Biden delivers, Trump dithers
President Joe Biden was in Superior, Wisconsin on Thursday to tout federal funds released to replace the obsolete Blatnik Bridge between Superior and Duluth, Minnesota. The bridge opened in 1961.
“For decades, people talked about replacing this bridge, but it never got done, until today,” Biden told a crowd. He made sure to take a poke at Donald “91 Counts” Trump who over four years of inaction turned “Infrastructure Week” into a punchline.
“On my watch, instead of Infrastructure Week, America is having an Infrastructure Decade,” Biden quipped.
Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure investments already have poured $6.1 billion into Wisconsin and $5.7 billion into Minnesota:
And I’m proud to announce $1 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be used to build this new bridge, a new bridge that will increase capacity for large trucks and oversized loads; a new bridge with a modern design, wider shoulders, smother on — smoother on and off ramps; a new bridge with a shared path for pedestrians and cyclists.
Biden continued:
In Wisconsin and Minnesota, we’re investing $2.5 billion — $2.5 billion in high-speed Internet. And we’re going to save — (applause) — and we’re going to save more than 600,000 families in these two states up to $30 a month on their Internet bills. The household that I came from, that matters. Those $30 extra at the end of the month — bills all add up when you’re living on a fixed salary.
We’re also investing $1.1 billion in your state to provide clean water and replace poisonous lead pipes. (Applause.) Every lead pipe is going to be taken out so you can turn on your faucet and drink clean water without getting sick.
At Daily Kos, Just Saying compiled a bullet list of Biden achievements too long to list here.
“Scottholes”
Wisconsin Democrats’ state chair Ben Wikler appeared on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” to drive home that message. Biden has delivered. Under Wisconsin’s former Republican governor, Scott Walker, highway infrastructure neglect led to people renaming crumbling pavement “Scottholes.”
Even Fox Business had to admit Biden has delivered (The Hill):
Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, who served as director of the National Economic Council (NEC) during the Trump administration, said President Biden is justified in touting the economy’s strong numbers, saying, “I would be bragging about it, too.”
“I’m an honest broker. He got a good 3.3 percent [gross domestic product] number for the fourth quarter, following a good 4.9 percent in the third quarter, OK. If I were he, I would be bragging about it, too. And inflation has come down,” Kudlow said on his Fox Business Network show Thursday.
“All’s fair in love, war and politics. Brag when you can. I get it. I’ve been there,” he continued.
Kudlow, of course, both-sided his praise with concern that all that government infrastructure spending will be inflationary. Well, Larry, inflation is down too. You just said so.
“The economy has continued to grow in recent months” The Hill continues, both-sidesing, “but voters still say they trust former President Trump on the economy more than they do Biden.”
In 2013, as many as 12 million Americans believed “interstellar lizards in people suits rule our country.” In 2021, fifteen percent of Americans believed “that the government and other entities are controlled by Satan-worshipping pedophiles running a child sex trafficking ring.” And yet news outlets credit such beliefs with column inches.
(h/t BF)