A more optimistic view of the infrastructure bill passage
You can find it here, and I’ve read it elsewhere, too. I don’t think I subscribe to it – the cynic in me believes there will be some other surprises of the negative sort. But I’d like it to be true:
Whatever leverage the House side had over Manchin — and that other Democrat holdout, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema — is basically gone now that the infrastructure bill is ready for Biden’s signature.
Manchin wanted (and got) the infrastructure bill. He doesn’t want the bigger bill, even after his fellow Senate Dems trimmed it down (not really*) to a “measly” $1.8 trillion.
Democrats leaned hard on Manchin, figuring that between him and Sinema, Manchin would be the first one to fold. Then they could go to work on Sinema as the lone holdout threatening to destroy Biden’s presidency.
Instead, House Democrats might just have done the job themselves…
So the Democrats scored an infrastructure bill victory on Friday night, but the casualties might just include the bulk of Biden’s agenda.
But if this makes Biden and the Democrats look more moderate than they really are, and if they therefore do much better than expected in 2022 (that’s a big “if”), then they will enact their leftist agenda after that. That’s the pessimist in me speaking.
Trump commented, so I read somewhere, that the “infrastructure” bill is actually only 11% infrastructure spending and the remaining 89% of the spending is for other stuff.
Is this true?
Anybody know?
I still worry that Manchin will cave, and I don’t think the passage of this bill will have much effect on his decision. My guess, however, is that the results of the Virginia election are weighing on his decision, leading him in the direction to vote “no” on reconciliation.
I don’t like the “infrastructure” bill. I understand political compromise is often necessary, but a bill which is only 25% roads and bridges and 75% leftist crazy spending isn’t a good compromise.
I hope this analysis is right, though. This bill does some damage. The damage from the BBB thing would be far, far worse.
JohnTyler:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/heres-everything-america-gets-12-trillion-infrastructure-spending-including-crazy-stuff
I could be wrong, but it’s hard to imagine Manchin being positively influenced by people swarming him as he leaves his houseboat and trying to stop him from driving out of his parking garage. He’s not Jeff Flake.
Kate,
Just because it’s claimed that 25% goes to infrastructure, doesn’t mean that it actually will. I think 5% is more likely, if that. Lip service doesn’t require more than that. There are so many more important things to which that funny money can be applied. Like ‘reparations’ for illegals. They’ll get around to roads and bridges some day…
I have a hard time buying the theory, because I haven’t seen evidence of Manchin caving. He certainly had plenty of opportunity prior to the shellacking last Tuesday. Last Tuesday simply bolstered everyone of Manchin’s talking points about why he’s against the massive spending bill.
So why after the shellacking do you give the weakened opponents an easy win?
Let me also point out, while there is a 24 hour news cycle, this is also a weekly news cycle. The Republican cave to the Infrastructure Bill gave the media something to discuss this weekend besides the shellacking. Would one more week have changed Manchin? It certainly would have given the media nothing else to talk about this past weekend but the big L the Democrats had on the ballot box.
Interesting—ironically!—an article about bi-partisan agreement on strengthening the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to provide greater watchdog-type oversight on spending.
The budget for the GAO has been reportedly neglected over the past decades.
(There’s even mention of an organization called POGO—Project On Government Oversight….)
https://www.theepochtimes.com/bipartisan-push-seeks-to-revive-hill-oversight-starting-with-budget-boost-for-gao_4092510.html
But will it happen….
Project On Government Oversight? We have met the enemy, and he is us.
As the Vogons said when the Earth got in the way of their planned Hyperspace Bypass:
“It’ll all have to go.”
I stand by what I wrote the other day- the “bipartisan” bill now has Republican fingerprints on all the new spending, and now the Democrats can unite and pass the rest of the new spending and the media will call all of it “bipartisan”.
The Vogons are going forward with the Hyperspace Bypass?!?! So long, and thanks for all the fish!
Indeed. Its not unreasonable to assume that the push, and the mechanism for passing the $3.5 T build back better bill are dead with the signing of the bipartisan bill. There is no reason whatsoever to imagine that Manchin or Sinema would be MORE likely to support the bill they didn’t support after having passed the one they did support.
Not to mention that the Senate bill they planned on using for “reconciliation” has now been passed by the House, and presumably signed by Biden. There is no bill to “reconcile” with the $3.5 Trillion House bill.
Please tell me if my data is wrong, but-
is it true that [this bill, is not a LAW, YET?]
As of Nov. 9, today, I think this infrastructure bill, is still just, a bill. It is not a law.
It won’t become a law unless the president signs it.
In my radio news, they keep talking about the Inf. bill, like it is a law, now.
( Also, since, I believe), Pres. Biden got all of the votes he needs for this bill to pass, + have him sign it into law, about 4-5 days ago.
Since he wants this item to become a law, why hasn’t he signed it to make it a law?
Please tell me what you have heard about about this.
TRA: Article I Section 7 says the bill shall become law without the president’s signing it 10 days after he/she receives it; unless he/she were to veto it first.
Biden will undoubtedly sign it very soon.