Bump in the road for roads, bridges funding

From Transport Topics.

President Joe Biden is pledging to continue to promote his domestic agenda stuck in Congress.

U.S. House Democratic leaders delayed a vote on the president’s Build Back Better plan because moderates and progressives disagree on legislative priorities. Moderates are pushing for approval of a Senate-passed $1 trillion infrastructure measure. Progressives keep calling for the infrastructure bill to be linked to a $3.5 trillion social infrastructure budget package, which may no longer stand at $3.5 trillion. Now, House leaders intend to push the president’s agenda by the end of the month.

Biden, who visited the Hill to garner support for his plan, returned to the White House amid suggestions his social agenda’s price tag would likely come down by about $2 trillion.

But, no worries. If you listened to the president over the weekend, the plan is still on. Because, as he put it: “Biden is going to work like hell to make sure we get both of these passed, and I think we will get them passed.”

“There’s an awful lot that’s in both of these [Build Back Better] bills that everybody thinks they know, but they don’t know what’s in them,” the president told reporters at the White House on Oct. 2. “When you go out and you test each of the individual elements in the bill, everyone is for them — not everyone; over 70% of the American people are for them.”

“My objective here is to make sure we put in place the things that are going to make life more livable for ordinary people. I mean that sincerely,” the president added, noting Congress might seem messy but he’s seen this movie before.

See the complete article online at Transport Topics.