House passes $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, sends it to Biden

[EarlG]

Source: CNBC

The House passed a more than $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Friday, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk in a critical step toward enacting sprawling Democratic economic plans.

The Senate approved the revamp of transportation, utilities and broadband in August. The legislation’s passage is perhaps the unified Democratic government’s most concrete achievement since it approved a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package in the spring.

The measure passed in a 228-206 vote. Thirteen Republicans supported it, while six Democrats voted against it. Biden could sign the bill within days.

Washington has tried and failed for years to pass a major bill to upgrade critical transportation and utility infrastructure, which has come under more pressure from extreme weather. The White House has also contended passage of the bill can help to get goods moving as supply-chain obstacles contribute to higher prices for American consumers.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/05/house-passes-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-sends-it-to-biden.html

---

Changed the source. For some reason MSNBC had it as a $555 billion bill but CNBC and CNN have got it as $1+ trilion

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Yea

Link to tweet

[RussBLib]

2. finally good news

Now Dems need to LOUDLY take credit for this one.

And get the other one across the finish line

[llmart]

30. +1000

The media won't do it for us, so we have to CROW about this bill and get on the airwaves as much as possible, always using the words WIN and BIDEN together!!!

[VarryOn]

3. Either amount is eye-watering and a win! Nt

[madaboutharry]

4. I know this is will annoy some people here,

but I think the democrats who voted against the bill were wrong. And I’m getting weary of The Squad. They are not helping.

[VarryOn]

6. Agree...

They think more highly of themselves than they should. And a couple of Senators, as well.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. I agree with you completely, my dear madaboutharry! Thank you! ♥

[Hekate]

14. I think The Squad just made itself look smaller & less influential tonight.Jayapal, otoh, looks good

Pramila Jayapal is head of the Progressive Caucus, which she points out is 96 members. She held them together tonight — all except the renegade Squad.

[lamp_shade]

21. You've got that right. Sad but true.

[obamanut2012]

28. Yeah, I agree

[llmart]

31. I agree with you.

The media is always looking for a "Dems in disarray" theme and The Squad gave it to them.

[Steelrolled]

40. The bill passed, so I'm not really bothered.

If their constituents keep voting them in, I can't say a whole lot.

[IronLionZion]

48. It's a protest vote knowing the bill would pass safely

as the squad has stated all along, they won't be the ones who stop the bill from passing.

[question everything]

5. Just think, had they passed it last week some of the election results would have been different

It would have showed, then, that the Democrats can govern.

At least, it puts us on a better starting point for the midterm which really will start in less then two months.

[Fiendish Thingy]

8. R.I.P BBB.

At least Dems have sown up the coal miner vote…

[SCantiGOP]

17. Politics is the art of the possible

The BBB will pass, even though it will get dinged a bit in the Senate, and the American public will get to watch the Republicans sit on their asses for another crucial piece of legislation.

[murielm99]

41. In a democracy,

politics is the art of compromise. That is the way I learned it. Otto von Bismarck was the one who called it the art of the possible. Do we want HIS example to follow in a democracy? I don't think so.

Gingrich nixed the idea of fraternization across the aisle. We need to get back to that and we will. Because politics is the art of compromise.

The republicans have been getting away with very undemocratic things for a while. We will bring things back to where they should be: the art of compromise.

Evita is one of my favorite musicals. The Art of the Possible is sung in that play. Here are the lyrics:

One has no rules/is not precise/One rarely acts/The same way twice/One spurns no device/Practicing the art of the possible.

One always picks/The easy fight/One praises fools/One smothers light/One shifts from left to right/It's part of the art of the possible.

One always claims/Mistakes were planned/When risk is slight/One takes one's stand/With much sleight of hand/Politics - The art of the possible.

That is how it is done in a Peron-style right wing dictatorship. That is not who we are. That is not how Nancy or Joe do things. They do some horse trading and calling in of favors, but they practice diplomacy and compromise because we are a democracy.

[Fiendish Thingy]

56. Negotiating with fascists is a bad idea

Negotiating compromises with supporters of the Big Lie and the insurrection is a very bad idea.

It would mean treating Gaetz, Jordan, Gomert, MTG, Boebert, Brooks, Hawley and Cruz as serious, sane people worthy of respect.

Beyond those crazies, NONE of the republicans have shown a willingness to even allow debate on important bills- how do you negotiate with that?

[George II]

35. Dems have sown up the BIF bill and all the things Americans have been asking for years.

What's this "coal miner vote" stuff?

[Fiendish Thingy]

39. "All the things Americans have been asking for"

Like paid leave and Medicare expansion and universal pre k, substantive action on climate change and lower prescription drug prices…? “All” those things that aren’t in the BIF?

What the BIF provides is $550 billion in new money to correct 75 years of deferred maintenance on the nation’s physical infrastructure- a good thing, but for a child in poverty, not nearly enough.

The BIF provides funding for projects heavily connected to the fossil fuel industry, hence the coal miners are sure to vote for Dems in the midterms, amirite?

[honest.abe]

52. Linking the two bills was a mistake from the beginning.

It didn’t work and the result is now a bunch of angry folks like yourself.

[OAITW r.2.0]

9. This will show we can do great things when vision and investment come together.

[NBachers]

10. Here are the six:

Here are the six House Democrats who broke from their party to vote against the bill:

Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York
Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota
Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts
Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/05/politics/infrastructure-bill-house-democrats-voted-no-republicans-voted-yes/index.html

[OnDoutside]

22. I presume that they will work to make sure that not one dollar of

that money will be spent in their district ? Is their vote position any better than the conservadems ? Infantile.

[obamanut2012]

29. I had thought Bowman would vote for it

[George II]

37. They broke from their Speaker Pelosi, they broke from their caucus Chair Jayapal, they broke from...

....their fellow progressives.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus is made up of 95 Representatives and one Senator. ALL the other members of the CPC voted for the bill (including the Senator weeks ago), those six did not. Instead they sided WITH 200 House republicans.

[manicdem]

11. Finally

Geez this finally passed. Hope it's a good start to getting things done.

[Rhiannon12866]

12. K&R! Finally!!!

[littlemissmartypants]

13. Kickety, kick. ❤

[brer cat]

15. Great news!

Now get BBB across the line.

[Polybius]

16. I just wish that it could have passed a week ago

Would it had made a difference? Hard to say.

[orangecrush]

18. Great news!

Thanks to all who helped make it happen.

[littlemissmartypants]

19. ..."largest single investment in infrastructure in U.S. history...."

BREAKING: Congress passes largest single investment in infrastructure in U.S. history.

House votes *228*-206, with 13 Republicans joining Dems.

Bill now goes to the White House.

Link to tweet

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

20. Showing that Joe Biden is the one who knows the "Art of The Deal"

[KY_EnviroGuy]

23. K&R. Great news sorely needed for infrastructure.

Good point regarding weakened infrastructure due to worsening weather and better broadband to stay competitive in the world.

......to Speaker Pelosi and President Biden.

[ananda]

24. Go Dems! And congrats to Pelosi for GETTING IT DONE!

!!!

[gademocrat7]

25. Good news

Thank you Speaker Pelosi for your efforts in getting this bill passed.

[LaMouffette]

26. Sweet! When I went to bed last night, it sounded like the bill had stalled again. What great news

to wake up to!

Now, Democratic leadership, it's all about messaging, messaging, messaging! This needs to be trumpeted as loudly and as often as the Repubes have been spreading the Critical Race Theory lie, the Stop the Steal lie, and the Democrats Want to Take Your Guns lie, and the Economy Is in Bad Shape lie.

We need TV commercials and YouTube ads, dammit! Spread the positive news! Spread it! Brand the Democrats, once again, as the party of "Yes, We Can!" Brand the Republicans as the party of fear mongers.

Thank you, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, and all the Dems who supported the bill, along with the few Repubes who did, too.

GO, DEMS!

[honest.abe]

27. Fantastic!

And I still think there will be a BBB despite all the hand wringing from some on our side.

[George II]

32. The vote detail:

republicans who voted with the majority of Democrats:

Van Drew
Katko
Bacon
Young
Upton
Kinzinger
Smith (N.J.)
Fitzpatrick
Reed
Gonzalez
Garbarino
Malliotakis
McKinley

Democrats who voted with the majority of republicans:

Bush
Omar
Bowman
Tlaib
Ocasio-Cortez
Pressley

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

34. I think Kinzinger and Gonzalez aren't running for reelection

It's easier for them to vote yes for that reason.

[bronxiteforever]

33. Kick and recommend. Great news!

[Bayard]

36. Great news!

For those who thought Cheney had seen the light--not so much.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

38. Clawed back 14 months of the military spendthrifting, it's a great beginning.

[yaesu]

42. Good, now we are that much closer to getting all hands on deck for the most important bill

voters rights! Lets get real, we are about to see our first trillionaire in the US, the electric car rocketman, so a trillion dollars isn't going to make me too excited but hey, I'm used to settling for crumbs.

[bluewater]

43. +1000

[Aristus]

44. Let me guess:

The thirteen Republicans are at least smart enough to realize that this will benefit their constituents, and they can run for re-election on the result of those benefits.

Meanwhile, the six Democrats are running away from Joe Biden's agenda so they can claim 'electoral independence' from the President in their next campaign.

Cowards...

[Polybius]

46. The funny thing is that Nicole Malliotakis is getting hammered for it here on Staten Island

Her Instagram is off the charts in negative comments, calling her a traitor, sellout, and RINO.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CV6UvXvLssV/

[bucolic_frolic]

53. Everybody got something.

To me it's a sign the parties are beginning to cooperate again, which they have done historically. Everyone got something. Progressives got their further left agenda, 13 Republicans added to their center-right creds and Democrats got to say this is bipartisan and Republicans can point to it's not an entirely united Democratic Party, in fact it wouldn't have passed without them.

[SunSeeker]

45. What TFG couldn't do in 4 years Biden did in about 4 months. nt

[TiberiusB]

47. The "Squad" didn't betray anybody. That's 100% backwards.

Pelosi betrayed a commitment to pass both bills together, undoubtedly under pressure from the administration to pass something to counter bad poll numbers.

https://www.newsweek.com/bowing-progressives-pelosi-says-infrastructure-will-pass-once-dems-agree-spending-bill-1634939

Did that happen? Is the BBB bill set to pass? Obviously, no. Say goodbye to BBB. It's going to get gutted even more, and whatever shell of a bill passes, it won't have any of the winning elements that people were demanding. The "Squad" as many here derisively call them, were standing on their principles and holding to the commitment they made to Biden's agenda. The BIF was their leverage, which just got thrown away, so don't expect BBB to suddenly win over the Dem holdouts.

Do people actually think that these progressives voted the way they did because they are "infantile" or spiteful? They were letting their constituents see that they weren't simply going to capitulate to the corporate wing of the party and pass a corporate friendly giveaway masquerading as a bold infrastructure bill. The BIF is not a 1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill. Only 550 million of it is new infrastructure spending, and much of that is funded by diverting funds from other programs, like unspent Covid relief. Despite that, the bill isn't even paid for, which Manchin, shockingly, isn't bothered by.

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/568416-the-infrastructure-bill-will-increase-the-debt-stop-telling-americans

That money will be spread out over multiple projects for roads, bridges, mass transit, broadband, water projects and the electric grid. That's only a tiny fraction of what's needed, and counting on future bills to make up the difference seems...unrealistic...to say the least.

Worse, it's just a massive corporate giveaway of public assets.

https://prospect.org/politics/bipartisan-senate-infrastructure-plan-privatization-asset-recycling/

How about billions in Oil industry giveaways?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-06/biden-s-agenda-is-tainted-by-oil-interests-say-climate-advocates

Does anyone really believe that over a dozen republicans, including Mitch McConnell, would back any bill that wasn't in their interest? They gathered enough votes to counter any progressive push back, but let enough of their members vote "no" to avoid any backlash from conservative voters.

None of the progressives "sided" with the Republicans. When Schumer voted "no" on the voting rights bill, was he siding with Republicans? They put up a last ditch effort to protect the BBB bill and get it passed. Obviously. It seems that actively using whatever leverage you can muster to protect and advance your President's proclaimed agenda, one originally targeted at the citizenry of the U.S. and not the donor class, is deeply offensive to some. Good grief, desperation for a "win" does not make for rational discourse, or policy.

[LudwigPastorius]

49. "The "Squad" as many here derisively call them..."

We call them the "Squad” because that is the name AOC bestowed upon them in one of her Instagram posts.



https://thehill.com/homenews/House/416370-ocasio-cortez-shares-photo-of-her-new-squad-on-capitol-hill

[TiberiusB]

57. I know the nickname has been around for some time

I'm not referring to the nickname per se, more the tone used when the group is brought up in these discussions, along with a press corp that often pulls it out as a way to point the finger at those troublesome progressives.

[WestIndianArchie]

50. I'm with you on this

It's just not enough money.

[honest.abe]

54. In hindsight linking the two bills was a mistake.

It didnt work and only resulted in pissing off a bunch of progressives and dividing the party. Both bills should have lived or died on their own merit. The result would have been much better and we might still have a Dem Gov in VA.

[Demsrule86]

51. Thanks or posting...indeed a BFD!

[honest.abe]

55. So the only people upset about this are most Republicans and a few progressives.

That confirms its good legislation.