David Alff is Associate Professor of English at The State University of New York, University at Buffalo. This interview is based on his new book, The Northeast Corridor: The Trains, the People, the History, the Region (University of Chicago Press, […]
infrastructure
Joe Biden’s pro-life legacy
Joe Biden can’t get a break right now. The economy is improving. We are living normal lives again. Infrastructure improvements have begun. Things aren’t perfect, but Biden has brought us back, and has brought us back stronger. His infrastructure spending […]
Infrastructure funding and the pro-life agenda
I wrote this piece for Religion News Service back in 2021. I am re-upping it today: In the early 19th century, during America’s first era of infrastructure development, Christians were some of the country’s strongest supporters of what were then […]
The American economy “boomed” in 2023
Here is Abha Bhattarai at The Washington Post: The U.S. economy grew by a bustling 3.1 percent in 2023, shaking off recession fears and offering an upbeat picture of consumers and businesses ahead of a pivotal election year. Growth slowed […]
The Author’s Corner with Josiah Rector
Josiah Rector is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Houston. This interview is based on his new book, Toxic Debt: An Environmental Justice History of Detroit (University of North Carolina Press, 2022). JF: What led you to ​write […]
Trump gave rural American Supreme Court justices and trade wars. Biden is bringing them economic relief.
Robert Leonard writes about the Midwest. His recent piece at The New York Times is titled, “Biden Has Already Done More for Rural America Than Trump Ever Did.” A taste: In under two years in office, President Biden has done […]
Why infrastructure is so important
Here is Fareed Zakaria at The Washington Post: Every two minutes, a water main breaks in America. The total amount of treated water wasted every day is about 6 billion gallons, or 9,000 swimming pools. Every day! And it highlights why the […]
David Brooks on why we need to spend $ 4 trillion
Here is a taste of his New York Times column: The Democratic spending bills are economic packages that serve moral and cultural purposes. They should be measured by their cultural impact, not merely by some wonky analysis. In real, tangible […]
Senate passes $3.5 trillion dollar budget framework. Hyde Amendment is saved. Anti-Critical Race Theory amendment passes.
It’s a done deal. Elections have consequences. The American people rejected Trumpism in 2020. Now the Democrats, who rode the anti-Trump wave into office last November, have the power to get some things done. National Public Radio explains what is […]
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville just gave Democrats a gift. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker offers a brilliant thank you speech.
Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure plan passed earlier today. The Democrats are now–literally right now–setting the table for pushing their $3.5 trillion plan to strengthen family services, health care, and initiatives to fight climate change through the Senate. Republicans are trying to […]
Josh Hawley said “folks should look and see what’s in this [bipartisan infrastructure] bill.” So I did.
Tomorrow morning the Senate will pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. Not everyone is happy about it. Some GOP senators, including Mike Lee (UT), Rick Scott (FL), Ron Johnson (WI), Josh Hawley (MO), have denounced it. They will lose […]
The Democrats announce a $3.5 trillion “go-it-alone” infrastructure plan to supplement the bipartisan deal
While Joe Biden waits for his bipartisan infrastructure plan to get through Congress, Senate Democrats have announced another infrastructure plan that will provide funds for everything that did not make it into the bipartisan plan. This would include funding for […]
Our infrastructure is not equipped for climate change
On Sunday it was 112 degrees in Portland. Check out Robinson Meyer‘s sobering piece at The Atlantic. A taste: The Biden administration has been teased for trying to stuff climate change into an infrastructure frame. But this week has affirmed […]
Chris Coons defends Congress’s bipartisan infrastructure bill
Here is a taste of the Delaware senator’s op-ed at The Washington Post: The group led by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has produced a package with $579 billion in new spending anchored by a down payment […]
Biden ends talks with GOP on infrastructure
Here is Politico: Bipartisan infrastructure talks between President Joe Biden and GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito are over, and the White House will now focus on working with a bipartisan group of 20 senators. Biden and Capito spoke for five […]
Local journalism is “civic infrastructure”
Over the weekend I wrote a piece here at Current arguing that there was historical precedent for thinking about infrastructure development as something larger than just roads and bridges. I quoted John Quincy Adams’s first annual message to Congress. Here […]
Franklin Graham opposes Biden’s infrastructure plan: “I wasn’t aware that America needed rebuilding.”
Here is Graham at his Facebook page: As President Biden was giving his speech last night, I couldn’t help but think that the swamp has won. When President Trump came into office, he said he was going to drain the […]
Biden’s spending packages appear to have public support
$1.9 trillion for coronavirus relief $2 trillion for infrastructure. $1.8 trillion for American families, including child care and pre-K education. According to Nathan Rakich’s piece today at Five Thirty-Eight, a significant majority of the American people are on board with […]
Apparently I am not the only one who gets emotional about infrastructure
One of my favorite lectures in my U.S. history survey class is on early 19th-century infrastructure. I am fascinated by the way roads, bridges, canals, and railroads contributed to American nationalism. It looks like I am not alone. Here is […]
Biden Republicans
Are they similar to Reagan Democrats? Here is Will Weissert at the Associated Press: RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jay Copan doesn’t hide his disregard for the modern Republican Party. A solid Republican voter for the past four decades, the 69-year-old […]