U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Biden Administration Releases $2.9 Billion in Infrastructure Funds to Remove Lead Pipes

The Biden administration announced plans on Thursday to eliminate lead from the nation's drinking water with an infrastructure bill that would dedicate $2.9 billion to the removal of lead pipes.

White House officials reported that an estimated 10 million U.S. homes receive water via lead pipes. Lead from these pipes has been known to seep into drinking water, poisoning people in places such as Flint, Michigan.

According to the World Health Organization, lead poisoning, even in smaller quantities, can be especially dangerous to children, as it can affect brain development and cause behavioral changes, along with a host of other health complications.

"There is no reason in the 21st century for why people are still exposed to this substance that was poisoning people back in the 18th century," Vice President Kamala Harris said in remarks delivered Thursday.

The administration has a 10-year goal of replacing every lead service line in the country. Harris added that doing so would help create jobs.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not set to finalize its requirements for reaching the goal until 2024, which some environmentalists worry could be too little, too late.

Erik Olson, senior strategic director of health at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the administration needs to be more specific on its plan to remove the pipes.

"The top priority must be to require removal of all lead pipes within the decade and to set a strict at-the-tap standard, which is the only way to prevent another generation of kids from drinking water through what is essentially a lead straw," Olson said. "Good intentions won't be enough to get the job done."

In recent years, the risks facing cities with lead service lines have come into focus, most notably in connection to the Flint, Michigan, water crisis.

While the EPA considers how to strengthen the nation's lead-in-water rules, it will allow the previous Trump administration's overhaul of lead regulations to move forward, officials said Thursday. When the Biden EPA's requirements are finalized by 2024, they are expected to call for the replacement of remaining lead drinking water pipes "as quickly as is feasible."

"The science on lead is settled—there is no safe level of exposure and it is time to remove this risk to support thriving people and vibrant communities," EPA administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

Environment America senior attorney John Rumpler called the administration's plans "long-overdue and an indispensable step toward securing safe water." He said the EPA should set a 10-year deadline to replace lead service lines, as New Jersey did in July.

A Trump administration rule said public water systems should replace 3% of their lead service lines annually if lead levels exceed 15 parts per billion, a rate lower than the previous 7% requirement. Trump administration officials said that the rule eliminated loopholes allowing water systems to avoid removing pipes and would therefore make the replacement process faster.

But environmental groups were critical, saying it allowed the removal to happen too slowly.

The Trump administration also set requirements to make sure that water systems prevent lead in pipes from corroding into drinking water. It also revamped lead testing to make sure water samples come from water sitting in lead pipes instead of near a faucet—a move experts say could push lead level results higher for many utilities nationwide.

The Biden EPA is considering ways to strengthen key parts of the regulation, including the 15 parts-per-billion threshold.

Congress approved $15 billion for lead service line replacement in the infrastructure bill—about one-third less than what the White House and water experts say it will cost to replace them nationally.

Administration officials spoke about additional efforts to limit lead exposure, including more childhood surveillance testing for lead exposure by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove lead paint in public housing. Also, the Treasury Department is announcing that surplus COVID-19 relief funds can be used for lead service line replacement projects.

"The challenge that we face is, without any question, great. Lead is built into our cities. It is laid under our roads, and it is installed in our homes," Harris said.

https://www.newsweek.com/biden-administration-releases-29-billion-infrastructure-funds-remove-lead-pipes-1660345

[Rick Plant]

Utah airports to receive millions from Biden infrastructure plan

SALT LAKE CITY — Several airports in Utah will be recipients of $39.2 million from the Federal Aviation Administration in 2022. The funds are part of the Biden administration’s infrastructure plan.

According to the FAA, the plan sets aside $2.89 billion dollars for airports across the country in 2022. The bill allocates $15 billion in total for airports over the coming years.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build safer and more sustainable airports that connect individuals to jobs and communities to the world,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement.

"With this new funding, urban, regional and rural airports across the country now can get to work on projects that have waited for years, modernizing their infrastructure and building a better America."

All in all, 33 airports in Utah will be beneficiaries of the money, including those in Cedar City, Ogden, Moab, Provo, Vernal, St. George, and Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake City International airport will receive the bulk of the money, roughly 69%.

The federal dollars are for roadways, runways, terminals, safety measures, and sustainability projects, according to the FAA.

A spokesperson for the Salt Lake airport said they just learned of the funding project this week and have not yet developed a strategy for spending the money most effectively. However, they said the funds would likely be used for the next phase of the new airport facilities still under construction.

The breakdown of the disbursements are as follows:

Canyonlands Field in Moab: $1,010,713

Cedar City Regional in Cedar City: $1,015,726

Ogden-Hinckley in Ogden: $1,010,481

Provo Municipal in Provo: $1,424,960

Salt Lake City International in Salt Lake City: $24,752,219

St George Regional in St. George: $1,486,245

Vernal Regional in Vernal: $1,008,207

https://kslnewsradio.com/1961210/utah-airports-to-receive-millions-from-biden-infrastructure-plan/


'Americans always rebuild’: Biden promotes infrastructure investments



KANSAS CITY, Mo. — President Joe Biden visited here to tout the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill he signed into law last month, expected to bring billions in spending on roads and bridges, clean water, public transportation, high speed internet and the states.

The president said the investments amount to a “blue collar blueprint” for rebuilding the country, providing more good-paying jobs and economic opportunities, 95 percent of which don’t require a college degree.

For the better part of the 20th century, the United States became a global leader through “our willingness to invest in ourselves,” he said citing the space race and the federal highway system. Now, he said, China and the rest of the world are catching up and moving ahead.

Running through Biden’s speech, delivered at the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, was a thread of frustration at the state of the nation’s infrastructure and the difficulties faced by those who struggle to afford prescription drugs or access the internet, implying the nation should be doing far better.

“We never break. We never stop. We Americans always rebuild, and we will rebuild this country,” Biden said.

Biden said the law does something historic in rebuilding the country, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail.

“When I announced for office, I said I was running for three reasons,” Biden said. “One, to restore the soul of this country, a sense of decency and honor. Two, to rebuild the backbone of this country, working class and hard working middle class people — that’s the backbone of this country. And thirdly, to unite the country, which is turning out to be one of the most difficult things, but we’re going to get it done.”

The far-flung city of half a million people has struggled to keep up with the infrastructure needs across its 300 square miles. For years, residents’ water bills rose by double digits every year to fund a federally mandated upgrade to keep the city’s wastewater from overflowing. The city renegotiated that mandate with the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year.

Kansas City’s iconic Buck O’Neil Bridge has long needed replacing and had to be rehabilitated in 2018 while it awaited funding for replacement. The state-owned bridge is now being rebuilt at the cost of $250 million, half of which the city contributed through a sales tax increase.

Missouri’s highways are notoriously troublesome with more than $4.5 billion in unfunded needs. The Missouri General Assembly this spring increased the tax on gasoline for the first time in almost 30 years.

Under the legislation, Kansas is expected to get $2.6 billion in highway funds and $225 million for bridges over five years. Missouri is expected to receive $6.5 billion and $484 million for those investments.

Both states would get hundreds of millions to expand broadband service to disconnected rural areas and low-income families that can’t afford internet access.

Biden said no parent in 21st century America should have to sit in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant to use the Internet, like many did during the pandemic.

“This is the United States of America, for God’s sake,” Biden said.

Biden said the bill also marked the largest investment in passenger railways in the U.S. for 50 years, joking about his own affinity for riding the train from Washington to Delaware.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat who represents the Kansas side of the Kansas City area, said she was excited by the billions of dollars that would flow into the region through infrastructure investments. She said residents can feel the economic impact of decades of underinvestment in infrastructure.

“From bridges to broadband, we’re continuing to create opportunities, because that’s what this is about,” Davids said.

The federal infrastructure bill includes $89 billion for local transit projects over the next five years, with $5.6 billion earmarked for low- or zero-emission vehicles.

In 2020, Kansas City, Mo., became the first major American city to eliminate fares for public transportation. The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority operates 78 bus routes across state lines, serving 14 million riders annually. The fleet includes four battery-powered buses, and only zero-emission buses will be added.

Biden also touted the elements of the bill meant to help the environment and protect communities from the effects of climate change. He said roads and bridges would be rebuilt to be more resistant to climate change. He praised Kansas City for its move to zero-emissions buses.

Biden said he grew up like a lot of Americans in a middle class household, but he would hear his parents talk about struggles, like his father losing his health insurance.

“My dad used to say everybody deserves just a little bit of breathing room,” Biden said.

Biden also took the opportunity to tout his Build Back Better plan, which still needs approval by the U.S. Senate. He said the bill would invest in universal preschool to help America catch up on early childhood education. He noted the country ranks 34th.

During the pandemic, women have been forced from the workplace in huge numbers as school closures and quarantines upended their normal childcare plans.

He spoke of a young woman who told him she was forced to ration her insulin because she couldn’t afford it and nearly died as a result. He said the bill would ensure insulin costs no more than $35 per month.

“Think about that,” Biden said. “The difference between nearly dying and thriving is the cost of one drug that cost $10 to make. … It can cost consumers now $1,000 a month.”

https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/12/10/americans-always-rebuild-biden-promotes-infrastructure-investments/

[Rick Plant]

President Biden has done some remarkable things this year and this is all with GOP obstruction.   

1. Passed a Rescue Plan

2. Largest Infrastructure Bill in generations

3. Set record for job creation

4. Cut child poverty in half

5. More judges than any President in 50 years

6. Vaccinated 200m people

Back in March:

Biden signs $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law

Washington — President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act into law on Thursday, finalizing an early policy victory that will send much-needed aid to millions of Americans still struggling from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving people in this nation, working people, middle class folks, people who built the country, a fighting chance," Mr. Biden said before signing the bill, one day earlier than expected.

The bill was narrowly approved by the House on Wednesday with a vote of 220 to 211, with one Democrat joining all Republicans in voting against it. It passed the Senate on Saturday with a 50 to 49 vote, also along party lines.

Mr. Biden signed the bill hours before delivering his first prime-time national address to mark the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has since taken more than 529,000 American lives. The White House said the president and Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Atlanta next Friday, part of what the White House is calling the "Help is Here" tour to tout the new relief bill in cities around the country.

New CBS News polling shows that the bill is widely popular with the public, with three in four Americans approving of its passage. Two-thirds of Americans also say Mr. Biden is doing a good job in his handling of the pandemic.

The American Rescue Plan provides $1,400 direct payments to individuals making up to $75,000 annually, $350 billion in aid to state and local governments and $14 billion for vaccine distribution. The bill also provides $130 billion to elementary, middle and high schools to assist with safe reopening.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the first wave of direct deposit checks would begin hitting Americans' bank accounts as soon as this weekend.

It includes an additional $300 billion in weekly jobless benefits through September and an expanded tax credit of up to $3,600 per child, initially distributed in monthly installments. The child tax credit could raise 4 million children out of poverty, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

More than $50 billion will be distributed to small businesses, including $7 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program. The bill also provides $25 billion for relief for small and mid-sized restaurants, which have suffered significantly during the pandemic.

The measure expands eligibility for subsidies to purchase health insurance to people of all incomes under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a provision that was particularly controversial for Republicans who oppose the bill. It also incentivizes states to expand Medicaid under the ACA by having the federal government pay for new recipients. Several million people could save hundreds of dollars in health care costs once the bill becomes law.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-signs-covid-relief-bill-american-rescue-plan-into-law/

[Rick Plant]

GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert and husband racked up arrests in home district



Rep. Lauren Boebert, the gun-toting freshman Republican Colorado congresswoman who ran on a law-and-order platform, has had several dust-ups with police, starting as a teenager.

The 34-year-old lawmaker, who beat her district’s very conservative Rep. Scott Tipton in a primary upset last June, has a rap sheet unusually long for a member of Congress.

And her track record of thumbing her nose at the law continued this week after she tussled with Capitol Police officers over her refusal to walk through newly installed House metal detectors.

“I am legally permitted to carry my firearm in Washington, DC, and within the Capitol complex,” she tweeted in defiance, while calling the detectors “another political stunt by Speaker Pelosi.”

While the lawmaker was eventually allowed to enter the House chambers, she is facing growing questions about her possible role in assisting the deadly Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill. Just hours before the violence, she tweeted, “today is 1776.” In the days leading up to the unrest, Boebert made a spectacle of her intention to remain armed in the Capitol, earning another rebuke from local law enforcement.

Back in June 2015, Boebert was cuffed for disorderly conduct at a country music festival near Grand Junction, Colo., after police said she attempted to interfere in the arrest of minors busted for underage drinking and encouraged the accused to run off. Boebert said the revelers had not been read their Miranda rights and that the arrest was illegal.

"Lauren continued yelling and causing the underage drinkers to become unruly,” an arresting officer said in a statement at the time. “Lauren said multiple times that she had friends at Fox News and that the illegal arrest would be national news.” At the time, Boebert was running Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colo. The story was first reported by Colorado Newsline.

Boebert subsequently missed two court appearances and was arrested again in December 2015. The charge was dismissed.

A year later, in September 2016, Boebert was charged with careless driving and operating an unsafe vehicle after rolling her truck into a ditch, police said. When she failed to show up for court a month later, a warrant was issued for her arrest. She was booked on Feb. 13, 2017. She ultimately pleaded guilty to the unsafe vehicle charge and paid $123.50 in fines and court costs. The careless driving charge was dismissed. The incident was first reported by the Colorado Times Recorder.

"It’s certainly of concern that on a couple of occasions she apparently failed to appear for court,” Tom Silverman, a Democrat and former president of the Colorado Municipal Judges Association, told The Post. “I was disappointed when she was elected.”

Colin Wilhelm, a Colorado defense attorney and Democrat who plans to challenge Boebert in 2022, agreed: “It’s concerning when you claim to be a member of ‘back the blue’ and yet are so anti-authority when they are trying to do their job.”

In September 2010, Boebert was arrested after a neighbor, Michele Soet, accused Boebert’s two pit bulls of attacking Soet’s dog. Soet’s dog narrowly escaped injury after jumping into a van. The future legislator pleaded guilty to a single count of “dog at large,” paying a $75 fine.

Boebert’s future husband, Jayson, also had brushes with law enforcement. In January 2004, he was arrested after allegedly exposing himself to two women at a bowling alley, according to an arrest affidavit. Lauren Boebert (then age 17 and known as Lauren Opal Roberts) was also there. Jayson Boebert pleaded guilty to public indecency and lewd exposure, earning himself four days in jail and two years’ probation.

In February 2004, he was booked on a domestic violence charge, against Lauren Boebert. He “did unlawfully strike, shove or kick … and subjected her to physical contact,” a spokesman for the Garfield associate county court clerk told The Post. They had been dating at the time.

Jayson Boebert ultimately served seven days in jail. The busts were first unearthed by Colorado blogger Anne Landman.

Lauren Boebert took her revenge in May 2004 during an altercation with Jayson at his home in which she scratched his face and chest and trashed his residence, according to a police report. She was slapped with third-degree assault, criminal mischief and underage drinking charges. A rep for the Garfield County Combined Court said they could not reveal any information about the case’s final disposition.

The Boeberts married in 2005, and have four children.

Jayson Boebert did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.

https://nypost.com/2021/01/16/gop-rep-lauren-boebert-and-husband-have-racked-up-arrests/

[Rick Plant]

Republicans voted against the American Rescue Plan.

Charlie Crist touts $151 Million in Child Tax Cuts for Pinellas families

Pinellas County families have received more than $151 million since July from the Child Tax Credit  payments, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist announced.

That accounts for 72,000 families within Crist’s district. The expanded Child Tax Credit, included in the American Rescue Plan, seeks to cut childhood poverty by 40%. The American Rescue Plan expanded the credit to up to $3,600 per child for children under 5, and $3,000 per child for children ages 6 to 17.

“One of the most impactful parts of that law was a historic expansion of the Child Tax Credit,” Crist said of the American Rescue Plan.

https://thetampabay100.com/politics-category/2021/12/15/charlie-crist-touts-151-million-in-child-tax-cuts-for-pinellas-families/18331

[Rick Plant]

Corrupt West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is blocking President Biden's agenda from passing which the overwhelming majority of Americans voted for and want to Build Back Better.

'Not everybody in West Virginia has a houseboat': CNN's Acosta on Joe Manchin



CNN's Jim Acosta called out Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) after he revealed he wouldn't support President Joe Biden's Build Back Better pan that would give Americans the child tax credit, tech neutral energy tax incentives and control of drug prices, as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) explained in his letter to his West Virginia colleague.

@RonWyden releases outline for the pillars of an updated BBB that might fit Sen. Manchin’s criteria while also bringing along progressives.

-Long-term expansion of the current child tax credit

-Tech neutral energy tax incentives

-Rx drug price control







Speaking to CNN political analyst John Avlon, Acosta noted, "I do think that Joe Manchin did mislead a lot of people in his party for many many months," said Acosta. "And yes, he may represent a MAGA state now and so on but not everybody in West Virginia has a houseboat."

"Traditionally one of the things centrists tend to do is they look at what's actually popular as opposed to ideological wishlist items that maybe have a minority of support in America, and they try to bring folks together. And I think the White House has been negotiating in good faith with Manchin," Avlon agreed. "And I think Manchin — you want to take at his word that he had been working with the president. But he pulled the plug the week before Christmas when so many of these items are not only popular but things that Manchin has supported in the past, things that would benefit his own constituents in West Virginia, things that would help the Democratic Party reach out to working-class voters who have suffered from the economic divide."

See the discussion below:

[Rick Plant]

Bank predicts American GDP will go down because Joe Manchin killed the human infrastructure plan



After Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) revealed that he would not support President Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" plan, which is known as the "human infrastructure" bill, Dow Futures tumbled. Now, a major world bank is warning that they're readjusting predictions about American GDP.

Sunday evening Investors.com revealed that the stock market is predicted to tumble on Monday. Due to Manchin's interview with Fox News Sunday morning, the big bank Goldman Sachs gives the Biden bill a less than 50-50 chance of passing Congress. The company then lowered its 2022 GDP forecasts for the United States.

It puts Manchin in a difficult position to single-handedly hurt the U.S. economy, tweeted CNBC Contributor James Pethokoukis.

As Goldman said in the statement, "There is also still a chance that Congress retroactively extends the expanded child tax credit, with some modifications, though we think the odds of this occurring are less than even."

There is also a concern that anti-vaxxers are also causing COVID-19 to spread and evolve into yet another variant.

"While many questions remain unanswered, we now think a moderate downside scenario where the virus spreads more quickly but immunity against severe disease is only slightly weakened is most likely," said Goldman economist Joseph Briggs, CNN reported.

See the full statement below or at CNN.com:



https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/04/economy/goldman-sachs-us-gdp-omicron/index.html

[Rick Plant]

How Georgia's Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue conspired against democracy



Anyone in public life who supported, advocated, justified, participated in, financed or helped to organize the scheme to void the 2020 Electoral College vote, take away the voice of the people, and MacGyver state legislatures into keeping Donald Trump in the White House is guilty of conspiring to end American democracy.
History will record that as a fact.

Now, some might disagree. I mean, it’s not as if Republicans just hyped themselves into a frenzy with a totally groundless story about “voter fraud,” then used that frenzy as an excuse to throw out tens of millions of legitimate votes, cancel the election, overrule the American people and re-install a president whom voters had clearly and definitively rejected. If all that had happened, even the skeptics would have to agree they had conspired against democracy.

Of course, all that did happen.

So let’s call out some names:

You, David Perdue. You conspired to end American democracy. As a U.S. senator sworn to defend the Constitution, you instead supported efforts to trash that document. You conspired to throw out the 5 million votes that were cast legally and in good faith by your fellow Georgians so that Republican legislators could substitute their will for the will of the people. You did so for no other reason than you didn’t like the outcome.

You had – and have – no evidence of voter fraud to justify such breathtaking action. The laughable lawsuit that you recently filed accuses Fulton County election officials of “unlawful, erroneous, negligent, grossly negligent, willful, malicious, corrupt, deceitful, and intentional manipulation of votes.” It claims “Fulton County permitted great multitudes of fraudulent persons to fraudulently vote in the General Election using the name(s) of qualified and eligible Georgia voters.”

1. Produce these “great multitudes.” You have made the charge: Back it up.

If what you allege is true, then thousands of legally registered voters in Fulton County – if you believe Trump, tens of thousands – must have been barred from voting on Election Day because when they got to their precincts, they would have been told that somebody else had fraudulently cast ballots in their name through the absentee process.

So produce these “great multitudes.” You cannot. You cannot because they exist only in the land of unicorns, fairies, magic rainbows and GOP lawsuits.

I know, I know – we’ve all heard the excuse: The lawsuits are necessary to uncover the evidence that you’re sure is there. Yet that in itself is a damning admission. Given your support a year ago for blocking the transfer of power to President Biden, it is a confession that you were willing to subvert American democracy based on evidence that to this day you do not have.

Furthermore, in your campaign for governor you have made it clear that you would use the powers of that new office to do even worse in the next election, if given the chance. Indeed, that promise is the entire animating force behind your candidacy. And if you’ve somehow managed to convince yourself that all this nonsense is true, if that self-delusion helps you sleep better at night, it doesn’t make the Big Lie any less of a lie. It just makes you a bigger fool.

But of course, Perdue is far from alone.

You, then-Sen. Kelly Loeffler, joined Perdue last year in supporting a Texas lawsuit that would have rendered 5 million Georgia voters voiceless in the presidential election, based on the false claim of 80,000 forged absentee ballots in our state. Your fellow Republican, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, had condemned that suit as “constitutionally, legally and factually wrong,” but that didn’t deter you in the slightest. No defender of the Constitution or democracy would have taken the momentous step of trying to throw out millions of ballots without overwhelming evidence. You did so with no evidence whatsoever.

Twenty-eight state legislators also joined in supporting that ridiculous lawsuit, as did seven House members from Georgia. Again, we should name names: House members Jody Hice, Rick Allen, Buddy Carter, Doug Collins, Drew Ferguson, Barry Loudermilk, Austin Scott: You too have conspired against American democracy. When the vote of the people of Georgia went against your candidate, you tried to silence their voice, and all but Scott did so again on the House floor on Jan. 6.

Hice is now running for Georgia secretary of state, the office entrusted with the sacred power of guaranteeing the fairness and legitimacy of our democratic republic. As with Perdue, the entire reason for Hice’s candidacy is his eagerness to use the powers of that office to succeed next time where he and others failed last time. He has no other platform, no other agenda.

Hice, Perdue and too many other GOP candidates are asking the people of Georgia not just to validate their past attempts to subvert democracy. They are asking that you join in that conspiracy, that you participate in it.

Don’t do that.

https://georgiarecorder.com

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