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“The House approved a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects late Friday… The House passed the measure 228-206, prompting prolonged cheers from the relieved Democratic side of the chamber. Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation while six of Democrats’ farthest left members — including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri — opposed it.” AP News
The bill includes:
Here’s our earlier coverage of the infrastructure bill. The Flip Side
The right is critical of the bill, arguing that it is too costly and includes items beyond traditional infrastructure.
“The country needs spending on such public works as roads and bridges, and some projects will offer an economic return on the investment. But this bill throws money at far more than that, with only $110 billion reserved for this traditional infrastructure. The bill includes tens of billions in public broadband subsidies that will pre-empt private investment. Amtrak gets a $66 billion bailout…
“The Congressional Budget Office (CB0) found the bill will add $256 billion to the federal deficit over 10 years, plus another $196 billion over the 2021 budget baseline in the government’s contract authority.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“The federal government already spends more than enough on infrastructure to meet our needs and the COVID-19 bailout money left many states awash in cash. Despite promises, only a small portion of the bill focuses on traditional infrastructure such as fixing roads and bridges and the legislation (soon to be law) will add $256 billion to deficits…
“It will also help grease the wheels for the passage of the larger multi-trillion welfare bill that will expand Medicare and Obamacare, initiate a federal takeover of preschool and child care, and impose economically devastating tax increases on individuals and businesses…
“Biden entered this week reeling from a devastating rebuke of his presidency by voters in areas of the country thought to be reliably Democratic. He headed into the 2022 election year a wounded animal, and Republicans stood to make major gains. Now, they tossed him a life raft and allowed him to put bipartisan gloss on his radical agenda. Every Republican who voted for this monstrosity who is not already retiring should be primaried and defeated.”
Philip Klein, National Review
Other argue, “It’s true that without the 13 Republicans, the bill would not have passed [Friday] night. But… there was simply no way that [the progressive House members] were going to allow their party to march into 2022 with absolutely nothing to show for all of their efforts…
“At best, they would have stymied the infrastructure bill until the CBO finished scoring the reconciliation package. If it was still over the limits demanded by the moderates, Biden and Pelosi would have found something to lop off to get it down to the required amount and both of the bills would have passed with no GOP support anyway…
“This legislative agenda is obviously not one that many (or any) conservatives or Republicans should be cheering for. But the reality is that the Democrats currently hold all three of the levers of power at the federal level and they were always going to try to leverage that power to further their own agenda. If we don’t want that to happen, the only real solution is to be smarter, fight harder, and win more elections… Passing an actual infrastructure bill is part of the business of government and it would have to be done sooner or later.”
Jazz Shaw, Hot Air
The left praises the bill, arguing that it is a major success for the Biden administration.
The left praises the bill, arguing that it is a major success for the Biden administration.
“For years, states have struggled to shore up deteriorating systems, much less move ahead with the new technology and projects needed to keep America competitive. Multiple administrations and Congresses talked about addressing the problem. ‘Infrastructure week’ became a running gag during Donald Trump’s presidency, because of his constant invocation of the concept and complete inability to deliver on it. But Joe Biden has delivered… This is a major win for America.”
Michelle Cottle, New York Times
“There is a great deal to celebrate in the package, which independent economists say may create over half a million jobs. As well as investing in America’s physical infrastructure like road, rail and broadband networks, it also makes the country’s first major investment in helping communities prepare for extreme weather events caused by climate change. There’s also chunks of money to upgrade the electrical grid and protect it from extreme weather, to expand the nation’s network of electric vehicle charging stations, and to invest in experimental forms of clean energy…
“No-one should mistake this for anything other than a major victory for the Biden administration, which even managed to persuade a sizeable number of Republicans in the Senate and the House to vote in favor. It’s exactly the type of major bipartisan win which Joe Biden promised during his campaign, and which naysayers said he would never achieve.”
Andrew Gawthorpe, The Guardian
“Skittish Democrats complain Biden and his team have done too little to trumpet their successes—including the American Rescue Act, which helped keep the economy afloat and provided lifelines to millions of Americans through stimulus checks and a landmark family tax credit projected to cut child poverty in half…
“But the Delta variant, natural disasters like Hurricane Ida, and the fallout from the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan prevented the Biden administration from finding the right opportunity to sell the legislation, along with the rest of his agenda, to the American people…
“Now, having passed another major legislative package, Biden and the Democratic Party have a second chance to make clear what they have delivered… Biden's task is to move beyond the unsightly legislative sausage-making and convert his victory into tangible signs of progress, be they roads, bridges or broadband Americans can see in their own communities.”
David Axelrod, CNN
“Passing the infrastructure bill counts as a significant victory for Biden. But there is still the reconciliation package -- and plenty more to be done beyond that. If the Democrats cannot offer tangible progress on the economy, the pandemic and popular social policies like paid family leave, they will likely be looking at Republican congressional majorities in 2023 and a very competitive presidential election the year after. But if they keep problem-solving, the party can beat the odds.”
Julian Zelizer, CNN
A libertarian's take
“The infrastructure bill could have been an opportunity to reform [federal] rules that unnecessarily drive up the cost of building infrastructure. Like the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires that most workers on federally subsidized building projects are paid the local ‘prevailing wage’ negotiated by unions even if the workers themselves are not unionized—and only about 13 percent of construction workers are part of a union. The Davis-Bacon Act rules can increase the costs of infrastructure projects by as much as 20 percent…
“Similarly, the infrastructure package could have suspended or eliminated parts of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in order to streamline environmental reviews of infrastructure projects. Currently, NEPA reviews take more than four years on average, and they are frequently used as tools to block development for reasons that often have little to do with the environment… The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill now sitting on Biden's desk is one of the most expensive legislative packages in American history. But even though $1.2 trillion is an almost unfathomable amount of money, that spending will end up doing far less than it otherwise could have.”
Eric Boehm, Reason
Bears doing ridiculous and adorable things.
Bored Panda
