US President Joe Biden Hopes New $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Can Boost His Popularity

President Joe Biden signed his $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law Monday on the White House lawn, hailing it as an example of what bipartisanship can achieve.

The president hopes to use the law to build back his popularity and says it will deliver jobs, clean water, high-speed internet and a clean energy future. Support for Biden has taken a hit amid rising inflation and the inability to fully shake the public health and economic risks from Covid-19.

A smattering of Republican lawmakers were on hand for what might be one the last celebratory displays of bipartisanship ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

바카라�My message to the American people is this: America is moving again and your life is going to change for the better,바카라� Biden said.

The president hopes to use the law to build back his popularity, which has taken a hit amid rising inflation and the inability to fully shake the public health and economic risks from Covid-19.

바카라�My message to the American people is this: America is moving again and your life is going to change for the better,바카라� Biden said.

With the bipartisan deal, the president had to choose between his promise of fostering national unity and a commitment to transformative change. The final measure whittled down much of his initial vision to invest in roads, bridges, water systems, broadband, ports, electric vehicles and the power grid. Yet the administration hopes to sell the new law as a success that bridged partisan divides and will elevate the country with clean drinking water, high-speed internet and a shift away from fossil fuels.

바카라�Too often in Washington 바카라� the reason we don't get things done is because we insist on getting everything we want,바카라� Biden said in his prepared remarks. 바카라�With this law, we focused on getting things done. I ran for president because the only way to move our country forward is through compromise and consensus.바카라�

Biden will get outside Washington to sell the plan more broadly in coming days.

He intends go to New Hampshire on Tuesday to visit a bridge on the state's 바카라�red list바카라� for repair, and he will go to Detroit on Wednesday for a stop at General Motors' electric vehicle assembly plant, while other officials also fan out across the country. The president went to the Port of Baltimore last week to highlight how the supply chain investments from the law could limit inflation and strengthen supply chains, a key concern of voters who are dealing with higher prices.

바카라�We see this as is an opportunity because we know that the president's agenda is quite popular,바카라� White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday before the signing. The outreach to voters can move "beyond the legislative process to talk about how this is going to help them. And we're hoping that's going to have an impact.바카라�

Biden held off on signing the hard-fought infrastructure deal after it passed on Nov. 5 until legislators would be back from a congressional recess and could join in a splashy bipartisan event. On Sunday night before the signing, the White House announced Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor, would help manage and coordinate the implementation of the infrastructure spending.

The gathering Monday on the White House lawn was uniquely celebratory with an upbeat brass band and peppy speeches, a contrast to the drama and tensions when the fate of the package was in doubt for several months. The speakers lauded the measure for creating jobs, combatting inflation and responding to the needs of voters.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican who helped negotiate the package, celebrated Biden's willingness to jettison much of his initial proposal to help bring GOP lawmakers on board. Portman even credited former President Donald Trump for raising awareness about infrastructure, even though the loser of the 2020 election voiced intense opposition to the ultimate agreement.

바카라�The approach from the center out should be the norm, not the exception,바카라� Portman said.

The signing included governors and mayors of both parties and labor and business leaders. In addition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the guest list included Republicans such as Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, New York Rep. Tom Reed, Alaska Rep. Don Young and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.

In order to achieve a bipartisan deal, the president had to cut back his initial ambition to spend $2.3 trillion on infrastructure by more than half. The bill that becomes law on Monday in reality includes about $550 billion in new spending over 10 years, since some of the expenditures in the package were already planned.

The agreement ultimately got support from 19 Senate Republicans, including Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. Thirteen House Republicans also voted for the infrastructure bill. An angry Trump issued a statement attacking 바카라�Old Crow바카라� McConnell and other Republicans for cooperating on 바카라�a terrible Democrat Socialist Infrastructure Plan.바카라�

McConnell says the country 바카라�desperately needs바카라� the new infrastructure money, but he skipped Monday's signing ceremony, telling WHAS radio in Louisville, Kentucky, that he has 바카라�other things바카라� to do.

Historians, economists and engineers interviewed by The Associated Press welcomed Biden's efforts. But they stressed that $1 trillion was not nearly enough to overcome the government's failure for decades to maintain and upgrade the country's infrastructure. The politics essentially forced a trade-off in terms of potential impact not just on the climate but on the ability to outpace the rest of the world this century and remain the dominant economic power.

바카라�We've got to be sober here about what our infrastructure gap is in terms of a level of investment and go into this eyes wide open, that this is not going to solve our infrastructure problems across the nation,바카라� said David Van Slyke, dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.