President Biden's Infrastructure Plans

[Jimmy Higgins]

To get back to actually talking about what is in the bill. The B³ has some EV credits, but it discriminates against cars made by companies such as Tesla and Toyota just because they do not have a union. Joe Manchin is against it, so hopefully this will be rectified in the final bill.
Manchin: EV tax credits favoring Detroit Three, UAW are 'wrong'

Credits for EV's is kind of silly until the power pumping into them isn't from coal. With normal cars we had gas powered and polluting cars. WIth EVs we have our first partially coal powered automobiles.

 

[none]

To get back to actually talking about what is in the bill. The B³ has some EV credits, but it discriminates against cars made by companies such as Tesla and Toyota just because they do not have a union. Joe Manchin is against it, so hopefully this will be rectified in the final bill.
Manchin: EV tax credits favoring Detroit Three, UAW are 'wrong'

meh, as long as slave wages produce taxes what is the difference?

 

[thebeave]

Trump promised a lot of infrastructure spending in his campaign, and he held a lot of "Infrastructure Weeks", but he never got anywhere.

And Biden said, “Finally, infrastructure week." Wicked burn.
A pretty on-point comment for someone who's supposedly suffering dementia.

That's a pretty low bar test for being dementia free, don't ya think? Might as well praise him for "not yelling at clouds".

But, giving you the benefit of the doubt about the "wicked burn", Grandpa Simpson dropped the veritable turd in the punchbowl yesterday when he referred to Satchel Paige as "the Great Negro at the time".

The Great Negro

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Trump promised a lot of infrastructure spending in his campaign, and he held a lot of "Infrastructure Weeks", but he never got anywhere.

And Biden said, “Finally, infrastructure week." Wicked burn.
A pretty on-point comment for someone who's supposedly suffering dementia.

That's a pretty low bar test for being dementia free, don't ya think? Might as well praise him for "not yelling at clouds".

But, giving you the benefit of the doubt about the "wicked burn", Grandpa Simpson dropped the veritable turd in the punchbowl yesterday when he referred to Satchel Paige as "the Great Negro at the time".

The Great Negro

Of Trump and Biden, only one is known to have taken a competency test... and bragged about how hard it was but he aced it.

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[TV and credit cards]

You can actually "Like" the tweet from here. Neato.

 

[lpetrich]

Marjorie Taylor Greene on Twitter: "These are the 13 “Republicans” who handed over their voting cards to Nancy Pelosi to pass Joe Biden’s Communist takeover of America via so-called infrastructure:

Katko
Bacon
Van Drew
Young
Upton
Kinzinger
Gonzalez (OH)
Reed
Smith
Gabarino
Malliotakis
Fitzpatrick
McKinley
" / Twitter
She is far from alone: Republicans erupt over infrastructure defections - The Washington Post

The 2019 impeachment vote: Roll Call 695 | Bill Number: H. Res. 755 - no Republicans voted for it, though the one ex-Republican Independent did so: Justin Amash.

The 2021 impeachment vote: Roll Call 17 | Bill Number: H. Res. 24 - 10 Republicans voted for it.

Who Are The 10 Republicans Who Voted To Impeach President Trump? : NPR goes into more detail, quoting them on why they did it.

Liz Cheney WY-01, Tom Rice SC-07, Dan Newhouse WA-04, Adam Kinzinger IL-16, Anthony Gonzalez OH-16, Fred Upton, MI-06, Jaime Herrera Beutler WA-03, Peter Meijer MI-03, John Katko NY-24, David Valadao CA-21

Returning to the R's who voted for the infrastructure bill, nine of them are members of the  Problem Solvers Caucus - John Katko NY-24, Don Bacon NE-02, Fred Upton MI-06, Adam Kinzinger IL-16, Anthony Gonzalez OH-16, Tom Reed NY-23, Chris Smith NJ-04, Anthony Garbarino NY-02, Brian Fitzpatrick PA-01.

The remaining four are Jeff Van Drew NJ-02, Don Young AK-01, Nicole Malliotakis NY-11, and David McKinley WV-01.

 

[lpetrich]

Some Republicans want to do more than call these 13 R's traitors. Republicans float punishing 13 members who voted for Biden infrastructure bill - The Washington Post
noting
Punchbowl News

PatriotTakes on Twitter: "Mark Meadows says he would strip the 13 Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill of their committees because it gives Joe Biden a win. (vid link)" / Twitter - appearing on a podcast with Steve Bannon

Some of them are ranking members of their committees: the top-ranked minority-party members of them.

• John Katko: Homeland Security
• Don Young: Natural Resources
• Brian Fitzpatrick: (subcommittee)
• David McKinley: (subcommittee)

Don Young is also the dean of the House, its longest continuously-serving member, since 1973.

Back to the WaPo article:

Very little of the pushback is about the bill having been bad. After all, even Donald Trump was pitching a $1 trillion infrastructure package as a candidate five years ago. Instead, these members’ true sin, according to accounts like Meadows’s, was in handing a president of the other party a “win.”

Some of them are foaming at the mouth about how "socialist" it supposedly is, but when Trump proposed similar amounts of infrastructure spending, they did not object very loudly.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC, The Squad defend infrastructure vote - Axios

AOC posted on the inadequacy of the BIF, the one that was passed:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "The cost to replace every lead pipe ..." / Twitter

The cost to replace every lead pipe in the United States is $45-60 billion.

BIF only gives $15b. Without BBB, many communities historically denied clean water will continue to be denied.

Build Back Better has lead $ for disadvantaged communities. We must keep pushing for BBB.

I want to protect our party from the disappointment and collapse in turnout from communities like mine that occurs when we tell them we did things we didn’t do.

We shouldn’t promise all lead pipes will be fixed if that is not the case. Some will, most won’t. We must push for BBB

It’s not just that we made these promises before - look at how the infra bill is being messaged *now*

I respect the President and the leg feat he just accomplished. But this is simply wrong. We did not fund the replacement of every child’s pipe & we shouldn’t tell people we did

We can and should message BIF as a step, but messaging it as a solution alone is going to get us into trouble.

BBB contains the majority of the presidents agenda. We must keep going and ensure the promises are delivered

Congresswoman Cori Bush on Twitter: "Conservative Democrats are trying to tell my community that we should just shut up and accept a half deal.

St. Louis sent me to Congress to do the most for all of us. We won't accept anything less than the President's full agenda.

The people must win." / Twitter

Rep. Ilhan Omar on Twitter: ""From the beginning, ..."" / Twitter

From the beginning, I have been clear that I would not be able to support the infrastructure bill without a vote on the Build Back Better Act.

Passing the infrastructure bill without passing the Build Back Better Act first risks leaving behind childcare, paid leave, health care, climate action, housing, education, and a roadmap to citizenship.

Right now, families across my district are struggling with the rising cost of childcare, the inability to get family leave to take care of their kids and deal with a medical emergency."

The Build Back Better Act addresses it by creating a universal pre-k program, affordable childcare, and paid family and medical leave.

In the Twin Cities, we have the worst housing shortage in the nation. The Build Back Better Act addresses it, by investing $150 billion in affordable housing.

Minnesota is experiencing some of the fastest rising temperatures in the nation. The Build Back Better Act makes the boldest investment in history in the climate crisis—investing in zero waste initiatives and creating jobs in the process.

My community cannot wait any longer for these much-needed investments that will be delivered through the Build Back Better Act. I cannot in good conscience support the infrastructure bill without voting on the President’s transformative agenda first.

And for those reasons, I voted NO on the infrastructure package.

You can view the full statement here:

noting
Rep. Omar’s Statement on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill | Representative Ilhan Omar

So we have statements from AOC, AP, RT, IO, and CB. What did Jamaal Bowman say about it?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The Republican tax cut for the rich.

Well Barbos already admitted that what he had in mind was anti-waxxers costing the healthcare system a lot.
The 2017 tax cats were not $6T big I don't think. And they reduced almost all tax brackets, not just the top ones, and increased the standard deduction, that helps the majority of taxpayers who do not itemize. At the same time, the SALT deduction, which only helps those who itemize and mostly helps high earners, was capped.

Incidentally, the B³ includes a 7x increase in the SALT deduction cap. So Dems like tax cuts for some rich.

The cuts for the rich are permanent, the cuts for everyone else are temporary.

As for the increased standard deduction--the personal exemptions were folded into it. As a childfree couple we got a small benefit. Those with kids ended up worse off.

As for the SALT deductions--they mostly help those in high cost of living locations. It was a deliberate tax hike on Democrats. Increasing the SALT cap will put things back for a lot of those people, it won't make much difference to the rich.

 

[Derec]

Credits for EV's is kind of silly until the power pumping into them isn't from coal.

You are over a decade out of date. The US electricity is only about 20% from coal. It used to be much more until the late 2000s, but since then, coal has declined in share of grid mix. Fracked natural gas is mostly responsible for that change, which makes opposition to fracking and pipelines really stupid.

From here

Now, of course, we should get coal down to zero as fast as we can, since coal is not just the most CO₂-intensive energy source, but also rich in other pollutants like mercury or sulfur. In addition to renewables, we need to increase the share of nuclear and natural gas. Unfortunately, both are opposed by radical environmentalists.

With normal cars we had gas powered and polluting cars. WIth EVs we have our first partially coal powered automobiles.

As you say, only partially. And the share is sinking.

 

[Derec]

meh, as long as slave wages produce taxes what is the difference?

You think Tesla and Toyota pay "slave wages"?

 

[Derec]

The cost to replace every lead pipe in the United States is $45-60 billion.
BIF only gives $15b. Without BBB, many communities historically denied clean water will continue to be denied.

Does everything need to be paid by the federal government? What about local government running these water utilities? Feds ponying up 1/4-1/3 of the cost is nothing to sneeze at, but locals should not just twiddle their thumbs and wait until Feds do all their work for them.

 

[Derec]

The cuts for the rich are permanent, the cuts for everyone else are temporary.

Theoretically. Nothing in Washington is really permanent, especially not the tax code, as the next Congress can change these provisions whenever they want. The B³ would undo the supposedly permanent provisions of the 2017 tax cuts. So much for it being "permanent".

As for the increased standard deduction--the personal exemptions were folded into it. As a childfree couple we got a small benefit. Those with kids ended up worse off.

Personal exemptions are not the only way the tax code advantages those with children. There is the (greatly expanded in 2020 and under B³) child tax credit. And while not theoretically restricted to those with children, EITC, SNAP and other programs have such a low income limit for the childless that most of the benefit accrues to those with children too.
So the change to increased standard deduction is making the tax code a bit more fair.

As for the SALT deductions--they mostly help those in high cost of living locations. It was a deliberate tax hike on Democrats. Increasing the SALT cap will put things back for a lot of those people, it won't make much difference to the rich.

Vast majority of the SALT benefit accrues to high earners. They are the ones who pay close to $72k in state and local taxes, not middle class folk.
The SALT tax deduction is a handout to the rich. It should be eliminated not expanded
And as to high tax blue states, yes, the higher your state and local taxes, the bigger your benefit. But why should your federal taxes be lowered just because your state and local taxes are higher? Why should somebody making $50k in Georgia subsidize the federal income taxes of somebody making $500k in NY or CA?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The SALT tax deduction is a handout to the rich. It should be eliminated not expanded
And as to high tax blue states, yes, the higher your state and local taxes, the bigger your benefit. But why should your federal taxes be lowered just because your state and local taxes are higher? Why should somebody making $50k in Georgia subsidize the federal income taxes of somebody making $500k in NY or CA?

Because we used to have an idea of fairness in the tax code that a dollar would only be taxed once. We have been chipping away at that for quite a while now in the name of raising revenue without "raising taxes". With the SALT deductions mostly taken out the only place it's really honored is the credit for foreign taxes paid.

 

[lpetrich]

Biden Signs $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Into Law - The New York Times - "Some of the first bursts of spending will go toward areas that Mr. Biden prioritized in negotiations, like tens of billions of dollars to improve access to broadband internet and to replace hazardous lead drinking pipes nationwide."

The infrastructure spending will not jolt the American economy like a traditional economic stimulus plan, nor is it meant to. Officials say the administration will focus as much on “shovel-worthy” projects — meaning those that make the most of federal dollars — as they will on “shovel-ready” ones that would dump money into the economy more quickly. The package was designed to deliver money over several years, in part to avoid fueling more price increases across an economy that is experiencing its highest inflation rate in decades.

Mr. Biden and his advisers say they expect the package to deliver a variety of benefits that will power economic growth over time, including leaner supply chains, faster and more equitably distributed internet access and improved educational outcomes for children who will no longer be exposed to water-based lead that stunts brain development.

It also features tens of billions each for rebuilding roads and bridges, upgrading freight and passenger rail systems and cleaning up environmental pollution, all of which could help boost the productivity of the American economy.

Biden signs infrastructure bill into law at rare bipartisan gathering - CNNPolitics

"The bill I'm about to sign into law is proof that despite the cynics, Democrats and Republicans can come together and deliver results. We can do this. We can deliver real results for real people," Biden said, speaking from the South Lawn at the White House.

The President said: "We're taking a monumental step forward to build back better as a nation."

"Here in Washington, we've heard countless speeches and promises and white papers from experts. But today we're finally getting this done. So my message to the American people is this: America's moving again, and your life is going to change for the better," Biden said.

 

[lpetrich]

Here's an odd part of the bill:

Biden's infrastructure bill to mandate anti-drunk driving tech in cars

Apparently, drunk driving is infrastructure, too.

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill President Biden will sign into law on Monday includes a provision that will require automakers to install an anti-drunk driving system into all new cars.

The mandate falls under the section of the bill that provides $17 billion to road safety programs. Under the timeline laid out by the bill, the mandate could go into effect as soon as 2025.

I think that that's excessive. I think that such systems should first be tried out on people who have been caught driving while drunk. So if you have a DWI conviction, you would only be allowed to drive in a car that can detect if you are driving drunkenly.

This reminds me of Isaac Asimov's short story "Sally", featuring self-driving cars in a future society where manual driving was outlawed as needlessly dangerous, and rather controversially so.

 

[lpetrich]

What's in the $1.2T bipartisan infrastructure bill? | Fox Business

Transportation: $312 billion

• Roads, bridges, major projects: $109 billion (bridges: $40 billion)
• Safety: $11 billion
• Public transit: $49 billion
• Passenger and freight rail: $66 billion
• Electric vehicles: $7.5 billion
• Electric buses/transit: $7.5 billion
• Reconnecting communities: $1 billion
• Airports: $25 billion
• Ports and waterways: $16 billion
• Infrastructure financing: $20 billion

Other infrastructure: $266 billion

• Water: $55 billion
• Broadband: $65 billion
• Environmental remediation: $21 billion
• Power, including grid authority: $73 billion
• Western water storage: $5 billion
• Resilience: $47 billion

Revenue sources:

• Strengthen tax enforcement when it comes to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
• Unemployment insurance program integrity
• Redirect unused unemployment insurance relief funds
• Repurpose unused relief funds from 2020 COVID-19 emergency relief legislation
• State and local investment in broadband infrastructure
• Allow states to sell or purchase unused toll credits for infrastructure
• Extend expiring customs user fees
• Reinstate Superfund fees for chemicals
• 5G spectrum auction proceeds
• Extend mandatory sequester
• Strategic petroleum reserve sale
• Public-private partnerships, private activity bonds, direct pay bonds and asset recycling for infrastructure investment
• Macroeconomic impact of infrastructure investment

 

[Harry Bosch]

What's in the $1.2T bipartisan infrastructure bill? | Fox Business

Transportation: $312 billion

• Roads, bridges, major projects: $109 billion (bridges: $40 billion)
• Safety: $11 billion
• Public transit: $49 billion
• Passenger and freight rail: $66 billion
• Electric vehicles: $7.5 billion
• Electric buses/transit: $7.5 billion
• Reconnecting communities: $1 billion
• Airports: $25 billion
• Ports and waterways: $16 billion
• Infrastructure financing: $20 billion

Other infrastructure: $266 billion

• Water: $55 billion
• Broadband: $65 billion
• Environmental remediation: $21 billion
• Power, including grid authority: $73 billion
• Western water storage: $5 billion
• Resilience: $47 billion

Revenue sources:

• Strengthen tax enforcement when it comes to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
• Unemployment insurance program integrity
• Redirect unused unemployment insurance relief funds
• Repurpose unused relief funds from 2020 COVID-19 emergency relief legislation
• State and local investment in broadband infrastructure
• Allow states to sell or purchase unused toll credits for infrastructure
• Extend expiring customs user fees
• Reinstate Superfund fees for chemicals
• 5G spectrum auction proceeds
• Extend mandatory sequester
• Strategic petroleum reserve sale
• Public-private partnerships, private activity bonds, direct pay bonds and asset recycling for infrastructure investment
• Macroeconomic impact of infrastructure investment

The above has caused the incredible inflation that is hitting the US today. For shame for shame you far left meannies!

{{Oh crap, the above just got passed. It's spending hasn't started yet. The spending will occur over the years and some of it is paid for. Damn, I can't blame the current inflation on infrastructure bill!]]

 

[lpetrich]

Among the people showing up for Joe Biden's signing of that bill were Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. KS showed up in long dress with lots of patterns on it and a short black jacket. By comparison, KH wore a pantsuit with a black shirt, a gray jacket, and gray pants, and also a black-pearl necklace.

H.R.3684 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
The infrastructure-bill House vote

I decided to find the ideology scores of the Republicans who voted yes to the bill: Report Cards for 2020 - Ideology Score - All Representatives - GovTrack.us

Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio 0.47, Fred Upton of Michigan 0.55, John Katko of New York 0.56, Tom Reed of New York 0.56, Chris Smith of New Jersey 0.57, Don Young of Alaska 0.61, Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey 0.62, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania 0.64, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois 0.66, David McKinley of West Virginia 0.69, Don Bacon of Nebraska 0.77

New ones: Andrew Garbarino of New York, Nicole Malliotakis of New York

So they are relatively liberal by Republican standards.

The infrastructure-bill Senate vote
Report Cards for 2020 - Ideology Score - All Senators - GovTrack.us
Murkowski (R-AK) 0.57, Collins (R-ME) 0.61, Burr (R-NC) 0.65, Portman (R-OH) 0.66, Graham (R-SC) 0.69, McConnell (R-KY) 0.70, Sullivan (R-AK) 0.71, Grassley (R-IA) 0.73, Romney (R-UT) 0.73, Capito (R-WV) 0.76, Cassidy (R-LA) 0.80, Fischer (R-NE) 0.81, Wicker (R-MS) 0.81, Crapo (R-ID) 0.82, Blunt (R-MO) 0.83, Hoeven (R-ND) 0.83, Risch (R-ID) 0.83, Cramer (R-ND) 0.97, Tillis (R-NC) 0.97

The 19 Republican Senators who voted for this bill were close to the ideological distribution of the 50 Senate Republicans in general.