What Exactly Is Infrastructure?
As with all things in modern day America, the meaning of “infrastructure” is the subject of hot debate. Traditionally, it was seaports, roads and bridges, then dams and hydroelectric power, water ways and water treatment plants, railroad tracks and train stations, then rural electrification in the 1930’s, followed by telephony, airports, pipelines, microwave relays, defense and communications satellites, cell towers, and broadband telecom for internet services that have become as vital in 2021 as the Erie Canal was in 1817. That much is not in dispute. However, there is some “soft” infrastructure that the administration is trying to fund, according to Molly Kinder and Martha Ross, fellows at the Brookings Institution writing in the NY Times, because soft infrastructure is “the invisible scaffolding that allows American workers to actually get the job done.”
From Morning Consult:
60% of voters said they support the White House’s American Jobs Plan, including 84% of Democrats, 51% of independent voters and 35% of Republicans
At least three-quarters of voters support the plans to devote $18 billion to modernize veterans’ hospitals; $115 billion to modernize highways, roads and streets; and $400 billion to improve caregiving for aging and disabled individuals.
76% of Democrats said they would support spending $174 billion to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, including expanding the country’s EV charging network, while just 28% of Republicans said the same.
The so-called “Care Economy” is about child and elder care.
More than 10 percent of mothers with young children left their jobs at some point in 2020 because of child care responsibilities. By February, according to the National Women’s Law Center, there were 2.3 million fewer women in the labor force than in the previous February — a monumental loss of talent that is certain to hold back economic recovery.”
Most workers in this space are underpaid. The jobs require no specific education.
Fox News Radio sought to dismiss the current bill by offering space for the former Office of Management and Budget Director to say, “You look at this bill, the $2 trillion in the bill that, only about 5 to 7 percent of it is actual roads and bridges and ports and things that you and I would say is real infrastructure and that we tried to get passed under the last administration with President Trump.” That statement is as misleading as it is inaccurate. For instance, it doesn’t include water or rail, which are traditional infrastructure components. Neither does it bother to mention that the previous administration proclaimed Infrastructure Week a few times without ever writing a formal plan.
As independent journalist, Bryce Covert, wrote, “Both snarled traffic and a morning without a home health aide can make you late for work.”
Republicans are not likely to go for anything sizeable, but Celinda Lake, Biden’s pollster, says women don’t make a distinction between roads and bridges and childcare, paid family leave or a host of other things that make up the invisible scaffolding. Ms. Lake thinks the gender gap, which was the most pronounced in history in 2020, will grow in Biden’s favor if Republicans refuse to fund these “scaffolding” issues.
Here’s what she told the Washington Post: “Republicans are so aggressively attacking the family and caring side of the [infrastructure] proposal — they are really underestimating the salience, depth and appeal among women.This whole debate about what is infrastructure and what is not? That really doesn't resonate with women,” Lake said, adding that the challenge is to “make sure we don't get intimidated and talk about [infrastructure] too narrowly.”
In the April 26th Monmouth University poll, sixty-eight percent of Americans said they are in favor of Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, and 64% support his spending plan that expands healthcare, childcare, and college tuition assistance. Fifty-one percent think the plan will make the country more competitive globally, while only 12% think otherwise.
The accompanying plan that would provide paid leave and reduce healthcare and childcare costs, is supported by 64% of Americans. The same two-thirds support paying for the bill by raising taxes on corporations and individuals making more than $400,000 annually.
The Care Economy may have a new name, but we’ve funded these kinds of infrastructure items since at least 1940, when the Lanham Act recognized there weren’t enough childless Rosies to rivet our machines of war together, and built and staffed quality daycare centers.
Meanwhile, Republicans have said that they’re up for some spending, but not much. Texas Senator John Cornyn said this on Fox News Sunday: “There is a core infrastructure bill that we could pass” focused on “roads and bridges and even reaching out to broadband.”
In truth, though, it isn’t just Republicans who are opposed to Biden’s plan to support the “Care Economy.” It is, generally, sadly, predictably…men.
©Jon Sinton/ PA LLC 2021