WASHINGTON — President traveled to Bear, Delaware, on Monday to deliver remarks promoting his economic platform, while the White House announced $16.4 billion in funding for passenger rail projects.
This funding, sourced from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is a key component of President Biden’s economic agenda.
“How can a leading country have subpar infrastructure?” questioned President Biden during his speech.
“It’s simply not possible,” he asserted.
Specifically, the allocated funds are designated for 25 projects on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which spans from Boston to Washington, D.C.
“The investments unveiled today will revitalize century-old tunnels and bridges, enhance tracks, power systems, signals, stations, and other infrastructure, as well as advance future endeavors to significantly improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and minimizing delays,” detailed a White House fact sheet.
The event, dubbed “Bidenomics,” by the White House, served as an occasion to discuss the president’s economic vision, although the term was not explicitly mentioned by President Biden.
“We are constructing an inclusive economy that prioritizes all citizens,” expressed President Biden.
However, Democratic operatives, politicians, and voters have expressed confusion and skepticism towards the Bidenomics brand, according to Rich Thau, president of research firm Engagious and moderator of focus groups for the Swing Voter Project.
Thau reported that swing voters struggle to grasp the meaning of the term Bidenomics, often chuckling or remaining uncertain when asked to define it. This disconnect arises from their ongoing economic challenges, which contrast with the president’s proclamations of positive economic news.
The administration has stated that Bidenomics revolves around fostering economic growth “from the middle out and the bottom up,” a phrase frequently featured in the president’s speeches. This economic approach is positioned as an alternative to “trickle-down economics” or “MAGAnomics,” terms President Biden employs to criticize Republican economic policies.
A White House official underscored the disparity between the administration’s efforts to enhance travel while House Republicans oppose such measures. The official commented, “While the Biden-Harris Administration is striving to make travel faster, safer, and more reliable, House Republicans are slowing it down, making it harder, and compromising safety by slashing funding for Amtrak and transportation and infrastructure programs.”
President Biden’s speech occurred just after The New York Times and Siena College published a new poll indicating that he trailed Donald Trump in five out of six swing states. Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania leaned towards Trump, while Biden led in Wisconsin. Both Democratic lawmakers and the Biden campaign cautioned against drawing conclusions from polls conducted a year before the election.
“Predictions made more than a year in advance tend to evolve over time. Don’t just take our word for it: Gallup predicted President Obama’s eight-point loss, but he won by a wide margin a year later,” highlighted Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz in a fundraising email.
Jim Messina, who managed President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign, noted that the current circumstances remind him of the Obama campaign in 2011 when they faced challenging economic indicators.
“We were overcoming a recession, and it takes time for voters to connect his policies with their economic well-being,” stated Messina, reflecting on the 2012 campaign. “So it will require patience.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
