WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st April, 2021) US President Joe Biden unveiled a $2 trillion plan to drastically upgrade the country's infrastructure with funding expected to come from a proposed increase in taxes on large corporations.
"I am convinced that if we act now in 50 years people are going to look back and say 'This was the moment that America won the future'. What I am proposing is one-time capital investment of roughly $2 trillion in America's future spread largely over eight years," Biden said in his speech in Pittsburgh.
This is Biden's second large economic initiative after the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, dubbed America Rescue Plan.
The infrastructure project calls for investing $621 billion in transportation, $580 billion in manufacturing, research and job training, $313 billion in schools and housing, $111 billion in water facilities, $100 billion in digital infrastructure. Another $400 million are expected to be spent on home care workers.
Biden's plan seeks to modernize 20,000 miles of various roads, fix ten "most economically significant bridges in the country" and repair another 10,000 smaller ones. It will replace thousands of buses and rail cars, repair hundreds of stations, renew airports, and expand transit and rail into new communities
Other proposals offer to eliminate all lead pipes in US drinking water systems and bring cheap high-speed internet connection to every American. Biden envisages 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles, "fully green grid" and tax rebates to make clean cars affordable to every American family.
"It's a once in a generation investment in America. Unlike anything we have seen or done since we have built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago. The largest American jobs investment since World War II," Biden said.
"We will create millions of jobs, good-paying jobs will grow the economy, make us more competitive around the world, promote our national security interests and put us in a position to win the global competition with China in the upcoming years. It's big yes, it's bold yes. And we can get it done," he added.
To fund the initiative, Biden proposed to raise the corporate income tax to 28 from 21 percent, introduce the global tax of 21 percent and eliminate deductions for offshoring businesses. He also vowed that no American earning less than $400,000 per year will see a tax hike.
The White House cited in its fact sheet a recent study which found that 91 Fortune 500 companies paid $0 in Federal taxes on US income in 2018.
"President Biden believes that profitable corporations should not be able to get away with paying little or no tax by shifting jobs and profits overseas. President Biden's plan will reward investment at home, stop profit shifting, and ensure other nations won't gain a competitive edge by becoming tax havens," the fact sheet said.
Biden said that he is open to negotiations with the Republican opposition to iron out details of his initiative.
