Biden infrastructure/tax increase megathread

[wbrocks67]

For context - the bill was delayed from today to Thursday. That piece of info is pretty big, so not sure why it wasn't included in the earlier post.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Both bills aren't gonna pass, in the Senate, not the H, if the Ds don't fund the govt or raise the Debt Ceiling a 3.5T package isn't passing without a Debt Ceiling increase

[StateBoiler]

https://www.politico.com/playbook

WHERE’S THE URGENCY? — Congress is three days out from a vote on a key plank of the president’s agenda — a massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure package (BIF) — and President JOE BIDEN and House Democratic leaders haven’t even started the whipping process, we’re told from sources across the Democratic spectrum.

Our colleagues Natasha Korecki and Laura Barrón-López reported Sunday night that the president was making calls and doing Zoom sessions from Camp David over the weekend on BIF and the larger reconciliation package. But the seeming lack of urgency so far — given the sheer scale of the task and mere days to complete it — is alarming some House Democrats going into a critical week, multiple people involved told us Sunday night.

“I don’t understand why the president isn’t whipping his own historic bill,” said one moderate House Democrat.

THE VIEW FROM LEADERSHIP: Speaker NANCY PELOSI has been trying to project an air of confidence. She announced Sunday night that she plans to start the House debate on BIF today, with a vote Thursday.

The hope is that leaders can announce an agreement or “framework” on reconciliation with Sens. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.) and JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) by then, freeing progressives to vote for BIF.

The problem: Almost everyone we spoke to Sunday said that timing is unlikely at best. One senior Democratic aide called it flat-out “fiction.” “There [are] literally no negotiations with anyone,” another House moderate said.

Yes, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and the White House are in regular touch with Manchema trying to make progress on the larger reconciliation package. We also hear there’s an effort underway to get Manchin to walk back his demand for a “pause” on reconciliation. But that’s a far cry from a “framework.”

FRUSTRATION WITH BIDEN: Moderate Democrats expected Biden to start twisting House progressives’ arms during their White House meeting last week. But we’re told by sources in the progressive camp and another senior Democratic aide that the president has neither asked progressives to drop their demand that the reconciliation bill pass in tandem with BIF, nor pressed them to accept a stand-alone vote on BIF this week — at least not yet. This has infuriated moderates.

“The president needs to pick up the phone and call people,” the moderate source close to the talks told us. The person argued that the White House has been in “listening mode” for too long and needs to bang heads to get this vote over the finish line this week.

It’s not just moderates who are dismayed. “There are a lot of mistakes happening here,” the senior Democratic aide said Sunday night, acknowledging the lack of a game plan going into such a critical week. “There is no whip effort on the BIF yet. Everything is hanging by a thread. Biden needs to be more engaged.”

THE PROGRESSIVE VIEW: They firmly believe that Biden and Pelosi agree with them that both bills should move together. “No one has made a case to progressives or lobbied for them to change their position and vote for it before the Build Back Better Act,” one senior House progressive source told us. “And in fact the White House, when we were there on Wednesday, was very much in the same position: There was agreement that we need both bills.”

SO WHAT WILL PELOSI DO if Schumer and the White House don’t get a reconciliation deal hashed out with Manchema by Thursday? Your guess is as good as ours. Some Pelosi watchers are predicting she’ll turn to progressives and say: I tried, it’s not ready, you have to vote for this, and try to whip them in line. Others think she could just put a $3.5 trillion bill on the floor without an agreement with the Senate, though it could fail amid moderate opposition. Or, as some progressives believe this is heading, she could break her promise to moderates to vote on BIF this week while assuring them she’s pushing hard on a reconciliation deal and just needs more time.

Pelosi was equally cryptic on ABC’s “This Week”: “Let me just say we’re going to pass the bill this week,” she said of BIF. But she also had this warning: “I’m never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn’t have the votes.”

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/axios/status/1442234914284310534

[Person Man]

https://twitter.com/axios/status/1442234914284310534

So they probably will get something done.

[roxas11]

https://twitter.com/axios/status/1442234914284310534

It looks like, the reality is finally starting dawn on moderate Dems that they simply will not be able to get the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed without progressive Dems support.

This just proves how foolish and idiotic the moderates Dems plan was in the first place. As I said before had they actually had the votes to just get the stand alone bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by itself, I would have supported them, but the reality is they simply never had the votes to pull it off since Kevin McCarthy and most house Republicans have now made it very clear that they have no intention whatsoever of helping moderate Dems pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill if progressive Dems end up not voting for it

[KaiserDave]

Biden is at war with the worst of corporate American and their army of lobbyists and legislators, we must hope for his success.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Biden is at war with the worst of corporate American and their army of lobbyists and legislators, we must hope for his success.

We need infrastructure but c'mon expanding Medicare isn't a priority in 3.5T dollar package and we can't even pay off 29T we already have

This isn't a Stimulus bill of 1.9T, it's a Medicare bill and it's not even gonna take effect til 2028

It's not a priority over debt ceiling, you can't play with the debt ceiling

Manchin and Sinema can break the impasse on Rs blocking Biden agenda by creating a backbone and getting rid of Fillibuster

Biden is more moderate but don't forget he defended the Filibuster allowing Manchin and Sinema to keep their position, it's the blue dogs in the Senate Corp not Biden

That's why we need 52 votes plus the H to rid the Filibuster after next yr

We can bring back Medicare Expansion next yr, it won't take effect until 2028 anyways, by 2028 we would be best retired many of us aren't close

[LabourJersey]

https://twitter.com/axios/status/1442234914284310534

It looks like, the reality is finally starting dawn on moderate Dems that they simply will not be able to get the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed without progressive Dems support.

This just proves how foolish and idiotic the moderates Dems plan was in the first place. As I said before had they actually had the votes to just get the stand alone bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by itself, I would have supported them, but the reality is they simply never had the votes to pull it off since Kevin McCarthy and most house Republicans have now made it very clear that they have no intention whatsoever of helping moderate Dems pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill if progressive Dems end up not voting for it

These Democrats are finally realizing the political costs of these bills failing. Glad they finally are waking up--hope the rest of their ranks wake up today for the good of the party

[jaichind]

https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report-state/salt-deal-coming-as-soon-as-this-week-democratic-advocate-says

"SALT Deal Coming as Soon as This Week, Democratic Advocate Says"

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report-state/salt-deal-coming-as-soon-as-this-week-democratic-advocate-says

"SALT Deal Coming as Soon as This Week, Democratic Advocate Says"

So not only so-called moderates seem to "fold" on reconciliation, even so-called progressives seem to have folded on SALT? SAD!

Suozzi, known as “Mr. SALT” for his dedication to the issue, said there are enough Democrats who will block the entire bill if the measure is not addressed.

The tax break is particularly valuable in high-tax states, which also happen to be Democratic strongholds, including New York, California and New Jersey. Democrats have been considering repealing the cap for two years, making the tax break unlimited during that time.

Some progressives, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have criticized that idea, saying it would be too big of a benefit to the wealthy and that the cap should be increased, but not repealed entirely.

“I’m focused like a laser on this issue and I’ve really put myself way out there,” said Suozzi, who is advocating for full repeal. “If it doesn’t happen, I’m going to look like an idiot.”

[compucomp]

I've made this point before on the SALT deduction, but I'm mystified that this forum's leftist posters so strongly oppose restoring it. Combined with the lowering of the highest tax bracket, the SALT deduction limit functioned as a discriminatory measure, singling out upper middle class people in NY, NJ, IL, and CA as an undesirable minority to be punished because they turned against Trump in 2016. Now I'm not necessarily opposed to raising the highest tax bracket again, but this injustice that was imposed by Trump as a purely political punitive measure needs to be redressed.

If leftists don't care about that, perhaps they may want to understand that their gerrymanders in NY/NJ/IL/CA could easily collapse and cost them 15-20 suburban House seats if these upper middle class high propensity voters turn against them and decided to vote Republican to put a check on Biden. Do you really want that to happen when you could have kept them voting D by
 fixing the Trumpist injustice done upon them and giving them a tax break?

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

https://www.politico.com/playbook

WHERE’S THE URGENCY? — Congress is three days out from a vote on a key plank of the president’s agenda — a massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure package (BIF) — and President JOE BIDEN and House Democratic leaders haven’t even started the whipping process, we’re told from sources across the Democratic spectrum.

Our colleagues Natasha Korecki and Laura Barrón-López reported Sunday night that the president was making calls and doing Zoom sessions from Camp David over the weekend on BIF and the larger reconciliation package. But the seeming lack of urgency so far — given the sheer scale of the task and mere days to complete it — is alarming some House Democrats going into a critical week, multiple people involved told us Sunday night.

“I don’t understand why the president isn’t whipping his own historic bill,” said one moderate House Democrat.

THE VIEW FROM LEADERSHIP: Speaker NANCY PELOSI has been trying to project an air of confidence. She announced Sunday night that she plans to start the House debate on BIF today, with a vote Thursday.

The hope is that leaders can announce an agreement or “framework” on reconciliation with Sens. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.) and JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) by then, freeing progressives to vote for BIF.

The problem: Almost everyone we spoke to Sunday said that timing is unlikely at best. One senior Democratic aide called it flat-out “fiction.” “There [are] literally no negotiations with anyone,” another House moderate said.

Yes, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and the White House are in regular touch with Manchema trying to make progress on the larger reconciliation package. We also hear there’s an effort underway to get Manchin to walk back his demand for a “pause” on reconciliation. But that’s a far cry from a “framework.”

FRUSTRATION WITH BIDEN: Moderate Democrats expected Biden to start twisting House progressives’ arms during their White House meeting last week. But we’re told by sources in the progressive camp and another senior Democratic aide that the president has neither asked progressives to drop their demand that the reconciliation bill pass in tandem with BIF, nor pressed them to accept a stand-alone vote on BIF this week — at least not yet. This has infuriated moderates.

“The president needs to pick up the phone and call people,” the moderate source close to the talks told us. The person argued that the White House has been in “listening mode” for too long and needs to bang heads to get this vote over the finish line this week.

It’s not just moderates who are dismayed. “There are a lot of mistakes happening here,” the senior Democratic aide said Sunday night, acknowledging the lack of a game plan going into such a critical week. “There is no whip effort on the BIF yet. Everything is hanging by a thread. Biden needs to be more engaged.”

THE PROGRESSIVE VIEW: They firmly believe that Biden and Pelosi agree with them that both bills should move together. “No one has made a case to progressives or lobbied for them to change their position and vote for it before the Build Back Better Act,” one senior House progressive source told us. “And in fact the White House, when we were there on Wednesday, was very much in the same position: There was agreement that we need both bills.”

SO WHAT WILL PELOSI DO if Schumer and the White House don’t get a reconciliation deal hashed out with Manchema by Thursday? Your guess is as good as ours. Some Pelosi watchers are predicting she’ll turn to progressives and say: I tried, it’s not ready, you have to vote for this, and try to whip them in line. Others think she could just put a $3.5 trillion bill on the floor without an agreement with the Senate, though it could fail amid moderate opposition. Or, as some progressives believe this is heading, she could break her promise to moderates to vote on BIF this week while assuring them she’s pushing hard on a reconciliation deal and just needs more time.

Pelosi was equally cryptic on ABC’s “This Week”: “Let me just say we’re going to pass the bill this week,” she said of BIF. But she also had this warning: “I’m never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn’t have the votes.”

I think I said it earlier, but Politico is acting as the press office for No Labels. This one is particularly egregious.

This entire rundown is copy pasted from one ‘moderate’ source whining that they aren’t being catered too.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

I hope you know this 3.5 T Spending deal is going nowhere in the Senate Manchin doesn't want a 3.5T dollar deal and Rs aren't raiding Debt Ceiling

[Pres Mike]

I'm fine with SALT. Deficit spending doesn't actually matter

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Vote on Debt Ceiling is gonna fail as Rs refuses to lift it for a 3.5T Reconciliation Bill momentarily, in Senate

[Ferguson97]

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1442620288986796038

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It's not going to work Obama negotiated spending caps in 2011 that's why the Rs didn't Filibuster it, abd Pelosi and D's want to pass a 3.5T dollar package on 29T we already have to make it 34T

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

But, but, but, Biden TOLD US THAT HE WAS BETTER THAN BERNIE BECAUSE HE WAS BIPARTISAN, MANCHIN AND SINEMA NOT GONNA GET RID OF FILLIBUSTER AT LEAST NOT ON THE DEBT CEILING, they are opposed to 3.5T anyways want it 1.5T

THIS MEDICARE OVERHAUL DOESN'T Even TAKE EFFECT UNTIL 2028

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

House is currently debating the bipartisan bill

[American2020]

https://twitter.com/people4kam/status/1442606427919421440

[American2020]

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1442617548596465666

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Meanwhile the Govt shutdown pending and default looms with no end in site on Filibuster

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

House is currently debating the bipartisan bill

Debate has paused with 10 minutes left on each side. Debate will resume on another legislative day.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

https://twitter.com/people4kam/status/1442606427919421440

Oh what the ?
It looked like the dam was breaking


Well, Kyrsten Sinema is your president now.