Fast forward 10 months, and Monday, Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
With $550 billion in new investments, the bill will definitely create jobs. It includes $110 billion for highways, bridges, and roads; $65 billion for power grid upgrades; $39 billion for transit; $65 billion for high-speed internet expansion, with targeted funding for rural areas and low-income communities; and $55 billion to invest in clean water, focused on replacing lead drinking water pipes.
If you’ve noticed that gas prices seem exorbitantly high, it’s not your imagination, and it’s gotten the attention of Biden as well. Wednesday, the president reached out to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) head to examine “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil and gas companies” to drive up U.S. gas prices.
As The New York Times reports, Biden’s letter may not force the FTC to level gas prices, but it could push for an investigation into how prices are set and impact future restrictions.
In terms of U.S. spending, according to Market Watch, Target Corp. Chief Executive Brian Cornell says the retailer has reported stellar third-quarter earnings with revenue that “blew past Street expectations.”
Cornell said in a statement that “With a strong inventory position heading into the peak of the holiday season, our team and our business are ready to serve our guests and poised to deliver continued, strong growth, through the holiday season and beyond.”
Then there is climate change, where Biden has moved from an archaic anti-science stance on the world stage to a global leader, apologizing for Trump’s abrupt departure from the Paris Climate Accord to a commitment to clean energy, forest conservation, and the creation of a “comprehensive strategy to improve public safety and justice for Native Americans” and address the “epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people.”
Lastly, let’s not forget the appointment of literally thousands of diverse and talented folks the president has named to the judiciary, the ambassadorial corps, and to lead a plethora of regulatory agencies—many of which have taken up causes such as erasing student debt and undoing the Trump-era mandates banning transgender people from serving in the military.
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