Politically, who believes that we can even address any of these issues with the political situation as it is now? Each side will attempt to block projects in the other side's districts, even though blue state projects are likely to affect a greater percentage of Americans. Red states will object to block projects in non-white areas and will block anything and everything that benefits Hispanics because some of them might not be legal residents.
While $3 trillion is a lot of money, consider one recent large-scale infrastructure project I used last week. The replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge in NY. That was relatively speedy and cost $4 billion. Do some arithmetic, and that comes to roughly 75 comparable-size projects throughout the country. That's not a lot of projects when you consider that tens of thousands - some articles have said hundreds of thousands - of bridges that need repair, and some reports have suggested that this is close to a century-long project. Add in water systems and mine clean-up and broadband expansion, and pretty soon it adds up. Now, if we could be looking at $3 trillion a year for the next ten years or more, then we might make some inroads. But I guarantee we as a nation do not have the political will to do that. And, you know something, we don't have the vision.
Yes, NASA landed stuff on Mars, and that is seriously impressive. But as far as I can tell from reading the papers, most scientific advancements are in the hands of a few billionaires, and their goal is not the betterment of America or mankind.
Is it any wonder that the Chinese look at us and simply give us the finger? We've become a laughingstock over the past 4 years and have lost whatever moral, political, or financial leverage might have been applied to Chinese transgressions. We have RW senators and representatives who support Putin rather than Biden and for whom assault weapons and anti-life policies are more important than. . . well, than just about anything else.
Look, I hope they can get this passed. I'm all for infrastructure. But I just don't think it will happen, and if it does, it will be so half-assed as to be an embarrassment. So, on a personal level, I don't think I'll be seeing real broadband in my rural community in what remains of my lifetime.
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