Biden infrastructure/tax increase megathread

[Pres Mike]

I got to admit that it is a kind of wild to see Joe Manchin these days being portrayed as this villain who is looking to backstab a democrat president the first chance he gets

I remember when Joe Manchin stuck his neck out for Obama and put his political career on the line when he tried to help him pass a universal background check bill after sandy hook. This was a red state Dem who in the past had even been supported by the NRA yet there he was going on tv not only to defend Obama but he also tried to help to him pass his background check bill

In the end it was not Joe Manchin, who ended up backstabbing Obama, it was Heidi Heitkamp and 3 other Dems....

Say what will about the Joe Manchin, but he will always have my respect for at least trying to do the right thing after sandy hook at a time when it did not politically benefit him at all to do so

Who were the other three democrats

Mark Pryor of Arkansas

Max Baucus of Montana

Mark Begich of Alaska

Interesting

That said, of course Manchin was going to vote for the bill. He wrote it!

Even if all four Democrats who opposed voted for it, it still would not have survived the filibuster. It would have had 59 votes

And if it did pass, it would have been dead upon arriving in the house

[wbrocks67]

I'm sorry - are you kidding me? Why not just vote for them this weekend? They're just going to up and leave for the entire weekend at this point? There is absolutely NO reason debate can't begin this weekend so that a vote can happen before Tuesday.

Shameful of the entire caucus to do this with an election right around the corner on Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/sarahmucha/status/1453844981173694485

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

RE: Prescription drug pricing
Wyden says Medicare negotiating power is non-negotiable and Murphy said a deal actually has been reached with Sinema and the White House but other Dems want it to be stronger. It sounds like something should be added to the package on it.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/biden-heads-to-hill-before-leaving-for-europe?entry=1392612

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

I'm proud of President Biden for taking major action on climate change and prioritising it. Every Democrat has a responsibility to get in line and vote for this, and everyone who votes against it will go down in history as planet-burning arsonists because of their own stupidity or desire for selfish political gain.

Nah, that title is reserved for any and all Neoliberals; and the establishment who created this disgusting Frankenstein of a bill that will only continue us on the march towards autocracy and becoming a failed state.

Any Progressive with a spine and principles will vote to kill this bill. Period.

[compucomp]

I'm sorry - are you kidding me? Why not just vote for them this weekend? They're just going to up and leave for the entire weekend at this point? There is absolutely NO reason debate can't begin this weekend so that a vote can happen before Tuesday.

Shameful of the entire caucus to do this with an election right around the corner on Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/sarahmucha/status/1453844981173694485

And oh by the way, we just got some Youngkin +8 and Youngkin +4 poll drops. Maybe Youngkin has to actually win before the progressives will understand?

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

I still think what is best for the GOP is for a bunch of House GOP members to approach Pelosi to say that they will make up the vote Progressive vote she will lose on BIF. 

Apparently McCarthy is actively whipping against it, unfortunately

That's hardly a strong disincentive.

[Pericles]

I'm proud of President Biden for taking major action on climate change and prioritising it. Every Democrat has a responsibility to get in line and vote for this, and everyone who votes against it will go down in history as planet-burning arsonists because of their own stupidity or desire for selfish political gain.

Nah, that title is reserved for any and all Neoliberals; and the establishment who created this disgusting Frankenstein of a bill that will only continue us on the march towards autocracy and becoming a failed state.

Any Progressive with a spine and principles will vote to kill this bill. Period.

BS, anyone who votes against climate action regardless of their motive is responsible for the climate crisis then being worse.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

House is debating the further short term extension.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

I'm sorry - are you kidding me? Why not just vote for them this weekend? They're just going to up and leave for the entire weekend at this point? There is absolutely NO reason debate can't begin this weekend so that a vote can happen before Tuesday.

Shameful of the entire caucus to do this with an election right around the corner on Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/sarahmucha/status/1453844981173694485

If you have a problem, take it up with Manchin and Sinema. The BIF can’t pass because there is no basis to trust them

I’m not sure how you think passing BIF now helps T-Mac anyway, especially given the inevitable ‘Manchin and/or Sinema out on Build Back Better’ headline that would follow Monday.

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

I'm proud of President Biden for taking major action on climate change and prioritising it. Every Democrat has a responsibility to get in line and vote for this, and everyone who votes against it will go down in history as planet-burning arsonists because of their own stupidity or desire for selfish political gain.

Nah, that title is reserved for any and all Neoliberals; and the establishment who created this disgusting Frankenstein of a bill that will only continue us on the march towards autocracy and becoming a failed state.

Any Progressive with a spine and principles will vote to kill this bill. Period.

BS, anyone who votes against climate action regardless of their motive is responsible for the climate crisis then being worse.

Anyone who can define this bill as doing literally anything significant enough to alter the course of climate change is more blind than I realized was possible. All passing this bill will do is provide liberals with a chance to self-pleasure themselves until the next Mid-Term elections while having effectively accomplished next to nothing. Period.

[CookieDamage]

RE: Prescription drug pricing
Wyden says Medicare negotiating power is non-negotiable and Murphy said a deal actually has been reached with Sinema and the White House but other Dems want it to be stronger. It sounds like something should be added to the package on it.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/biden-heads-to-hill-before-leaving-for-europe?entry=1392612

Wow this is great news

[Pericles]

I'm proud of President Biden for taking major action on climate change and prioritising it. Every Democrat has a responsibility to get in line and vote for this, and everyone who votes against it will go down in history as planet-burning arsonists because of their own stupidity or desire for selfish political gain.

Nah, that title is reserved for any and all Neoliberals; and the establishment who created this disgusting Frankenstein of a bill that will only continue us on the march towards autocracy and becoming a failed state.

Any Progressive with a spine and principles will vote to kill this bill. Period.

BS, anyone who votes against climate action regardless of their motive is responsible for the climate crisis then being worse.

Anyone who can define this bill as doing literally anything significant enough to alter the course of climate change is more blind than I realized was possible. All passing this bill will do is provide liberals with a chance to self-pleasure themselves until the next Mid-Term elections while having effectively accomplished next to nothing. Period.

$555 billion is a lot better than $0, and it's success by the standards of US politics. Biden even thinks it could halve emissions by 2030. Unfortunately, in any political system but especially the US one, it's hard to get much of what you want so it's best to seize opportunities when they are offered, like right now.

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

I'm proud of President Biden for taking major action on climate change and prioritising it. Every Democrat has a responsibility to get in line and vote for this, and everyone who votes against it will go down in history as planet-burning arsonists because of their own stupidity or desire for selfish political gain.

Nah, that title is reserved for any and all Neoliberals; and the establishment who created this disgusting Frankenstein of a bill that will only continue us on the march towards autocracy and becoming a failed state.

Any Progressive with a spine and principles will vote to kill this bill. Period.

BS, anyone who votes against climate action regardless of their motive is responsible for the climate crisis then being worse.

Anyone who can define this bill as doing literally anything significant enough to alter the course of climate change is more blind than I realized was possible. All passing this bill will do is provide liberals with a chance to self-pleasure themselves until the next Mid-Term elections while having effectively accomplished next to nothing. Period.

$555 billion is a lot better than $0, and it's success by the standards of US politics. Biden even thinks it could halve emissions by 2030. Unfortunately, in any political system but especially the US one, it's hard to get much of what you want so it's best to seize opportunities when they are offered, like right now.

$320 billion of that is in the form of tax credits for private companies, not any kind of actual investment in clean energy. Only $20 billion is for actually procuring sources of clean energy. Call me what you'd like, but having been on this rodeo before, I know how this works. I know how Neoliberals work. The only people who are going to benefit from this bill in any significant way are the already well-off to do and their cohorts, not the people who actually need help. Which as I've already explained will lead to increasing alienation from our systems of government among the people and continue us on our current, disastrous path.

You don't hand a victory to an evil system that's holding you hostage to help itself propagate.

Kill the bill; expose it for the scam it is, and then launch a massive PR campaign aimed at increasing class consciousness. It's the only way.

[wbrocks67]

I'm sorry - are you kidding me? Why not just vote for them this weekend? They're just going to up and leave for the entire weekend at this point? There is absolutely NO reason debate can't begin this weekend so that a vote can happen before Tuesday.

Shameful of the entire caucus to do this with an election right around the corner on Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/sarahmucha/status/1453844981173694485

If you have a problem, take it up with Manchin and Sinema. The BIF can’t pass because there is no basis to trust them

I’m not sure how you think passing BIF now helps T-Mac anyway, especially given the inevitable ‘Manchin and/or Sinema out on Build Back Better’ headline that would follow Monday.

There's no reason to believe they'll be out.

And there's no reason why Congress should not start debating this tomorrow to get it done ASAP then. Leaving it till next week to even start is such negligence.

[jojoju1998]

I'm proud of President Biden for taking major action on climate change and prioritising it. Every Democrat has a responsibility to get in line and vote for this, and everyone who votes against it will go down in history as planet-burning arsonists because of their own stupidity or desire for selfish political gain.

Nah, that title is reserved for any and all Neoliberals; and the establishment who created this disgusting Frankenstein of a bill that will only continue us on the march towards autocracy and becoming a failed state.

Any Progressive with a spine and principles will vote to kill this bill. Period.

BS, anyone who votes against climate action regardless of their motive is responsible for the climate crisis then being worse.

Anyone who can define this bill as doing literally anything significant enough to alter the course of climate change is more blind than I realized was possible. All passing this bill will do is provide liberals with a chance to self-pleasure themselves until the next Mid-Term elections while having effectively accomplished next to nothing. Period.

$555 billion is a lot better than $0, and it's success by the standards of US politics. Biden even thinks it could halve emissions by 2030. Unfortunately, in any political system but especially the US one, it's hard to get much of what you want so it's best to seize opportunities when they are offered, like right now.

$320 billion of that is in the form of tax credits for private companies, not any kind of actual investment in clean energy. Only $20 billion is for actually procuring sources of clean energy. Call me what you'd like, but having been on this rodeo before, I know how this works. I know how Neoliberals work. The only people who are going to benefit from this bill in any significant way are the already well-off to do and their cohorts, not the people who actually need help. Which as I've already explained will lead to increasing alienation from our systems of government among the people and continue us on our current, disastrous path.

You don't hand a victory to an evil system that's holding you hostage to help itself propagate.

Kill the bill; expose it for the scam it is, and then launch a massive PR campaign aimed at increasing class consciousness. It's the only way.

But you're acting as if there is no class conciousness. Biden pointed this out, most Americans do want paid leave, medicare expansion, free community college.

Unfortunately, We have Manchin and Sinema.

[compucomp]

Glenn Youngkin should send Jayapal and Sanders nice Christmas presents since their grandstanding may well have gift-wrapped him the VA Governor's office.

[Pericles]

Glenn Youngkin should send Jayapal and Sanders nice Christmas presents since their grandstanding may well have gift-wrapped him the VA Governor's office.

The reconciliation bill is worth him winning.

[Torie]

This spin city game gives me vertigo. Anyway, with the Nov 2 deadline blown, and of course the before Joe shows up as his Euro meeting, the new one might be before the Xmas break. At some point things might snap. Under the media spin, there are real and substantive disagreements as to priorities that cannot be easily finessed.

My basic reaction is the whole smoke and mirrors trick I find  to be rather condescending and sophomoric, assuming voters have as many dead brain cells as I do.

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

I'm proud of President Biden for taking major action on climate change and prioritising it. Every Democrat has a responsibility to get in line and vote for this, and everyone who votes against it will go down in history as planet-burning arsonists because of their own stupidity or desire for selfish political gain.

Nah, that title is reserved for any and all Neoliberals; and the establishment who created this disgusting Frankenstein of a bill that will only continue us on the march towards autocracy and becoming a failed state.

Any Progressive with a spine and principles will vote to kill this bill. Period.

BS, anyone who votes against climate action regardless of their motive is responsible for the climate crisis then being worse.

Anyone who can define this bill as doing literally anything significant enough to alter the course of climate change is more blind than I realized was possible. All passing this bill will do is provide liberals with a chance to self-pleasure themselves until the next Mid-Term elections while having effectively accomplished next to nothing. Period.

$555 billion is a lot better than $0, and it's success by the standards of US politics. Biden even thinks it could halve emissions by 2030. Unfortunately, in any political system but especially the US one, it's hard to get much of what you want so it's best to seize opportunities when they are offered, like right now.

$320 billion of that is in the form of tax credits for private companies, not any kind of actual investment in clean energy. Only $20 billion is for actually procuring sources of clean energy. Call me what you'd like, but having been on this rodeo before, I know how this works. I know how Neoliberals work. The only people who are going to benefit from this bill in any significant way are the already well-off to do and their cohorts, not the people who actually need help. Which as I've already explained will lead to increasing alienation from our systems of government among the people and continue us on our current, disastrous path.

You don't hand a victory to an evil system that's holding you hostage to help itself propagate.

Kill the bill; expose it for the scam it is, and then launch a massive PR campaign aimed at increasing class consciousness. It's the only way.

But you're acting as if there is no class conciousness. Biden pointed this out, most Americans do want paid leave, medicare expansion, free community college.

Unfortunately, We have Manchin and Sinema.

So what? So Liberals can congratulate themselves on another failed; broken piece of legislation, that will only make a mockery of genuine attempts at creating social welfare in this country, and give Republicans and 'Moderates' (I have another word for them, but we'll keep this civil) a chance to point and say 'Look! We tried, we tried to create a social welfare system, but it just didn't work out...Oh well, next time!' Despite the fact that it now looks like more than half these programs will expire in a few years any way, likely under Republican domination of government that is another byproduct of the refusal by Liberals to play hardball.

Yeah, no. We've seen this playbook before. You know what the definition of insanity is. And in this case, having been stripped of literally all our dignity and even the smallest meager crumbs that were originally thrown our way in the original bill, this monstrosity needs to die for the good of the Republic and any legitimate attempt at real reform in the future. Period.

And another thing all this has proven, Liberals and Leftists aren't allies, and we need to stop acting like we are. We're fighting for completely different things, that much has become crystal clear.

[wbrocks67]

At this point, I don't believe it. There's no urgency. They couldn't even be bothered to show up over the weekend.

https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1453861108188651525

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/Sen_JoeManchin/status/1453858737039581184

No direct endorsement/promise to vote for it so far.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Glenn Youngkin should send Jayapal and Sanders nice Christmas presents since their grandstanding may well have gift-wrapped him the VA Governor's office.

The reconciliation bill is worth him winning.

But you might end up getting neither. There is no guarantee, that the Bill gets better than this one.

In August, Biden could take win and build a 1.5T reconciliation bill upon it (Manchin gave a word?). Now, 3 months later, they have 1.75T bill fighting (Dems are in disarray!!) over how many things got killed (such optics might make (D) voters less enthusiastic.), and... Manchin has not even endorsed it.

I don't know, how the bill will look at the end. May be, the Progressives make it much better, but there is and always has been a risk-reward trade-off, and I'm not sure, that these 0.25T will be worth it.

[emailking]

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.

[Pericles]

Glenn Youngkin should send Jayapal and Sanders nice Christmas presents since their grandstanding may well have gift-wrapped him the VA Governor's office.

The reconciliation bill is worth him winning.

But you might end up getting neither. There is no guarantee, that the Bill gets better than this one.

In August, Biden could take win and build a 1.5T reconciliation bill upon it (Manchin gave a word?). Now, 3 months later, they have 1.75T bill fighting (Dems are in disarray!!) over how many things got killed (such optics might make (D) voters less enthusiastic.), and... Manchin has not even endorsed it.

I don't know, how the bill will look at the end. May be, the Progressives make it much better, but there is and always has been a risk-reward trade-off, and I'm not sure, that these 0.25T will be worth it.

Oh I don't think they can make it better or will try. They do need to hold the BIF hostage until Manchin and Sinema actually cast their votes for the reconciliation bill though. Even though I believe the BIF should be passed in this Congress regardless of what happens to reconciliation, the threat to it needs to be used as a bluff to motivate Manchin and Sinema.

[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).