
Biden's economic plan bets on blue collars, from infrastructure to child care
CNN
The bipartisan infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed into law Monday marks a milestone in his effort to reorient Democratic economic policy away from the strategy of his party's past two presidents.
The sweeping infrastructure plan -- which funds some $550 billion in new spending on roads, bridges, ports, water systems, mass transit and electric vehicle charging stations -- encapsulates Biden's focus on creating and enhancing jobs that do not require a college education. That same emphasis is evident in the broader Build Back Better plan still awaiting congressional approval, which would channel huge sums into the "caregiving economy" of child care, early childhood education and elder care, which are now predominantly low-wage industries staffed heavily by women of color.
Economists have estimated that at least four-fifths of the jobs created by the infrastructure bill and the broader economic plan would not require college degrees, a dynamic that Biden unfailingly highlights when he discusses them.

The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.











