Background Briefing: June 24, 2021

On By gram

 

How Much Does the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Address the Needs of the Future?

We begin with President Biden’s announcement today of an infrastructure deal with 10 Republican senators and a number of Democratic senators which is half of what he originally wanted coming in at $1 trillion over 8 years with $579 billion in new spending that taps into unspent money from prior relief packages and from selling off some of the strategic oil reserves. Already there has been criticism from Senators like Richard Blumenthal who described the deal as “pathetic” and there is the expectation that much of what was left out will be in a budget reconciliation package that may or may not get all the Democratic senators needed on board. Joining us to discuss how much the bipartisan plan addresses the needs of the future is Jonna Hamilton, the Director of Policy in the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists and we will discuss the paltry $7.5 billion to create 500,000 electric chargers along highways and the $7.5 billion to make thousands of school and transit busses electric. With alarming reports from the U.N. that the tipping point of no return to stop the worst effects of climate change is coming sooner than previously thought, necessary investments in the future would appear to be challenges our current political and business systems are incapable of meeting.

 

The Future of the Stalled George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

Then we assess what might emerge tomorrow from the bipartisan senate negotiations led by Senators Scott and Booker on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act which passed the House in March and requires 10 Republican votes in the Senate. Joining us to discuss the extent to which the so called “bad apples” like the murderer of George Floyd have been purged from American policing is Cheryl Dorsey, a retired Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant who spent 20 years working in field-related assignments and is the author of Black & Blue: The True Story of an African American Woman on the LAPD and the Powerful Secrets She Uncovered. 

 

An Analysis Of Biden’s Strategy to Deal With Violent Crime and the Proliferation of Guns

Then finally we get an analysis of President Biden’s strategy to deal with the rise in violent crime and proliferation of guns announced yesterday and speak with John Pfaff, a Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law where he teaches criminal law, sentencing law, and law and economics. He joins us to discuss his article at The New Republic, “Can Criminal Justice Reform Survive a Wave of Violent Crime?”