At long last, Joe Biden’s young-but-hobbled presidency has a win it can cherish and market to the American people. The ‘Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’ – worth a massive $1.2 trillion – has finally been passed by the Congress. The bulk of the spending will be directed to raise the scale and quality of US transportation infrastructure – from roads and highways and bridges to railways and ports and public transit. In the process, it will create local jobs and fuel GDP growth across America.
The infrastructure spending – which also allocates many billions to improve the country’s water system, expand clean energy supply chains, and broaden access to high-speed Internet – is being touted as a generational investment, akin to other pivotal moments in the past century that transformed American economy and boosted its global competitiveness. Both Democratic and Republican presidents in the past have dreamed of making such investments. Biden gets to do it now!
It remains to be seen what impact this spending will have on Biden’s job approval rating and the electoral prospects of his political party. He started the presidency earlier this year with close to 60 percent of Americans viewing him in a favorable light, as per aggregated polls data from RealClearPolitics. His approval rating remained rather stable through the Spring, it gradually declined during early summer, but then it suddenly fell below the crucial 50 percent mark in mid-August. That coincided with the messy Afghanistan withdrawal, which seems to have hit a nerve with Americans.
Biden’s job approval is now hovering around 43 percent mark. Except for handing out a net positive rating to administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the Americans’ majority seems dissatisfied with the Biden team’s handling of issues related to immigration, foreign policy and economy. Brewing signs of electoral troubles came to the surface last week when Biden’s party showed disappointing results at seemingly smooth-sailing elections for governorship in key states of Virginia (lost handily) and New Jersey (barely eked out a win). Republicans smell a rout next year.
The infrastructure spending should lift the spirits of Biden and his party, as it gives them some time until the mid-terms next year to spur local economies. Within a couple of weeks, Biden looks set to score another legislative victory if the Moderate wing of his Democratic Party is able to get behind the Progressive wing. This next bill, which is worth a whopping $1.75 trillion, aims to invest in social infrastructure around areas of healthcare, education, middle-class mobility, and climate change.
Together, the two bills are expected to create 15 million jobs over 10 years. The planned spending on physical infrastructure, human capital and climate change will meet most of Democrats’ electoral pledges. Thus far, Biden has shown he can take bold, tough decisions and maintain strategic patience. It is paying off legislatively, if not electorally yet. Whether or not he seeks re-election, Biden seems focused on creating conditions to put millions more Americans to work, raise their living standards and boost competitiveness. Will this be enough to break America’s populist fever?