to be done?  I know in central Nebraska, there is a housing shortage.  But, is the government going to finance developers to build homes cheaper?  Are they going to make financing cheaper for people buying them?  I can't imagine that the government is just going to go out and build 2 million speck homes.  If they are going to push for making finance easier for people who are struggling to afford the home, that sounds like part of what caused the housing crash in 2007-2008.

I wonder if this initiative is to work hand and hand with environmental policies -building housing nearer to city centers with the purpose of reducing commuting time and expense  and reducing green house gases from cars. 

 

[BigRedBuster]

I wonder if this initiative is to work hand and hand with environmental policies -building housing nearer to city centers with the purpose of reducing commuting time and expense  and reducing green house gases from cars. 

People have to want to live there though.  I posted an article somewhere on here the other day showing that there is a housing shortage in suburbs and smaller communities and people are moving out of cities.

 

[Archy1221]

Obama did a program for rural fiber.  It's just now getting completed in my area.  I should have high speed fiber in the next couple months.  That's how long projects like this take to get done.

Companies like Google or SpaceX may be taking care of this in the next 10-20 years through high speed satellite links to provide that service to rural areas without the need for laying so much fiber optic cable.  

 

[BigRedBuster]

Companies like Google or SpaceX may be taking care of this in the next 10-20 years through high speed satellite links to provide that service to rural areas without the need for laying so much fiber optic cable.  

There would have to be huge improvements to technology for satellite service to be high speed like fiber.

 

[SECHusker]

Agreed.  After the Texas disaster this past winter and the normal outages during the peak summer months, we do need an upgrade. 

Plus -I wonder if our system has been updated against an EMP missile attack? :ahhhhhhhh    Is there anything in the proposal for those issues??

The article I read on the topic noted that, if passed, this legislation would put Biden on par wt FDR (all of the depression era recovery legislation)  and LBJ (Great Society programs) as a transformative president.   Very few predicted Biden would be so aggressive.  It not just his dog, Major, that has a bite it appears.   

No doubt if he can push this and the second part through, he'll be up there with FDR. 

 

[commando]

Agreed.  After the Texas disaster this past winter and the normal outages during the peak summer months, we do need an upgrade. 

if texas power companies had winterized the equipment there wouldn't have been a failure like that.   the people of texas ended up paying for the power companies saving money

 

[Mierin]

No doubt if he can push this and the second part through, he'll be up there with FDR. 

Ironic one of those most underrated politicians in recent history could be one, if not the (if passes voting rights, immigration reform, and does something about the war on drugs) most transformational president in US History.

Based on the past 12 years, we know the Republicans will try to stop the infrastructure plan if they think the Democrats will get credit for it. So rather than try to make improvements to it they will just try to stop it.

 

[TGHusker]

Based on the past 12 years, we know the Republicans will try to stop the infrastructure plan if they think the Democrats will get credit for it. So rather than try to make improvements to it they will just try to stop it.

If they do, the Dems will probably try to pass most of it through 'reconciliation' and/or cancel the filibuster rule.

 

[deedsker]

— Replace every lead pipe

This should be a cinch! (sorry)

But really, that's a big project. One estimate I read said there were 6-10 million lead service lines in America. 

There are more of these than people think. When I lived in Lincoln, my house/apartment had lead pipes until 2015. When I first started living there I thought the water had a weird metallic taste and I bought jugs of water for drinking. Just before moving out I went to a construction meeting to learn from an engineer doing a water main upgrade project that my house had a lead pipe connection to the water main. I was like, this is a real thing still? Couldn't get out of that place fast enough.