Joe Biden Touts Infrastructure Bill After House Vote

Vice President Joe Biden has been in the headlines quite a bit lately. He was mentioned in the Sarah Palin anti McCain ad and in the vice Presidential debate. But, did you know that Joe Biden was actually in the news today for a very different reason? He was in the headlines for a new book that is hitting the shelves shortly.

Can You Dream? That’s the title of the new book put out by The Atlantic’s Magazine. It’s about the future of American Government and the economic future of America. In an article entitled “Joe Biden’s Not So Scary Budget”, National Journal’s Editorial Board suggested that Joe Biden was perhaps looking out his own bottom line. After all, why should he make any adjustments to the Federal stimulus package if he is running for a President position in the future? After all, that’s what the book is all about.

A former Delaware governor, now is the Vice President and running for President; but he is not the only person with that distinction. There have been several other former politicians who have held the vice president post. As you likely have figured out by now, an infrastructure bill is part of that package, along with tax relief and banking regulations.

In the past, President Bush has talked about how his administration would handle the construction of the Americanroads

Now Joe Biden is in the spotlight too. As he mentions in the aforementioned article in The Atlantic, this infrastructure bill may be his first big campaign move. A spokesperson for the vice president told CNN that the infrastructure plan in the Obama administration is “a top priority”. And with a House vote expected soon, you can expect the big push towards passing infrastructure bills.

Why is Joe Biden touting this as his first big legislative achievement? Some have suggested that his interest in the administration’s infrastructure bill is simply to line his own pockets. After all, he is already a member of the Senate and it would not be terribly difficult for him to secure a vote in the chamber.

On the other hand, this could also be the case

After all, President Obama did not get an infrastructure bill passed when he took office. He was widely criticized for this by both parties in Congress but he was unapologetic about his lack of action. It is entirely possible that this new legislation may just get passed with a big Democratic majority in the House and Senate and through the White House, thus giving the Democrats a big boost going into the 2021 elections. Could the vice president be counting on that same situation?

Whatever the case, it is clear that infrastructure bills are high on the agenda right now

With no final deal on the highway bill yet, Biden is already saying that the prospects for passing a big bill are looking very good. For anyone concerned about the future of our roadways, this is a very good thing. As long as it gets done on time and on budget, the positive effects of passing such a bill will far outweigh any short term political blow that may be caused by the failure of the legislation in the end.

A large part of the motivation behind such a big infrastructure bill comes from the fact that our country is in such dire need of repair. With roads and bridges crumbling everywhere, it is easy to understand why we must do whatever we can to ensure that the situation does not get any worse. The passing of a massive infrastructure bill will go a long way towards ensuring that the United States can continue on its path to economic recovery. If the Senate passes something like that, it would be smart for the Obama Administration to take immediate action and start putting forth their plans for a large and immediate federal government infrastructure investment.