Biden infrastructure/tax increase megathread

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If it was a script it would be boring af.

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Someone should remind him that it doesn't matter what he says, he's toast in 2024.

I don't think that's what he meant, lol.

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So we went from Warren saying Manchin is "pretty on board" to Axios saying he has "concerns"

This back and forth is nauseating. Just f**king figure it out.

I thought that was for the minimum corporate tax on corporations with profits over a billion. This is a tax on unrealized capital gains on billionaires.

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I think there were concerns of scope creep with the tax on unrealized capital gains, which may be why they're doing a surtax instead. I don't see though how that's not effectively an increase in the tax rates, which Sinema is against.

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If paid leave, medicare age lowering and dental, vision, hearing expansion, free community college, the signature environmental policy are out, literally what remains in the bill? No one has given a clear answer.

Earlier in this thread, I think last week, somebody posted a link to everything that's still in the bill. There's a lot, but not stuff that gets much discussion.

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https://mobile.twitter.com/heatherscope/status/1452068538454265857

I am okay with leaving Medicare expansion out of the reconciliation bill and saving it for our next trifecta -eventually we are going to need to ensure the solvency of Social Security and Medicare early in the 2030s, and that by necessity will be our first priority.  I prefer that any expansions or alterations of those programs need to be done together. 

Whats gonna even be in the bill then?

- No paid leave
- No Medicare expansion
- No free community College
- No signature climate policy

Everything else. 

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Biden to detail core elements of $1.75 trillion economic and climate package in effort to jumpstart action on the Hill

President Joe Biden will lay out long-awaited details of his $1.75 trillion economic and climate package to House Democrats on Thursday when he attends a caucus meeting on Capitol Hill as leaders press progressives to vote for a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

While the proposal isn't finalized in its entirety, days of negotiations have brought it to a place where the key elements are all locked in and Biden plans to impress upon Democrats the scope and scale of what those elements represent, even in the face of several Democratic priorities being dropped from the bill in the last several days.

The White House was expected to lay out specifics of the plan later Thursday morning, and even many Democrats remained in the dark about the exact contours of the agreement in the hours ahead of its unveiling.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/28/politics/biden-agenda-deal-democrats/index.html

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There is clean energy funding and tax credits ($555 billion).
1 year child tax credit
Some expanded Medicare & Medicaid coverage, (not hearing/dental/vision)
No mention of paid family leave
No free community college (some Pell Grants though)
Some affordable housing & free school meals
Some immigration reform funding (may not be allowed in Reconciliation)

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I'm glad Biden started with something huge. Obama started with something reasonable on healthcare and had to compromise down from there.

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Why is the demand just for the House to pass them at the same time? At least I see no mention in any of this that they both have to pass the Senate first. But if the worry is Sinema gives a thumbs down to the Reconciliation Bill, well she can do that even if it's already passed the House.

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At this point, even if Progressives do eventually fall in line and back this useless, impotent piece of legislation; we absolutely shouldn't attach our names to it. Let it fail at actually helping any significant amount of Americans who need help; as it's inevitably doomed to do, and then launch a huge PR campaign about what could've been.

And then make moves to slowly extract ourselves from the Democratic Party; and particularly its leadership. But that's another conversation.

As long as we're using FPTP, you're stuck as Dems.

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How the hell does one put work requirement on leave from work? By definition you have to have a job to take leave from a job.

This adds further credence to the theory that Joe Manchin has no idea what he is doing but is just operating off the notion he has to be an ass about everything.

Maybe it means he doesn't want somebody who works at a job 1 day a week to get weeks of paid leave? Like a minimum work requirement? I don't know.

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The "progressives" holding the infrastructure bill hostage just cost us Virginia.

I hope they are happy now.

Not Manchin, Sinema or senate democrats stalling this out for as long as they can?

Manchin and Sinema already voted for it and it already passed the senate.

It's the so-called "progressive" in the House holding the bill hostage.

The House doesn't have to vote for BIF if they don't want to, just like the Senate doesn't have to vote for BBB if they don't want to.

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After Manchin and Sinema cost the Democrats Virginia last night (maybe long-term if they are able to pass voting restrictions there), the least they can do it quickly pass BBB and limit the damage. We need a really strong and united party for the entire next year. No more infighting!

Manchin and Sinema already voted for the infrastructure bill.

It's the so-called "progressives" in the House holding the bill hostage.

Is it holding it hostage if they're just against it? I don't think all of the Dems are a yes on that bill in a vacuum.

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The House leadership should have taken the infrastructure bill to an up and down vote.

Let it be known who are these "progressives" who are against the infrastructure bill.

Ok if you're saying the leadership is holding it hostage I think there might be an argument there. But the progressives were willing to have the vote. I don't see how they're holding it hostage.

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After Manchin and Sinema cost the Democrats Virginia last night (maybe long-term if they are able to pass voting restrictions there), the least they can do it quickly pass BBB and limit the damage. We need a really strong and united party for the entire next year. No more infighting!

Manchin and Sinema already voted for the infrastructure bill.

It's the so-called "progressives" in the House holding the bill hostage.

Is it holding it hostage if they're just against it? I don't think all of the Dems are a yes on that bill in a vacuum.

Are they against it, or just don't think, it's enough?

I think they're against it, but willing to vote for it as a compromise if they get the other bill.

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Pelosi was going to put the infrastructure bill for an up and down vote, but pulled it the last minute because of opposition from the so-called "progressives".

She should have followed through.

Yes. So stop saying over and over and over again, at least 50 times now, that progressives are holding it hostage.

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After Manchin and Sinema cost the Democrats Virginia last night (maybe long-term if they are able to pass voting restrictions there), the least they can do it quickly pass BBB and limit the damage. We need a really strong and united party for the entire next year. No more infighting!

Manchin and Sinema already voted for the infrastructure bill.

It's the so-called "progressives" in the House holding the bill hostage.

Is it holding it hostage if they're just against it? I don't think all of the Dems are a yes on that bill in a vacuum.

Are they against it, or just don't think, it's enough?

I think they're against it, but willing to vote for it as a compromise if they get the other bill.

Which Dems are actually against the BIF on its own merits? Out of the whole Progressive Caucus, I only saw two members of the Squad (AOC and Cori Bush) express opposition to the BIF on environmental grounds, and then only briefly. I don't believe there are 5 Dems opposed to the BIF, they only threaten to oppose it because they are holding it hostage to the BBB.

I don't know. It's my sense of it based on what they have said. I'm also a bit tired at the circular discussion on this that happens almost every day.

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I'm confused if the votes tonight are just BBB or also the bipartisan infra bill. That amendment would be passing BIF right?

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The BBB will be voted on tomorrow, per Maddow.

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What's up with these moderates holding a vote on the infrastructure bill hostage to a CBO score on BBB?

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What's up with these moderates holding a vote on the infrastructure bill hostage to a CBO score on BBB?

That's not a fair assessment of it, they would surely not object to a vote on the BIF right now. They do object to a vote on the BBB. It's still the progressives' insistence that the vote on the BBB happens first or at the same time that's causing this delay.

To be fair, this time there is a solid claim that moderates are being obstructionist. However, the progressive pulled this act twice and delayed the BIF bill by over two months. Honestly I wouldn't mind if the moderates wanted to do this as retaliation.

So then they can vote BBB down if they're against it and then we can get the infra bill passed. No reason to hold it hostage like this.

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They're not going to "die." The house could pass BIF the day before the election if they want. They have over a year to pass it.

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They're not going to "die." The house could pass BIF the day before the election if they want. They have over a year to pass it.

A Democratic Senator could also die of a heartattack tomorrow and then the Senate is ran by Republicans.

I'm talking about BIF. That no longer requires anything of the Senate.

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Moderates didn't ruin Virginia and nearly ruin New Jersey. Progressives did. Progressives don't deserve any concessions and should be begging for Mercy.

Biden is the first President in the last 30 years whose party won New Jersey gov in his first term.