President Biden's Infrastructure Plans

[TV and credit cards]

“A surcharge on corporate stock buybacks.” I like it.
I was just watching a Netflix doc on Wells Fargo and their buyback while simultaneously laying off tens of thousands of employees since President Shitbird’s tax cut. So my dander is up.

 

[lpetrich]

Tony Romm on Twitter: "NEW: Progressive leaders met last night and decided "we have to have the full legislative text and the vote" on reconciliation in order to vote on infrastructure @RepJayapal told me this AM.

“What I want is the two bills moving together at the same time” (link)" / Twitter
That's Rep. Pramila Jayapal, and the link is to a recent WaPo article.

 

[lpetrich]

Biden unveils spending framework he thinks Democrats can pass : NPR

Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told reporters ahead of the meeting that she intended to stick with her position.

What we said consistently is that we want to see what's actually in the bill," Jayapal said. "We want to see the legislative text. And then assuming that we're fine with that we'll vote both bills through at the same time."

I'll quote the article on what this bill contains.

Absent:

• paid family leave
• free community college
• measures to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

Present:

• Universal pre-K for all 3- and 4-year-olds, for six years
• Child care support for about 20 million children for six years — limits costs to no more than 7% of income for families earning up to 250% of state median income, as long as parents are working, seeking work, in training or dealing with a serious health issue
• An extension of the child tax credit and earned income tax credit for one year
• More than $500 billion in spending on climate, including clean energy tax credits for rooftop solar, electric vehicles, clean energy production; a civilian climate corps program; and investments in clean energy technology and manufacturing
• Extending the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credits through 2025
• Covering hearing costs through Medicare for seniors
• $100 billion for reforms to reduce backlogs in the immigration asylum process.

With taxes:

• A 15% minimum tax for large corporations that report profits of more than $1 billion to shareholders
• A 1% tax on stock buybacks
• A 15% minimum tax on foreign profits of U.S. corporations
• A surtax on the top .02% wealthiest Americans of 5% on income over $10 million, and an additional 3% on income over $25 million

 

[Derec]

[*]Child care support for about 20 million children for six years — limits costs to no more than 7% of income for families earning up to 250% of state median income, as long as parents are working, seeking work, in training or dealing with a serious health issue

Still too much. 250% of nationwide median household income is almost $170k, so hardly struggling, and in many states it's significantly higher than even that. Why should child-free people making $30k subsidize people making more than 5x that?
I wish the child tax credit was kicked out altogether and some of the other things kept in.

And the fauxgressives are still refusing to vote for the infrastructure bill, even though it is ready to go.

 

[Harry Bosch]

“A surcharge on corporate stock buybacks.” I like it.
I was just watching a Netflix doc on Wells Fargo and their buyback while simultaneously laying off tens of thousands of employees since President Shitbird’s tax cut. So my dander is up.

Wells Fargo laid off workers because there were horribly managed. They created the incentive for workers to create false accounts that really pissed off their customers. There were other scandals. Regulators are all over WF. Buyback's didn't cause the layoffs.

 

[TV and credit cards]

“A surcharge on corporate stock buybacks.” I like it.
I was just watching a Netflix doc on Wells Fargo and their buyback while simultaneously laying off tens of thousands of employees since President Shitbird’s tax cut. So my dander is up.

Wells Fargo laid off workers because there were horribly managed. They created the incentive for workers to create false accounts that really pissed off their customers. There were other scandals. Regulators are all over WF. Buyback's didn't cause the layoffs.

I know that buybacks didn't cause the layoffs. That's why I didn't say they did. I said they happened concurrently. Fair assumption the Trump tax cuts enabled the stock buyback. Laying off tens of thousands of people freeing up even more cash sure didn't hurt.
My point is where a company's commitment lies.

 

[Harry Bosch]

“A surcharge on corporate stock buybacks.” I like it.
I was just watching a Netflix doc on Wells Fargo and their buyback while simultaneously laying off tens of thousands of employees since President Shitbird’s tax cut. So my dander is up.

Wells Fargo laid off workers because there were horribly managed. They created the incentive for workers to create false accounts that really pissed off their customers. There were other scandals. Regulators are all over WF. Buyback's didn't cause the layoffs.

I know that buybacks didn't cause the layoffs. That's why I didn't say they did. I said they happened concurrently. Fair assumption the Trump tax cuts enabled the stock buyback. Laying off tens of thousands of people freeing up even more cash sure didn't hurt.
My point is where a company's commitment lies.

Well, you make a good point. But what really drives stock buybacks is the belief that a company will have brighter future. IOW, Wells Fargo took several hits that dramatically hurt their share price in the wrong way. However, these are all mostly short term. The future looks very bright for Wells. They are massive and well situated. The public has a short memory. The economy is recovering. And interest rates (and their net margin) are posed to increase shortly. Wells Fargo will be much strong a year from now. Wells controlling shareholders bought shares back in order to capture greater earnings in the future. They are betting on their future.

 

[lpetrich]

Dems punt House infrastructure vote in blow to Biden agenda - POLITICO - "The left is frustrated over pared-back social spending. Speaker Nancy Pelosi wanted to show momentum — but she doesn't have the votes yet."

NP seems like enough of a political operator to avoid holding a vote on a major bill unless she thinks that it will pass. That's why she delayed votes on the $1T infrastructure bill.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Dems punt House infrastructure vote in blow to Biden agenda - POLITICO - "The left is frustrated over pared-back social spending. Speaker Nancy Pelosi wanted to show momentum — but she doesn't have the votes yet."

NP seems like enough of a political operator to avoid holding a vote on a major bill unless she thinks that it will pass. That's why she delayed votes on the $1T infrastructure bill.

Jebus! The Dems are becoming the fucking Labor Party. The "progressives" (read people that lack any sense of political pragmatism) are fucking over the party. This is the compromise bill. It will not get larger. It is this or nothing. And if they choose nothing, 2022 could get bloody as the GOP massacres the moderate Democrats, while the progressives can have their "values" in their cozy safe districts while holding absolutely no power as the GOP takes the House over. We barely have a majority in the Senate, that we got to this bill is a near miracle. That they are doing this is completely unacceptable.

The "progressives" are on the verge of squandering the Georgia miracle.

And a special "fuck you" to Manchin and SInema who just seem to refuse to give a thumbs up or down, and continue to drag the other half of the process. We should be done with this!

 

[Harry Bosch]

Dems punt House infrastructure vote in blow to Biden agenda - POLITICO - "The left is frustrated over pared-back social spending. Speaker Nancy Pelosi wanted to show momentum — but she doesn't have the votes yet."

NP seems like enough of a political operator to avoid holding a vote on a major bill unless she thinks that it will pass. That's why she delayed votes on the $1T infrastructure bill.

Jebus! The Dems are becoming the fucking Labor Party. The "progressives" (read people that lack any sense of political pragmatism) are fucking over the party. This is the compromise bill. It will not get larger. It is this or nothing. And if they choose nothing, 2022 could get bloody as the GOP massacres the moderate Democrats, while the progressives can have their "values" in their cozy safe districts while holding absolutely no power as the GOP takes the House over. We barely have a majority in the Senate, that we got to this bill is a near miracle. That they are doing this is completely unacceptable.

The "progressives" are on the verge of squandering the Georgia miracle.

And a special "fuck you" to Manchin and SInema who just seem to refuse to give a thumbs up or down, and continue to drag the other half of the process. We should be done with this!

Totally agree. If the progressives are mad, fine! Get motivated and vote in 2022. Make your vote count. Increase the democratic majority. Increasing the majority reduces Manchin and Sinema's power. Don't bitch, whine, and stay home in 2022. Vote...

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Totally agree. If the progressives are mad, fine! Get motivated and vote in 2022. Make your vote count. Increase the democratic majority. Increasing the majority reduces Manchin and Sinema's power. Don't bitch, whine, and stay home in 2022. Vote...

When I say Progs I mean the ones in the House, that seem to think that they can elect progs in any district they want, but when they try they fail. These people seem to think we can get it all now, which is never the case, unless the GOP is in charge. This compromise bill is a decent sized step in the right direction. *waits for Bilby to object to green deal stuff... of which yes, some aspects are likely not the right direction for actual net zero goals, but is beside the point*

It is quite annoying to be progressive and to see the alleged progressives (I'm on the verge of calling them left-wing populists) actually be the ones responsible for potentially not getting this stuff passed.

 

[lpetrich]

Dozens of U.S. House progressives oppose quick infrastructure vote, Jayapal says

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier in the day had urged Democrats to vote Thursday to pass the infrastructure bill, giving President Joe Biden a legislative victory.

But Representative Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said the group was holding out for more of Biden's agenda to be ready to pass.

"Dozens of our members insist on keeping both bills linked and cannot vote only for one until they can be voted on together," Jayapal https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ne...yapal-now-center-joe-bidens-agenda-2021-10-28 said in a statement.

Also
Progressive Dems celebrated tanking Pelosi's attempts to advance Biden's spending packages, insisting that they are passed in a different order

• Progressive Democrats forced party leadership to rethink its attempt to pass a spending package.
• Biden and Pelosi pleaded with House Dems to pass infrastructure spending on Thursday.
• Some refused, insisting on different sequencing which they say will ultimately secure more spending.

Why?

The group has said it fears that the larger package will get whittled down, or dropped altogether, during the legislative process.

...
As it became clear that the Progressive Caucus had triumphed - a repeat of a similar gambit in late September - members of the group celebrated their success.

"Folks in my district & across the country expect us to keep fighting for their families - and that's exactly what we're doing," Rep. Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, tweeted Thursday evening. "A deal is a deal. These bills move together."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York also celebrated by posting a check-mark on Twitter in response to another tweet that read: "Hold.the.line."

 

[lpetrich]

Rep. Pramila Jayapal hints that something like half the Progressive Caucus will not vote for the infrastructure bill without the reconciliation bill. That's something like 50 Reps, a bit more than 1/5 of the House Democrats, and a *lot* more than Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, even after scaling to the different size of the Senate.

Working Families Party on Twitter: "NEW: We're joining with partners to urge progressives to hold the line and withhold support for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill until the Build Back Better package is finalized.

Here's why. (pic link)" / Twitter
"Dozens of Groups Urge Progressives to Hold the Line, Withhold Support for BIF Until Build Back Better is Finalized"

then
People's Action on Twitter: "Hold. the. line." / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "" / Twitter


Ayanna Pressley on Twitter: "Folks in my district & across the country expect us to keep fighting for their families—and that’s exactly what we’re doing. A deal is a deal. These bills move together." / Twitter

Cori Bush on Twitter: "The best way to guarantee that Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin support the President’s framework is for the Build Back Better Act to pass in the Senate first.

The people — not just some, but ALL of our people — must win." / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Progressive Caucus on Twitter: "Our statement regarding a vote on the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act (pic link)" / Twitter
From Rep. Pramila Jayapal herself:

The Congressional Progressive Caucus just overwhelmingly voted to endorse, in principle, the entire Build Back Better Act framework announced by President Biden today. We appreciate the President's leadership and his commitment to getting this process over the finish line. He reaffirmed, as our Caucus has month after month, that both the infrastructure bill and the popular Build Back Better Act must move together because they are part of the same agenda. Today, we are reiterating our enthusiastic commitment to delivering that entire agenda to people across America.

The reality is that while talks around the infrastructure bill lasted months in the Senate, there has only been serious discussion around the specifics of the larger Build Back Better Act in recent weeks, thanks to the Progressive Caucus holding the line and putting both parts of the agenda back on the table. Now, Congress needs to finish the job and bring both bills to a vote together. This cannot be accomplished without legislative text that can be fully assessed and agreed upon by all parties, including 218 Representatives and all 50 senators in the Democratic Caucus. There is too much at stake for working families and our communities to settle for something that can be later misunderstood, amended, or abandoned altogether. That is why dozens of our members insist on keeping both bills linked and cannot vote only for one until they can be voted on together.

Members of our Caucus will not vote for the infrastructure bill without the Build Back Better Act. We will work immediately to finalize and pass both pieces of legislation through the House together.

She isn't backing down, and she achieved two postponements of the vote on the infrastructure bill.

Though I'm reminded of this old story: The Man and His Two Wives - Fables of Aesop

There was once a middle-aged man with an old wife and a young wife. His old wife wanted him to look old, so she plucked out his black hairs, and his young wife wanted him to look young, so she plucked out his gray hairs. He ended up with no hair at all.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Achieved? Funny word to associate no progress.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

And Manchin says 'well, maybe not'.

Sen. Joe Manchin said he won't support the $1.75 trillion social safety net expansion bill Democrats are negotiating until there is "greater clarity" about the impact it will have on the country's national debt and the economy, casting major doubt about whether President Joe Biden can get his agenda through Congress.

At a news conference on Monday afternoon, Manchin laid out fundamental concerns over the approach that Biden and his party are taking in their sweeping agenda. He rejected the party's push to expand social programs and castigated Democrats for using "gimmicks" to hide the true cost of the plan and said far more time is needed to evaluate its economic impact to guard against potential negative consequences.

As more of the real details outlined in the basic framework are released, what I see are shell games and budget gimmicks that make the real cost of this so-called $1.75 trillion dollar bill estimated to be twice as high if the programs are extended or made permanent.

So bill that doesn't extend program longer or make these things permanent (nothing is permanent) might be voted against because if these things were extended or made permanent later on....

*explodes*

It is like the Progs and Sinema/Manchin are texting each other, handing off the turn to say something really stupid. It is like there is absolutely no coordination, despite all of the meetings.

 

[Trausti]

With the election results tonight - bad for Dems and a rejection of far-left positions - why would the WV and AZ senators want to put their names on this spending bill?

 

[Shadowy Man]

With the election results tonight - bad for Dems and a rejection of far-left positions - why would the WV and AZ senators want to put their names on this spending bill?

It’s pretty clear they don’t want to or they probably already would have.

 

[lpetrich]

Fight For 15 on Twitter: "BREAKING: As local news reports, Tucson just became the latest city to pass a $15 minimum wage! The raise will benefit roughly 85,000 Tucsonans.
Congratulations to @TucsonFor15!
It's past time that every worker in the US has a $15/hr floor
#FightFor15 #RaiseTheWage (link)" / Twitter
then
Rose Movement on Twitter: "Krysten Sinema’s hometown passing a $15 dollar minimum wage is just (link)" / Twitter


Boston mayor election results: Michelle Wu will make history after Annissa Essaibi George concedes, CNN projects - CNNPolitics

Championing hallmark policies like a Green New Deal for Boston, Wu racked up support from high-profile Massachussetts progressives, such as Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren. Pressley, who represents a portion of Boston, also served on the Boston City Council with both Wu and Essaibi George.

Wu ran on a progressive platform, including calling for a fare-free transit system.

Various labor unions supported each candidate.

Yet a large part of Wu's support came from more progressive organizations, such as the Working Families Party, Sunrise Movement Boston, the local chapter of the national youth-led climate group and Planned Parenthood Massachusetts.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

With the election results tonight - bad for Dems and a rejection of far-left positions - why would the WV and AZ senators want to put their names on this spending bill?

Technically the second bill isn't wildly progressive (child tax credit expansion, sustainable energy projects, child care/early education expansion, home care expansion).

Meanwhile, Virginia losses can be chalked to the Dems having all three of their top brass get into scandals, which honestly made the party look pretty damn stupid. New Jersey is proving tiling at windmills turns out right-wing voters.