Between the Infrastructure Act and the ironically titled "Inflation Reduction Act" that only contributed to worsening inflation, Biden, Harris and the Democrats (with some Republican help in passing the infrastructure bill), a couple trillion taxpayer dollars were spent. It all went so well that voters this past November decided to put the Biden-Harris train wreck in the rear-view mirror, but we'll be paying the price for a long time.
Two items from those bills have been in the news lately. The first is the several billion dollars that were allocated three years ago to building charging stations all over the country. How's that going? You won't be surprised that some of the "fact-checkers" have tried to dunk on Republican claims that only eight charging stations have been built by pointing out that a whopping 37 have actually been put in place:
The $7.5 billion figure refers to funding for expanded electric vehicle charging from the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The law gave $5 billion for EV charging under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and $2.5 billion under the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant program. The federal government distributes NEVI funds to transportation departments in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia; a wide range of agencies, including municipal governments, tribal governments and universities, can access CFI funds.
A Federal Highway Administration spokesperson told PolitiFact the two programs have so far funded 37 charging stations. Like gas stations, EV charging stations can have multiple charging points.
Somebody should tell PolitiFact that "it's not eight, it's actually 37" doesn't make things much better.
Then there's money that Congress and Biden allocated to get more people connected to broadband. How's that going? Again, you might not be surprised:
In 2021, the Biden Administration passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included a provision to give $42.5 billion to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to provide under-served and rural areas with internet access. To date, it has connected nobody.
The plan required U.S. states and territories to submit plans for investment and deployment by the end of 2023, which all have done. Expected roll out won't occur until 2026 by most optimistic deadlines. It's better than nothing, right? Maybe not.
Those are just two examples of the Biden administration touting how much money was spent on something vs. what has actually been constructed with the money.
The reasons things go so slow are many, including the usual insane "equity" requirements (via the Free Beacon):
In order to qualify for a grant, applicants must "demonstrate how meaningful public involvement, inclusive of disadvantaged communities, will occur throughout a project’s life cycle." What "public involvement" means is unclear. But the Department of Transportation notes it should involve "intentional outreach to underserved communities."
That outreach, the Department of Transportation states, can take the form of "games and contests," "visual preference surveys," or "neighborhood block parties" so long as the grant recipient provides "multilingual staff or interpreters to interact with community members who use languages other than English."
"This all just slows down construction," says Jim Meigs, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who focuses on federal regulation.
"These ‘public involvement’ requirements are impossible to quantify and even open builders up to lawsuits by members of the community where an electric vehicle charging station is set to be constructed."
This administration's been nothing short of a disaster on all fronts.
But that doesn't stop people like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg from bragging about it. Get a load of this ridiculous comparison:
I'm confident that a century from now, future Americans will look back on the work we’ve done—much as we look at the Hoover Dam—and see how the Biden-Harris Administration's "Big Deal" for infrastructure made big things possible. pic.twitter.com/SQEjzm8Mi6
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) December 31, 2024
Puh-leeze! If this bunch was in office when the money was appropriated in the late 1920s to construct the Hoover Dam in the 1930s, the thing still wouldn't be finished. But for politicians and bureaucrats like Biden, Buttigieg and the rest, the goal is to get the money spent -- actually building anything isn't really a primary concern.
sir, are you high
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) January 1, 2025
Even if a "Biden dam" was constructed, who would want to live anywhere near the base of the thing? You know it would crumble in a matter of days or weeks.
‘when literally all of us are dead and therefore none of you will be around to disprove my claim here, I pinky swear that these four disastrous years will ackshually be looked upon fondly’ https://t.co/H8C6ZlUJaP
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) January 1, 2025
It's hilarious how Buttigieg basically admits everybody thinks this administration has been a disaster and has to try and convince us that a century from now people will finally recognize their brilliance. Thankfully we only have to put up with these clowns for about 20 more days.
Happy new year, all!
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Related:
Mayor Pete's Curtain Call: Buttigieg's Revisionist Year In Review
