Episode 231 Show Notes- What’s in the Massive Infrastructure Bill and What It Means for America?
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Episode Description
This episode focuses on three important topics- the $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill passed by Congress, the FBI illegally surveilling Americans, and the federal court smackdown of President Biden’s vaccine mandate. Professor Giordano will go through the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to this massive spending package. As the infrastructure of the United States continues to decay, will this infrastructure bill bring the United States into the 21st century or will it waste more hard-earned taxpayer dollars that we’ve come to expect? Tune in to find out.
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Show Transcript- What’s in the Massive Infrastructure Bill and What it Means for America?
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Intro
Welcome everyone to The P.A.S. Report Podcast.
Man, I’ll tell you, last week was such a newsworthy week from start to finish, and it can be hard to keep up with all the important issues that matter to you, but that’s why you listen to this podcast.
I’m going to break down a few of the important stories. You probably didn’t hear much about a couple of these stories because the media industrial complex wants to push a political agenda rather than report the news.
There are three things I want to discuss today. The first is a Supreme Court case that is currently being argued, yet most haven’t heard about this case. This case has massive implications, particularly in light of the Biden administration’s massive push to target ordinary Americans as domestic terrorism.
The second issue is another federal court case, where the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals smackdown the Biden administration and the government overreach we’ve been witnessing throughout the pandemic. While the case will certainly head to the Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit sent a clear message.
Then I’m also going to look at the massive $1.3-trillion infrastructure bill. Now, that has been reported, but most in the media leave out what’s included. I’ll focus on the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The media has touted the Biden infrastructure bill as a win for his administration and the American people, but is it really?
The infrastructure bill passed late Friday night when most people aren’t really paying attention to what’s going on so I’m here to help.
Now, before I jump in, make sure to visit The P.A.S. Report website, sign up for the newsletter, and follow the podcast so you’ll never miss an episode.
I also want to remind you. In case you missed Monday’s episode, I talked to Mollie Hemingway to discuss her new book, Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections. It was a great discussion about the 2020 elections and what happened. Trust me, it’s an interview you can’t afford to miss.
The Most Important Book of the Year
Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections
A Supreme Court Case Most Haven’t Heard About
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case FBI v. Fazaga. This is a case that has gone under the radar. Basically, several Muslim Americans are seeking to sue the government because they feel they were illegally surveilled by the FBI. The FBI is using the excuse that if the lawsuit were allowed to go forward, it could jeopardize national security secrets and surveillance methods.
The government routinely hides behind that excuse and this case goes to the First Amendment and whether we can petition the government for a redress of grievances, but it also goes far beyond that.
Your rank and file FBI agents work hard day in and day out, and my problem isn’t with them. My problem is with FBI leadership that’s rotten to the core. They have abused their power time and time again, and we witness this constant abuse of the FISA court to spy on Americans.
For the last several years, the FBI has continually violated our Constitutional Rights. Last year, it was revealed that the FBI has illegally accessed the NSA repository for information on American citizens. They’ve been doing this for years, and earlier this year, we learned they are still doing this. (Daily Mail)
They’ve been censured by the federal courts for this practice, and for conducting warrantless searches on U.S. citizens.
We all know about the abuses within the FISA court especially when it comes to the phony Russia investigation. We know that an FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, was charged with lying and manipulating a document in order to get a FISA warrant approved to spy on Carter Page.
The Durham investigation is also revealing a lot more lies. We know that multiple people, from the highest levels of the DOJ and the FBI, signed off on FISA warrant applications even though they knew the Steele Dossier was BS. They lied to the FISA Court. But the FISA Court deserves their fair share of culpability given how they’ve provided the FBI an enormous amount of leeway when it comes to these cases.
Why Is This Case So Important?
Many of you may be asking why this case is so important. It’s important given how the Biden administration has decided to target ordinary Americans under the guise of domestic terrorism. As you know, I’ve been harping on the National Strategy for countering Domestic Terrorism since the document June when the document was released.
I explained how this is nothing more than an effort to target political opponents and label them domestic terrorists. If you read through the 31-page document, you’ll find vague terminology of how those who express anti-government/anti-authority sentiment can be labeled as domestic terrorists. ON page 10, the document explains that those who bring up certain topics like the coronavirus restrictions or the 2020 elections can lead to incitement of domestic violent extremists, and therefore, you can be targeted as a domestic terrorist.
And if we want to see how this is being abused and used to surveil ordinary Americans, let’s take a look at the FBI. According to the Washington Times, from 2017-2019, the FBI recorded about 1,000 domestic terrorism plots and incidents. In 2021, the FBI has 2,700 open investigations focusing on domestic extremism. (Washington Times) It certainly raises eyebrows when you see a huge increase like that.
At the same time, we are learning that the Biden administration is amassing millions of records on gun owners. What did these gun owners do? Well, nothing. According to an internal ATF document, the ATF collected 54.7-million records pertaining to law-abiding gun owners. What would they be doing with these records? What’s the purpose? They didn’t do anything wrong, yet the government is monitoring their activity. (Washington Free Beacon)
Combine that with the Biden administration working closely with the private sector and the private sector serving as the government’s eyes and ears, and you see that this is nothing more than a push towards the surveillance state, and due process is being thrown out the window. The burden of proof now falls on the individual having to prove they are doing nothing wrong as opposed to the government having to prove you committed a crime.
That’s why this case is so important. If the FBI prevails, they will constantly hide behind the excuse of national security, sources, and methods. It will shield the FBI from any and all wrongdoing.
There has to be accountability, and if Fazaga can prevail over the FBI, the government may think twice when it comes to surveilling American’s and abusing their power. Perhaps, we can reintroduce accountability in the system. So, this is a case to watch, but of course, you didn’t hear anything about this case until you listened to this podcast.
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Are the Courts Finally Stepping in to Stop Government Overreach?
This isn’t the only important case out there. Last week, OSHA wrote the rule-following President Biden’s edict that private companies with over 100-employees must mandate their employees to get the COVID vaccine.
Now this mandate is clearly unconstitutional, and if the executive branch gets away with this rule change, what we’re saying is that executive power is unlimited. According to the OSHA rule, it states, “Since 2020, the coronavirus has led to the deaths of 750,000 people in the U.S., and the infection of millions more, making it the deadliest pandemic in the nation’s history.”
Just so you know, that’s a lie and it’s nothing but deception. The Spanish flu killed approximately 675,000 Americans. COVID has killed 754,000. But what they’re not talking about is population size.
In order for the coronavirus to be the deadliest on record for America, you need to look at population. During the Spanish Flu, America’s population was about 92-million. Today, we are a country of 332-million. For this to be even comparable to the Spanish Flu, we would have to hit over 2.4-million deaths.
Getting back to how OSHA justifies the rule change, they go on to say, “We must take action to implement this emergency temporary standard to contain the virus and protect people in the workplace against the grave danger of COVID-19.” (DOL/OSHA)
They say this is temporary, but they don’t define how long this rule would be in effect. They also say it’s a grave danger to the workplace, just think about how vague that definition is, and think about how many other things can be classified as a grave danger. This is nothing more than an unconstitutional power grab, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has taken notice.
The three-judge panel wrote that there was, “cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with this mandate,” and the Court stayed the mandate. (Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals) Meaning that the Court has ordered the administration not to enforce the mandate until arguments can be heard. However, the plaintiffs want a permanent injunction that would keep this mandate from taking effect until the Courts issue a final ruling.
Clearly, the 5th Circuit believes that the President and OSHA have exceeded their authority, particularly the authority Congress gave to OSHA, which was designed to prevent workplace hazards, not the spread of a virus. If the President and OSHA are allowed to make this new rule out of thin air, what’s to prevent them from doing this for any virus, including a bad flu season.
Are the federal courts finally doing their job and reigning in these mandates? Is a Court finally stepping in and saying, “No, no, no, Mr. President. You don’t have this power. You are not a king.” Now, it’s also important to recognize that the 5th Circuit is a conservative-leaning court and that this case will certainly go all the way up to the Supreme Court.
To think anyone can predict how the Supreme Court would rule on this would be foolish. Every time you try to predict what the Supreme Court will do, usually the opposite happens.
However, the 5th Circuit shows exactly how the system is supposed to work. That the Courts are skeptical of executive power. The judicial branch serves as the referees to ensure that the legislative and executive branch don’t exceed their authority and that we maintain coequal branches of government. The judicial branch also exists to prevent the federal authority from encroaching on State’s power and authority.
Over the years, sadly, the Courts have shown deference to executive power and authority. They give the benefit of the doubt to the bureaucracy and the bureaucrats over the people they’ve sworn to serve, and this has had a detrimental impact on our system and our Constitution.
This is all the more dangerous at a time when we’ve witnessed Congress, and state legislative bodies around the country, grant the executive branches more and more authority and allow chief executives to rule the way they see fit.
However, perhaps the Courts are waking up to the clear abuses within the system because, I’ll be honest with you, if the courts validate all this, then ask yourself, what can’t the government do?
These two cases are extremely important and have major ramifications as to the future direction of this country. Will we continue down the road of authoritarianism or will we right the ship and return to the principles of limited government? I cannot begin to predict how this plays out.
The Biden Administration’s Response
So, we get the stay by the 5th Circuit. They tell the Biden administration not to enforce the mandate, and what’s the Biden administration’s response. Well, they basically told the 5th Circuit to take a hike, and despite the court-ordered pause, the Biden administration told businesses to move forward with his decree.
If I was part of the judicial branch, I’d be pissed as this shows a complete disregard and disrespect for the Court’s authority.
This isn’t the first time the Biden administration completely disregarded the judicial branch. Remember a few months ago when the Supreme Court stated that the Biden administration’s eviction moratorium couldn’t be renewed by executive authority and that it would take an act by Congress.
Yet, President Biden authorized the CDC to extend the moratorium anyway. President Biden admitted that he would lose again in the Supreme Court, but he didn’t care. It’s what happens when you and the people you surround yourself with are a bunch of petty tyrants who have no regard for the American people, our institutions, and our Constitution.
At some point will the Justices look at this disrespect to their authority in the system, and since the judicial branch is the weakest of the three branches when its orders get flouted, perhaps they are going to show a lot less deference to the Biden administration, at least they should.
Enough is enough with these unconstitutional mandates. Enough is enough with authoritarianism. Enough is enough with the blatant disrespect for the Constitution. We need a course correction, and we need it now.
The Infrastructure Bill
Putting those two cases aside, I want to turn your attention towards the $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill. Before I begin to talk about this 1,000+ page bill, which to be completely honest, I haven’t gotten all the way through it and I’m just scratching the surface. This bill is massive and daunting.
You need to be careful. Some are saying the bill is 2,700 hundred pages, but that was the Senate bill. When looking at Bills that have passed, you have to look at the enrolled bill as this is the final version agreed to by both the House and the Senate. I have a link up to the bill on the website so you can check it out. (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act)
But before I get into some of the nuggets I found, we need to recognize that our real infrastructure is old, outdated, and falling apart. It’s extremely outdated and based on 1950’s technology. In fact, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, they issue a national report card on America’s infrastructure every year, many of our roads, bridges, and tunnels get a grade of C or D. Same holds true for things like dams. Our electricity grid is vulnerable. It’s clear that an infrastructure overhaul is needed badly.
Now, it would have been nice if Congress had some actual imagination and creativity and passed an infrastructure bill at the start of COVID when we were having nationwide lockdowns, and no one was on the roads. Imagine that. Using brains, getting people to work outside to fix some of the dilapidated roadways. And understand, that I’m in downstate New York on Long Island. The roads are the worst in the country. We have potholes large enough to swallow tires. It’s insane.
Instead, we wait until we already spent $7-trillion in COVID money, inflation is through the roof, and now we just want to print more money, which will only lead to more inflation making our lives more difficult.
To add insult to injury, most people’s property taxes will see an increase this year just like they do every year. Our taxes keep going up, and our quality of life keeps going down, especially here in New York. Funny how that works. I swear, our political class is filled with so many of the most unremarkable, braindead people you can possibly imagine. It’s like we have a requirement that if your IQ is below 50, you can be a politician.
This is a $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill where the money is supposed to be spent over a 5-year period.
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Is There Anything That Actually Goes Toward Infrastructure in the Infrastructure Bill?
Now that the bill passed, let’s look at how much of the $1.2-trillion goes towards actual infrastructure.
When going through the bill, about $110-billion is going to be spent on modernizing highways and main roadways. $40-billion for bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation. About $39-billion will be spent to modernize public transportation. $66-billion to modernize passenger and freight rail. $25-billion to modernize airports. $17-billion to modernize inland waterways, ports, and ferries. All these things we would consider traditional infrastructure, not the made-up terms Democrats are using.
Here’s the thing no one is talking about and one of the foreseeable problems. If you want to measure one of President Trump’s biggest successes, it was eliminating a lot of red tape as it pertains to actually breaking ground on construction projects. This has been a major problem. Remember, under President Obama when he mocked shovel-ready jobs saying they weren’t so shovel-ready, and he laughed off how much money was wasted in his own $888-billion stimulus package.
As I recall, that was also supposed to go to infrastructure. Apparently, it didn’t. Getting back to my point. President Trump cut regulations, but President Biden put those regulations back in place, so anything that goes toward real infrastructure will take years before it can break ground. All the BS studies will have to be done which will take years and cost millions to billions of taxpayer dollars to be wasted. Pathetic.
Other money that goes towards what we would consider traditional infrastructure is $65-billion to rebuild our electrical grid which is certainly in need of modernization. $55-billion to upgrade water infrastructure and replace all lead pipes, and $50-billion to protect some critical infrastructure from natural disasters and cyber-attacks.
So, all those things are what we would consider traditional infrastructure. If I’m going to be generous, and say that all the money that I just mentioned goes to actual infrastructure, which it doesn’t. The reality is that even though they have $65-billion allotted to rebuild our electrical grid system, out of that $65-billion, some of that will go to useless projects. But I’m going to throw the Democrats a bone and give them the benefit of the doubt because I’m in a generous mood today.
So, let’s say every one of those dollars goes to actual infrastructure, which accounts for about 30% of the $1.2-trillion, meaning that 70% of this money doesn’t go to infrastructure at all. In fact, when you examine the bill, you’ll find nothing more than the nanny state apparatus, micromanaging every aspect of our lives.
What’s in the infrastructure Bill
So, let’s take a look at some of the things in the infrastructure bill. (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) Remember, I just scratched the surface and I’m only pointing out some of the more absurdities within this bill. There will be a lot more uncovered in the next few weeks.
On page 18 of this bill, we allocate $100,000,000 towards the Healthy Streets Program. Now of course you’re going to ask, “what is the healthy streets program?” Well, I’ll tell you. The healthy streets approach is a human-centered framework and incorporates 10 healthy streets indicators that focus on the human experience. These ten indicators include, “clean air, easy to cross, shade and shelter, places to stop and rest, not too noisy, people choose to cycle and walk, people feel safe, things to see and do, people feel relaxed, and everyone feels welcome.” I’m serious folks. That’s what it entails. Who can imagine fraud happening with this pie-in-the-sky program? You might as well burn that $100-million because I can assure you that people like Comrade DeBlasio’s wife will make that money disappear quite quickly with little to no accountability.
Another eye-popping thing was on page 33, where we are going to spend millions of dollars on “reducing trespassing fatalities and injuries.” I’m going to assume this is mostly about those who try to cross railways because it’s in that section. According to the Department of Transportation, we have around 400 fatalities a year when it comes to those trying to beat the train. Not for nothing, it sounds like a lot of money for something that isn’t easily explained
On page 333, they have an entire section on Promoting women in the trucking industry and allocating millions of dollars towards that. It states that women are significantly underrepresented in the trucking industry, holding only 24 percent of all transportation and warehousing jobs and representing only 6.6 percent of truck drivers
To tie into that, on page 449, the Department of Transportation will be allocated $20-million to increase “awareness of career opportunities in the transportation sector” and “diversity, including race, gender, ethnicity, veteran status, and socioeconomic status, of professionals in the transportation sector.” What the hell does that have to do with infrastructure?
This bill allocates millions of dollars to study the effects of how marijuana impairs driving. Not for nothing, but we already know that and so why spend millions on another useless study?
$2.5-billion is being allocated to subsidize converting schools to green schools and building new schools. Shouldn’t this be a responsibility of States and local governments? The amount of money this bill provides to schools is astonishing, especially considering that we’re seeing a decline in student populations because we are an aging society. So, at a time when many jurisdictions are consolidating school buildings, the feds want us to build more schools. This is nonsensical and nothing more than a waste.
$350-million is allocated to create wildlife crossings.
$75-million goes to an open challenge and research proposal pilot program. There are no specifics attached to this and it’s clear that this will be nothing more than a slush fund that will go to enrich some special interest group for their “research project.” And that’s not the only slush fund.
The EPA gets a billion-dollar slush fund to pump into disadvantaged communities. It’s so vague that again, it will go to these special interest groups that know how to fill out the grant paperwork and manipulate the system. Basically, I can apply for this grant and say that the money will be used to develop a flyer that will be given to all residents promoting the benefits of green energy, and for that, I would get millions.
Nearly $1-billion dollars will be allocated to study how to reconnect cities and capital projects to do just that.
$250-million to combat invasive species. It’s on top of the hundreds of millions that’s already been spent. Several months ago, I brought up that we’ve been fighting the boll weevil beetle for the last several decades to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, yet here we are and we haven’t seen any successes, but let’s throw more taxpayer money at the problem.
Millions are being set aside to fund environmental justice programs. This bill also allocates millions towards the climate corps, basically funding youth and conservation organizations.
This bill also funds “digital equity” to the tune of billions of dollars. They say digital equity means the condition where everyone has the information technology capacity that is needed to be a full participant in our society. While some of this money will be used to build out more resilient broadband infrastructure, a lot of the money will be used to give people stuff. The bill specifically states that individuals will have access to “internet-enabled devices that meet the needs of the user.” This is comparable to the Obama phones.
Radical Push in the Infrastructure Bill
Throughout the bill, you see a radical push towards green energy. Rather than let the free market play itself out, Congress and the president has other goals. Make your energy costs increase in order to force you to go green. See, it’s fairly simple. People won’t move towards green energy if there is a cheaper alternative, but if you artificially manipulate the markets, then you can have your push.
The green energy industry, and many of America’s wealthy elite, the ruling class, get enormous subsidies under this bill.
I’m someone against all subsidies. Ask yourself, how many Solyndra’s are we creating with all this money going towards green energy special interest groups. I am not a fan of subsidies, and I don’t care what industry it’s in, but if you believe these people care about you or your lives, if you think they care about ordinary Americans, think again.
The average electric vehicle costs between $55,000-$74,000 and sometimes a lot more. Under this infrastructure bill, you are eligible to receive a tax credit for purchasing an electric vehicle as if most Americans can afford a $55,000+ car. But if you want to see how this benefit goes towards the wealthy, just look at who qualifies. Households earning up to $800,000 or individuals earning up to $400,000 qualify for this credit. Interesting isn’t it. The same people that can afford to purchase vehicles like this, will also receive a massive tax credit.
And of course, this falls under the category of environmental and economic justice.
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Closing
Once again, I just scratched the surface here. There is so much more, and no one pays attention to the unintended consequences. Be prepared because we are going to see a mileage tax come down the pike soon. As we see this massive push for electric vehicles, how many billions of dollars do the federal and state governments stand to lose each year because fewer people are paying the oil and gas taxes?
We are going to need to raise highway funds in other ways so the mileage tax will be studied under this bill, and eventually, the mileage tax becomes a reality.
And as they continue to rush this movement towards electric vehicles, they are clueless about the economic impact it may have. I’m not saying there aren’t any benefits. Sure we reduce emissions. But what are the short and long-term consequences? See, these people don’t use their brains.
What happens to those who own gas stations? What about all the mechanic shops? Electric vehicles don’t need to be regularly serviced. There are fewer parts. In fact, thousands less than internal combustion vehicles. So, electric vehicles are certainly cost beneficial to the owner, but they will have a dramatic impact on our economy.
There isn’t much money to be made in changing tires and brakes every now and then. You’ll see a lot of mechanic shops go out of business. Think if you live in an urban or suburban area. How many mechanics shops exist in a one-mile radius, and what does it do for the local community? The other small businesses in the area, such as delis, uniform supply companies, local auto part stores, etc.?
What about the businesses that actually make the automobile parts, and in some cases, is the economic lifeblood of that community?
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Nobody is paying attention to all the jobs and businesses that will be destroyed by this artificial push. That’s not to pretend the electric vehicle industry won’t create jobs, but I have yet to see any reports showing a net positive job gain.
However, the shortsightedness and fiscal irresponsibility are on clear display. People are suffering from real problems now, and this bill does nothing to alleviate those problems. The majority of the money doesn’t go towards real infrastructure, and again, this is nothing more than a power grab by the government. I’ll stay on top of this and let you know what I continue to dig up.
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I have an amazing guest for Monday’s episode. He is someone who is a wealth of knowledge, and he has accomplished so much. He was largely responsible for being able to push through a balanced budget in the late 1990s when we still had elected officials who actually cared about fiscal sanity. You’re going to want to make sure to tune in and get his thoughts.
I want to thank you for joining me, I want you to stay safe, and I’ll be back next week.
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