Biden infrastructure/tax increase megathread

[NOVA Green]

Nothing wrong with Tanking the "Bi-Partisan" infrastructure bill, which essentially was a massive concession to the "Road Lobby" and big Corps...

There was nothing progressive about the original and my patience is running so thin that am more than willing to kill the Republican Infrastructure Bill if need be.

Email sent off to DeFazio.....

[NOVA Green]

KILL THE BILL!!!

House DEMs should vote against if it comes to floor Tomorrow.

Manchin flips DEM > PUB, so be it....

Manchin is no Doug Jones....

[NOVA Green]

Tank it.... all or nothing.

65% of the American Public supports both bills.

I would love to see Republicans and the "Centrist Democrats" try to explain this when they go back home to their constituencies.

2022 or bust.

[NOVA Green]

Somehow my posts from Yesterday appear to have been heavily quoted....

We checked out of our one hotel on the OR Coast we had been staying at, and decided to spend another night for my B-Day week a little further down the Coast, so apologies for having a bit offline.

Fundamentally Progressive Democrats are NOT interested in the "Bi-Partisan" bill, which was effectively drafted by Republican Party and the Construction / "Road Mafia".

Sure there are plenty of "shovel ready projects" which are needed and have been neglected under the Republican Trifecta in Washington, including items which I recall telling my wife shortly after Trump was elected PRES, that Infrastructure might be one of the few items I would likely support the PUBs from on Day One.

Didn't happen, and even the PUB bills proposed were basically considered DOA, among their own party!

Time for games are done.... it's all or nothing.

Sinema is a political Chameleon and she will either support the "Biden Bill" or she will be primaried in 2024.

This much is certain.

Arizona voters are not interested in "flip-flop" Politicians such as Sinema, who supposedly early in her  career was a Green Anti-War activist and is now just another politician who flip-flops and blows with the wind....

Target and Primary every single DEM POL who fights against Biden's infrastructure bill.

Manchin wants to talk about $$$ and Debt, but yet doesn't support increasing Max Tax Rates and Corp Tax Rates over a certain % because it is gonna hit his pocket book.

SINK TANK IT ALL!!!!

I pledge to vote against any elected political figure who votes for a bogus deal in either the US House or Senate....

One of the main reasons that I supported Biden so heavily in the '20 after the DEM Primaries were over (Including regular cash donations) was bcs I knew he would support a reasonable Progressive DEM on ECON & ENVIRO issues.

Manchin might think in terms of the size of his male anatomy and Sinema in terms of her "flair" and new entry into the Halls of Power in the US-SEN....   Both can be easily replaced and would be happy to trade off Manchin not winning reelection a few years down the road in exchange for picking up a couple other Senate seats elsewhere if we can get the deal done.

[NOVA Green]

Some news coverage from three major newspapers today all top online stories regarding the Human Infrastructure Bill:

Washington Post Lead Online Story Today:

White House confronts grueling choices as it debates major cuts to Biden economic plan


Inside the West Wing, debate is focused on whether to keep the full range of ambitious proposals but spend less on each of them -- or abandon some completely.

Under pressure from centrist lawmakers, White House officials are debating whether to drop many cherished priorities from President Biden’s sprawling economic package or keep a fuller range of initiatives in dramatically reduced form, according to five people with knowledge of internal discussions.

Even as Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill haggle over the overall size of the massive budget package, White House officials on the National Economic Council (NEC), the Domestic Policy Council and the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) have begun discussing what policies could be reshaped or jettisoned should Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) insist on trimming as much as $2 trillion from the administration’s initial spending proposals, said the people familiar, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

Desperate to find a compromise that can win favor in a narrowly divided Congress, White House officials have begun contemplating painful trade-offs that could involve shrinking key parts of their agenda. Biden has pitched lawmakers on a compromise that would include as much as $2.3 trillion in new spending, but Manchin has said the package should top out at $1.5 trillion — a position that would slash the administration’s original agenda by more than half.

The choices are stark: Should tackling rising rates of homelessness be dropped in favor of confronting climate change? Should Democrats prioritize seniors over the poor? Is it more important to reduce the cost of child care or the cost of a school lunch?

While many senior Democrats are urging Biden to choose a handful of programs and execute them well, this option is complicated by a lack of consensus about which priorities should prevail. Meanwhile, no lawmaker wants to see his or her favored program cut entirely from the legislation.

....

Either path has major drawbacks. By picking only a few programs to implement, the White House likely would improve its odds of ensuring lasting change through achievements noticed by the public. In private conversations, people close to the White House have argued that choosing a handful of key programs — and making sure they reach tens of millions of people — would help fortify their ability to withstand attack under future GOP administrations.

...

If constrained to $1.5 trillion, Democrats could fully fund only a handful of their most important policy priorities. For instance, Democrats would already come close to reaching that number in spending if, hypothetically, their plans consisted of just three top priorities — tackling climate change, creating a national paid leave program, and extending a tax benefit that alleviates child poverty.

Together, those three initiatives would represent a substantial expansion of the American welfare state, as well as a significant step toward Biden’s goals for combating climate change. But a package that contained only those initiatives would jettison an enormous number of priorities many Democrats campaigned on, including universal prekindergarten, free child care, more affordable housing and a dramatic expansion of government-funded health care.

....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/10/02/biden-agenda-budget-cuts/

Meanwhile the New York Times top online story focuses more on the role of Biden in the "Centrist" / Progressive disagreements on his bill and midterm implications:

Biden Throws In With Left, Leaving His Agenda in Doubt


Progressives flexed, but remain empty-handed. Moderates feel betrayed. The outcome of their battle could determine Democrats’ fate in the midterms and the success of the Biden presidency.

WASHINGTON — For well over a year now, President Biden’s vaunted negotiating style largely boiled down to this: I’m with you.

After he vanquished Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the Democratic primary, he brought the liberal icon’s ardent supporters into the fold by embracing much of the senator’s platform even as he ran on unifying the country. When moderate Democrats came to call, he used the tones of centrism to assure them of his conciliatory bona fides.

But when Mr. Biden ventured to the Capitol on Friday to help House Democrats out of their thicket, he had to choose sides. He effectively chose the left.

“The way he is governing doesn’t reflect the skills I know he must have from his years as a legislator,” said Representative Stephanie Murphy of Florida, who had been one of the moderate Democrats demanding an immediate vote on a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, convinced that was what the president wanted — or at least needed. She called Mr. Biden’s refusal to push harder for legislation he had embraced “disappointing and frustrating.”

Since the president claimed his party’s nomination last year, he has nurtured the fragile peace between his party’s fractious center and left by convincing both sides he is their ally. Unified first by their shared disdain for former President Donald J. Trump, and then by Mr. Biden’s adoption of an expansive platform, the two factions remained in harmony into this year. They responded to the pandemic by passing a sweeping stimulus package in the spring.

Now, the two factions are at loggerheads — one flexing its power but as yet empty-handed, the other feeling betrayed, both claiming they have the president on their side — and the outcome of their battle over Mr. Biden’s proposals could determine Democrats’ fate in the midterms and the success of his presidency.

....

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/02/us/politics/biden-progressives-moderates-agenda.html

The Wall Street Journal skews towards a similar style of coverage today in their top online story

Infrastructure Delay Shows Clout of Progressive Leader Pramila Jayapal

Many lawmakers refused to vote for bipartisan package unless social-policy and climate plan also advanced

Centrist Rep. Josh Gottheimer emerged from a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday certain that she would follow through on her promise to him and other moderate Democrats to hold a vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill that day.

“Get some Gatorade and Red Bull,” the New Jersey Democrat and co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus told reporters gathered on the Capitol steps, preparing for a late-night vote.

Minutes later, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, the leader of the House progressives, walked down the same steps and stated flatly that there would be no vote that day, no matter what moderates or Democratic leaders were saying. More than 50 members of her group were willing to withhold their votes from the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill without passage of a $3.5 trillion social-policy and climate package alongside it—more than enough to sink it.

“I am so proud of our caucus; I have never seen our caucus so strong,” said Ms. Jayapal at the time. “And I am a very good vote counter also,” she added, with a smile. “Maybe not quite as good as Nancy Pelosi sometimes. But I’m excellent.”

Later that night, Ms. Jayapal’s prediction was borne out: House leaders postponed the vote, as negotiators struggled to reach an agreement acceptable to both wings of the party. In a personal visit to the Capitol on Friday afternoon, President Biden acknowledged the price tag of the $3.5 trillion package would likely shrink—but said there should be no infrastructure vote until his party’s moderate and progressive wings reach a deal on the broader proposed budget package. Leaders again delayed trying to pass the bill.

....

https://www.wsj.com/articles/infrastructure-delay-shows-clout-of-progressive-leader-pramila-jayapal-11633178357?mod=hp_lead_pos1

[NOVA Green]

https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1444355616613539854?s=10

Sinema looks to be demanding a vote. No idea how she’ll react if it goes down. Probably willing to tank everything now or then if she doesn’t get some victory.

Time for a reality check, I think.

She needs to be dragged into the Oval Office so Biden can tell her: "Let's get one thing straight. I'm the President, you're a first term Senator. Not a Prime Minister, not Vice president, but a first term Senator. Your approval rating among Arizona Democrats is 17% and you're facing a vote of censure. You vote the way I tell you to vote or I'm going to personally campaign for your primary opponent. Your choice. Now get the f(inks) out of my house.

Sinema is now increasingly looking like a top target for a 2024 Primary Challenge because of "whatever" (Who really knows) objections she has the Biden Build Back Better bill.

Her approval ratings have tanked among AZ DEMs because of her continued obstruction of the Biden Agenda, plus consistently undermining the chances of real progressive reform.

Personally if I have a few extra bucks to spare in the 2024 Election, I would be more than willing to contribute $$$ for a DEM PRIM challenger.

Not quite sure where she is really coming from on all this, but honestly she looks like a Politician and not a political leader, where posturing and posing while meanwhile racking in the dough from Top Money Lobbyists and not doing crap will effectively doom her political career in the 2024 GE even if she survives the primaries.

Why back a Politician at the ballot box when they haven't given any "goodies back to the 'hoods"?

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/574969-arizona-democrats-frustration-with-sinema-comes-to-a-head

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/us/kyrsten-sinema-voters.html?searchResultPosition=5

[NOVA Green]

As someone who was a fan before she actually started serving her term; literally almost any Democrat running against her in '24 will have my support, financially and otherwise.

Draft Gallego to Primary her in 2024!

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/574969-arizona-democrats-frustration-with-sinema-comes-to-a-head

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/us/kyrsten-sinema-voters.html?searchResultPosition=5

[NOVA Green]

There is not a single credible argument against manchin's position that the goodies in the reconciliation bill should be means-tested.

it is a total waste of tax money to give the kids of rich families free community college, to give rich yuppies free daycare, and to give rich seniors free vision and dental.

THE GREAT SOCIETY OF THE 1960S WAS MEANS-TESTED.

why can't 2021 be?

OK--- not a big fan of mean testing over the decades, but unless Manchin is willing to OK much higher topline numbers for the wealthiest Americans, which has consistently opposed in order to support the Trump massive cuts on taxes for the rich, it becomes one of these scenarios where should the GVT provide certain "Goods and Services" for all Citizens or do the rich get a major pass on tax increases and meanwhile we have Seniors who can't afford the co-pays for Dental Care and it all ends up getting gutted a few years down the line.

The overwhelming majority of the funding in the Biden BBB Plan for various programs hits 60%+ margins and even 30%+ margins among PUBs, so difficult to see how this politically unpopular at all among the American Voting Population....

Also, a lot of times income can fluctuate dramatically (Especially among Seniors) and not to mention Middle and Working-Class Americans, so getting to a "Means Testing" vs a "This is a Program for all Americans", really looks a bit skint at a point where even wealthy Americans and large Corps generally support the concept of the Human Infrastructure Bill, which will actually make us much more competitive against economies in Europe and East Asia....

[NOVA Green]

It's so funny to watch online liberal activists channel all of their frustations toward Sinema when it is, quite transparently, the case that she is able to continue her "shtick" without major reproach from Schumer or Biden only because she is vocally representing the concerns of other moderate Democrats (i.e., Reed, Carper, Warner, Feinstein, Coons, etc.) who have no interest in voting for a sloppy $3.5T entitlement bill.

Kudos to her for sticking it to Pelosi for walking back her commitment to holding the BIC vote on a reasonable timetable.  It's a negotiated agreement representing one of Biden's key campaign promises and deserves to be passed on its merits.  If progressive in the House blow up the BIC, they immediately cede all leverage they have on getting majority support for a $3.5T wish list.     

DEMS do not equal PUBs.

The Republican Party has become a bunch of parrots so afraid of the "Curse of Trump" that they can't even grow sets of Balls or Ovaries to even challenge their Party leaders.

Sinema will go down in 2024, either in a DEM PRIM or a GE at this point based upon her Showboating for the Media Cameras in DC.

She will most likely survive both the 2024 PRIM & GE if she supports the Biden Build Back Better Plan.

If not she is sunk....

Sure SEN DEMs are wearing "Kid Gloves" with Sinema at this moment, but she sure as hell ain't no John McCain who could flip a Middle Finger on a key Senate vote, knowing that he would be able to survive the political consequences....

[NOVA Green]

Manchin is now coming out as a pawn of the Natural Gas Industry on the Infrastructure Negotiations...

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/574977-manchin-clashes-with-fellow-democrats-over-fossil-fuel-demands

[NOVA Green]

Manchin is now coming out as a pawn of the Natural Gas Industry on the Infrastructure Negotiations...

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/574977-manchin-clashes-with-fellow-democrats-over-fossil-fuel-demands

I’ve already accepted going in that anything on climate change would be notional, given that we have to get approval from a guy that owns a coal mine.

The senators making a stand over the final topline number (also, can we retire the use of the phrase ‘price tag’, the 3.5 trillion is a maximum for gross outflows, not the net cost) because big numbers are magic and scary is silly. And driven by the fact that literally every single provision is popular on it’s own, but it doesn’t occur to them that doing a whole bunch of broadly popular things might be more helpful that opposing things to show what a maverick you are.

Truth.... we could also look at potentially letting Nuclear Energy back into the mix on an Infrastructure Bill and Climate Change.

There is tons of R&D when it comes to "Mini-Nuke" Technology, much of it pioneered from Oregon State University and shared with public/private sector partnerships.

Obviously we still run into the same issue as before as to how effectively store Nuclear Waste with all of the half-lives scenarios, but at some point might need to be considered as an option to deal with extensive Climate Change scenarios.

Mini-Nuke Facilities are generally considered to be much safer when it comes to the potential Environmental and Human catastrophes from items such as Earthquakes, Tsunamis, let alone Nuclear Plant meltdowns.

Personally might prefer more "Mini-Nukes" in the mix and less of "Natural Gas", but don't believe Manchin would support a "Mini-Nuke" Plant or two in WV, despite the fact that would likely provide more jobs, and generally is in a part of the US less exposed to extreme potential releases of Radioactive Waste....

[NOVA Green]

A certain Green avatar is practically on the verge of becoming the first poster on my ignore list because of the inane and asinine posts being made on this thread.

It's OK DEMs, PUBs, LBTs, IND's etc.... We can agree/disagree wrangle etc....

but really starting to look like one individual is excessively spamming the thread with nobody else responding to their comments.

[NOVA Green]

A certain Green avatar is practically on the verge of becoming the first poster on my ignore list because of the inane and asinine posts being made on this thread.

It's OK DEMs, PUBs, LBTs, IND's etc.... We can agree/disagree wrangle etc....

but really starting to look like one individual is excessively spamming the thread with nobody else responding to their comments.

Who cares what you think about spamming a thread,z you believe what you want

Everyone don't believe in socialize medicine and Medicare Expansion doesn't even take effect until 2028/ I have plenty of Health care

Debts and Spending aren't the same plse

What made you think I was talking about you?

Seriously though, you have a habit of consistently posting on various threads in cryptic tongues who none can understand, to the point where even many posters (myself included) might well agree with you on a variety of issues if you were able to post and present in more of a consistent and understandable format.

Can't ask Atlas posters to change their posting style, let alone their personalities, nor would I necessarily require that.

Reality is that when it gets to a point where over 50% of the time nobody has any idea what you are trying to say, might be a time to do fewer posts and consolidate (IMHO).

That being said for the prophet of Atlas here is one of my favorite quotes from a book I first read when I was 13-14 years old:

"Lonely one, you are going the way to yourself! And your way goes past yourself, and past your seven devils! You will be a heretic to yourself and witch and soothsayer and fool and doubter and unholy one and villain."

-  Friedrich Nietzsche, 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra'.

[NOVA Green]

A certain Green avatar is practically on the verge of becoming the first poster on my ignore list because of the inane and asinine posts being made on this thread.

It's OK DEMs, PUBs, LBTs, IND's etc.... We can agree/disagree wrangle etc....

but really starting to look like one individual is excessively spamming the thread with nobody else responding to their comments.

Who cares what you think about spamming a thread,z you believe what you want

Everyone don't believe in socialize medicine and Medicare Expansion doesn't even take effect until 2028/ I have plenty of Health care

Debts and Spending aren't the same plse

What made you think I was talking about you?

Seriously though, you have a habit of consistently posting on various threads in cryptic tongues who none can understand, to the point where even many posters (myself included) might well agree with you on a variety of issues if you were able to post and present in more of a consistent and understandable format.

Can't ask Atlas posters to change their posting style, let alone their personalities, nor would I necessarily require that.

Reality is that when it gets to a point where over 50% of the time nobody has any idea what you are trying to say, might be a time to do fewer posts and consolidate (IMHO).

That being said for the prophet of Atlas here is one of my favorite quotes from a book I first read when I was 13-14 years old:

"Lonely one, you are going the way to yourself! And your way goes past yourself, and past your seven devils! You will be a heretic to yourself and witch and soothsayer and fool and doubter and unholy one and villain."

-  Friedrich Nietzsche, 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra'.

"Alas, there are so many things between heaven and earth of which only the poets have dreamed. And especially above the heavens: for all gods are poets' parables, poets' prevarications. Verily, it always lifts us higher - specifically, to the realm of the clouds: upon these we place our motley bastards and call them gods and overmen. For they are just light enough for these chairs - all these gods and overmen. Ah, how weary I am of all the imperfection which must at all costs become event! Ah, how weary I am of poets!"

Friedrich Nietzsche


Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885). Part II, Chapter 39, On Poets

"Whence come the highest mountains? I once asked. Then I learned that they came out of the sea. The evidence is written in their rocks and in the walls of their peaks. It is out of the deepest depth that the highest must come to its height."

Friedrich Nietzsche


Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885). Part III, Chapter 45, The Wanderer

[NOVA Green]

Here is the fundamental problem DEMs are facing:

1.) The vast majority of programs in the Human Infrastructure Bill are overwhelmingly supported by the American Public in a way which would make the Roosevelt '32, LBJ '64, and Reagan '84 landslides look like they were somehow contested elections.

2.) The US Economy can afford the expansion of new social spending programs AND the creation of new programs without any any significant long-term spend.

The proposed Human Infrastructure Bill, is an extremely small sliver of the US GDP compared to the programs of FDR's New Deal and appears to be fully funded.

3.) These are all programs which will make the US much more globally competitive compared to just about all of the largest advanced industrialized democracies, where such programs are already funded by Governments in Europe and Asia-Pacific region.

4.) The American public generally does not follow the intricacies of the "sausage making", let alone exactly what is in the Bill, so many voters are just looking at it like "OK--- we support the broad picture, but WTF isn't the Bill getting passed yet", when DEMs have majorities in the House and Senate +1, and the Presidency.

5.) We have a couple DEM Senators and certain DEM members of the US-House that are "Centrist DEMs" who are so worried about their political careers that are not moving things forward.

Now, I'm starting to get to point of a strategic posturing where let's go for 100%.

A.) Meaning we set limited times prior to programs and funding expiration dates.

B.) Set up the "Sunsets" with a timeline which will coincide with key election cycles.

C.) Nobody likes a "takeaway" from popular existing programs, so better to go with a wider array of programs, meaning just about everything gets something, and then the DEMs run on it in future elections and dare the PUBs to allow popular programs to expire and take hits in upcoming PRES, SEN, and what will likely be a shrinking map of Swing House CDs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/us/politics/democrats-budget.html

[NOVA Green]

Problem the DEMs have here is the longer this thing drags out the less popular the individual programs will become and the more disgruntled voters will gets with all of the delays because most Americans simply don't understand the intricacies of the "sausage making" process.

Bottom line, let's just move forward with the best we can get, and as I posted upthread setup  tripwires and expiration dates.

We can't stop what Manchin and Sinema will do for their "Red Lines" right now (Although we can always exact retribution later in the 2024 PRIM).

Still---- NO BIF until we get HIF part of BBB.

[NOVA Green]

https://mobile.twitter.com/sarahnferris/status/1450625801825751041


Multiple northeastern congressman have said they will oppose any deal that doesn’t restore SALT

Schrader (D-OR) is likely to potentially be on the table as well.

OR Taxpayers got screwed on the "Trump Tax Cuts" and even Working-Class and Middle-Class families such as mine got screwed over.

Not a big fan of Schrader and more than wanting to primary him in '22 when we shift into his CD, but SALT was a crap PUB play to continue subsidizing heavily PUB States and penalize States where a higher % of State REV comes from Income Taxes vs more regressive forms of taxation policy.

[NOVA Green]

This is getting ridiculous. Schumer needs to just tell Manchin to shut up and vote yes or he loses his committee chairmanship. Why that action has not been taken yet is beyond me.

Getting to the point where this getting so watered down for the "Road Lobby", "Big Pharma", and "Big Oil", and "Pro-Rich Crowd", where I am have tempted to tell Wyden and Merkley to vote against, as well as my current Congressional Rep Peter DeFazio.

Bcs of most likely changed precinct results, will be in a Schrader CD next year, and hopefully we can get a good recruit to primary his a$$ for opposing the Presidents agenda.

[NOVA Green]

I just spent almost an hour of my life reading through 10+ pages of posts and didn't really learn much more than what I was reading in Politico, The Hill, The Washington Post, The New York Times plus some CNN and MSNBC running in the background while I was working remotely today.

However, I fully support the idea of the CPC maintaining leverage until Cinema Mansion are fully committed to BBB.

Side note: I had already written my Congressman Peter DeFazio several weeks ago encouraging him to hold firm on the Infrastructure Bill until we had a solid guarantee that we would get real achievements (as well as actually passing a "Human Infrastructure Bill).

He apparently replied to me about a week ago, but somehow it ended up in my spam folder (!?).

Unfortunately I do not have a copy of my original message since it was via the online submittal format, but this was his response:


" Dear Mr,  XXXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting me in support of robust legislation to invest in American jobs, families, and communities through President Biden’s Build Back Better proposal. I appreciate hearing from you, and we are in complete agreement.

 

The cascading crises caused by COVID-19 have dealt a massive blow to our country — tragic loss of life, economic freefall, and 10 million jobs lost. I strongly support President Biden’s Build Back Better proposals to strengthen the COVID-ravaged economy, create jobs, and help Americans afford the rising cost of living, and I am working hard in Congress to pass the Build Back Better Act, which would enact President Biden’s plan.

 

As Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I was proud the House passed my transformational infrastructure bill, the INVEST in America Act, H.R. 3684, which would take decisive action on climate change, bring our nation’s infrastructure back to a state of good repair and create thousands of jobs. The INVEST in America Act would deliver meaningful, transformational policy solutions and resources for states to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.

 

While the Senate’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes historic federal investment in America’s roads, bridges, and water infrastructure, unfortunately it falls short on many of my priorities in the INVEST in America Act, including not adequately addressing climate change as the existential threat that it is.

 

As the House considers the Build Back Better legislation, I am leading the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s work to remedy the largest flaws of the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill. My committee’s piece of the Build Back Better Act includes nearly $60 billion to make America’s infrastructure more sustainable, resilient, and equitable. I am proud that this legislation includes funding to reduce carbon pollution in the transportation sector that is driving the climate crisis, to equitably reconnect communities divided by existing infrastructure barriers, to develop high-speed rail projects, to increase access to clean water, and more.

 

Alongside an infrastructure investment, the Build Back Better Act would make historic investments in families, workers, seniors, and the middle class. I strongly support the provisions in the legislation including: expanding Medicare to include vision, hearing, and dental benefits; permanently expanding the Child Tax Credit; increasing access to affordable child care and ensuring universal pre-K; two years of free community college; reducing prescription drug costs; creating a national paid family and medical leave program; investing in home and community based services for long-term care; taking big steps forward in clean energy to address the climate crisis; and more.

 

The Build Back Better Act also fulfills President Biden’s pledge to not raise taxes for any American making under $400,000 a year. Additionally, I strongly support efforts to pay for this legislation by rolling back some of the worst parts of the Republicans’ Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, which gave massive handouts to corporations and the wealthiest Americans. I support raising the top individual tax rate, for those making more than $452,700 a year, back to where it was before the Republican tax bill was enacted. I also support increasing the capital gains tax rate for billionaires. It’s unacceptable that billionaires can have a lower effective tax rate than a teacher, grocery clerk, or nurse.

 

While our current tax code has been designed to give billionaires and huge corporations handouts, the very agency responsible for collecting their taxes – the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – is woefully underfunded, understaffed, and outmatched. Audits of wealthy taxpayers have fallen drastically, letting them avoid taxes while knowing they will likely get away with it. This has resulted in an oversized “tax gap” - the difference between taxes that are owed and taxes that are actually collected – that is estimated to exceed $1 trillion per year. I have long called for additional funding for the IRS to help the agency collect unpaid and underpaid taxes from the top earners and corporations, including introducing my own legislation to do so: the IRS Enhancement and Tax Gap Reduction Act. I am pleased that the Build Back Better Act includes a much-needed investment in the IRS that will deliver hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue and help ensure the wealthiest earners and large corporations pay their fair share, just like everyone else.

 

The staggering economic inequality that has been allowed to flourish over the past several decades has totally decimated our middle class, while the wealthiest have only gotten wealthier. The Build Back Better Act will reinvest in a strong U.S. economy by creating millions of jobs, investing in the American people, and finally demanding America’s wealthiest pay their fair share.

 

 I will continue fighting to ensure Congress passes this once-in-a-generation legislation. We can’t afford to squander this historic opportunity. Thanks again for contacting me on this important issue. Please keep in touch.

 

 


Sincerely,

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE PETER DeFAZIO
Fourth Congressional District, Oregon"


I am holding out emailing DeFazio (as well as my future Congressman Schrader) or Wyden & Merkley for the moment, although I might hit them up just on the prescription drug portion being included in the Senate Bill (Plus also expressing frustration at the elements cut out and lack of real tax reform).

[NOVA Green]

https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1453892191139553283

"Trying to take down the president — not smart,” he added.

So what pray tell is what Sinema, Manchin and Gottheimer doing?

Being “Problem Solvers” obviously

If today was enough to get them fuming, then the past few months of Manchin and Sinema surely must have gotten them apoplectic. Strange we are not seeing any reports about that though...

Just left a VM with Schrader's DC Office, since his Salem Office is closed for the Night (Can't even leave a VM).

Can't send an email to Schrader since when I enter my zip-code, get a "Out of District" response.

Basically left a VM saying that although currently I am in CD-04 and will be in CD-05 come 2022 might oppose him in the primaries if he continues to block Biden's agenda....

We remember.....

[NOVA Green]

So the SALT CAP increase from 10K to 72K is in the bill ?  Wow.  This does not make sense.  The group that will benefit from this is really the AGO $400K-$1million crowd.  For the $5 million AGI gang, this benefit is fairly tiny and will really not change their behavior.

So this
a) Crosses the Progressive red line of giving a tax cut to a higher income bloc
b) Does not really solve the problem of high-income groups migrating from blue states to red states and blowing up the fiscal situation in high tax blue in the long run

So this is the worse of both worlds for the Dems.  The only explanation is a handful of Dem House members from high-income districts mostly in CA NY NJ CT etc have a lot of doners from the $400K-$1 million gang and feel they have to deliver for their doners.

PS.  Does a quick calculation show that the Dems want to retroactively give me an extra $20K for the 2021 tax year.  I guess I will take it even as I think this entire exercise is just stupid.  I will always take free cash.

I think it's bizarre that you think this makes no sense. The incomes you're talking about are upper middle class in the NYC area, which I'm sure you know, and so there are quite a few of them. This will help many people who were totally ripped off by the Trump tax law and actually had their taxes raised. Sure, you can argue these people don't need the help, but they are now part of the core of the Democratic party and likely were a big source of funds for ActBlue and other Dem PACs. Meanwhile it excludes the super high earners (like Trump) who are very few in number and really don't need the tax break. I think this is the best way to go about changing the SALT cap, redress the injustice done by Trump upon the upper middle class in NY/NJ/IL/CA and reward a sizable bloc of your supporters while not rewarding the super rich.

It makes no sense because the $400K-$1million AGI gang is not that mobile and is unlikely to be able to move to a low-tax red state WHILE they are actually making this income.  It is the $5 million gang that is far more mobile with the nature of their work.  I agree it makes sense from an electoral politics point of view in those few districts.  The main risk for the Blue states the SALT cap created is more the $5 million AGI and above gang are now more likely to move AND the state finances are very dependent on revenue from that group.  NJ is most likely the most vulnerable.   

I'm pretty sure this was very low on the list of considerations for both Trump and the Democrats when changing the SALT deduction and the electoral politics were by far the main consideration. Trump basically treated this group like a disfavored minority group to be singled out and oppressed because he knows they hate him and voted heavily against him.

SALT also screwed over a ton of working-class and Middle-class voters, even in a state like Oregon.

It was a deliberate attempt by the Republican Party to screw over States where State taxes are higher, but deliver much more services and reallocate wealth to the Upper-Income and wealthier voters in places such as the South and Midwest and then do a "starve the beast" type angle.

We got screwed over when we moved back to OR from TX, because we couldn't use the same tax deductions others did (Kids, Housing, etc...) and suddenly we were completely in the hole on our FED taxes, despite just being basically slightly above average middle-class wage earners who do Payroll Taxes.

Don't blame it on the Government of Oregon but squarely on PUB taxation politics where they are screwing people over in certain parts of the country and rewarding them on others....

Just sayin' as a DEM SOC for SALT repeal.... (Got no bread no assets and if me or my spouse gets sick we are basically a couple paychecks away from being homeless again).

[NOVA Green]

Rules Committee has reported out BBB on a 9-4 party line vote

Any hints if this will go to the floor T-Night or T-Morrow?

[NOVA Green]

Now, Pelosi schedules vote on infrastructure after we lost VA, this should of been done last week or at the end of September when Terry was about to win VA after D's won the Cali recall

You not following man....

The VA GOV race had 5% to do with Infrastructure.

Sorry to bust your narrative but believe that to be 100% the case....

VA-GOV race was completely independent from National Narratives regardless of your sources....

[NOVA Green]

Looks like BIF might be voted on today. Let's see if moderates keep their word or end up betraying not only the CPC, but the party, the president, and the American people.

Already told Schrader last Weekend that I would vote against him when I move into CD-06 next election post-redistricting if he continued to oppose President Biden's agenda....

Hopefully grassroots pressure can keep him honest.

[NOVA Green]

https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1456780413242724357

So looking like a "Go" then?