Washington, D.C. – Biden is one step closer to having his infrastructure package on his desk. The President has been asking for its passage for months but has struggled to garner the votes in the Senate to make it happen. While its fate remains to be seen, the newest iteration of the bill has cleared its first hurdle by passing in the House.
The House passed the previous and more radical version of the bill in August. The bill’s tax hikes and massive social spending programs were too hard of a pill to swallow for more moderate Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Krysten Sinema (AZ).
After multiple rounds of negotiations, Democrat Leadership thinks they may have a bill that could pass. Democrats cut out portions of the social program spending, including the paid family leave spending, and left out the tax on billionaires. In doing so, Democrats lost support from the far-left wing of their party.
Although the bill still includes increased spending to “combat climate change,” Medicaid expansion, and funding for more open borders, Democrat leadership managed to pick up support from 13 Republicans in the House.
Those 13 Republicans who voted for the $1.8 Trillion bill were:
John Katko (NY), Tom Reed (NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Jeff Van Frew (NJ), Don Young (AK), Fred Upton (MI), Don Bacon (NE), Adam Kinzinger (IL), Chris Smith (NJ), Anthony Gonzalez (OH), Andrew Garbarino (NY), Nicole Malliotakis (NY), and David McKinley (WV).
Now the bill, which has been dubbed “The Build Back Better Plan,” has passed the House, its fate is once again in the hands of the Senate.
It is unclear whether or not Manchin and Sinema have changed their tune with this new version, however, they are facing immense pressure from the White House to get the bill through. Despite all the changes, the $1.8 Trillion spending bill is still highly controversial. Manchin and Sinema may still hold out from supporting it.
Another potential obstacle could be coming from the far-left wing of the Senate. Senator Bernie Sanders has already publicly criticized the bill, saying it doesn’t go far enough. Socialist Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who follows Sanders closely, voted no in the House.
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Are there any piggy banks left to raid? Sure, hope the Senate doesn’t pass it.
Only 110B to actual infrastructure alone vs the other bill items
& for Blue States
I hope The 2 Democrat stick to their gun and hold them to what they think is best for the people
If you know the cloward-piven strategy, you can easily understand the purpose of this garbage bill.