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President Biden's Infrastructure Plans

Nick on Twitter: "@leahmcelrath @AOC @RepRaskin AOC has been so good at demystifying Congress during her time in office. She's a person doing a job. It comes with a lot of privilege and a lot of responsibility and a lot of "wtf" moments." / Twitter

Is Kevin McCarthy OK? | Speaker Nancy Pelosi
We’re glad we’re not the only ones who can’t follow Minority Leader McCarthy’s meandering rant that has nothing to do with the Build Back Better Act.

Tonight, Kevin McCarthy previewed Republicans very best attacks against the deficit reducing, inflation crushing Build Back Better Act.

As he hopefully approaches the end, we’re all left wondering: does Kevin McCarthy know where he is right now?
With screenshotted tweets:
Ben Siegel Q @bensiegel
"Hypersonics are unpredictable," McCarthy says in the third hour of his floor speech on the Build Back Better Act.

Ben Jacobs O @Bencjacobs
Kevin McCarthy: "Picture America in a swim meet after World War II against every other country"

Matt Fuller © @MEPFuller
"You know what Taiwan is," Kevin McCarthy asks, two hours and 23 minutes into this speech.

John Bresnahan @bresreports
.@GOPLeader: "A good friend of mine, Elon Musk....".

John Bresnahan @bresreports
@GOPLeader says, "I a can't afford a Tesla." Hmmm, who could he talk to about this? 10:58 PM Nov 18, 2021 • Twitter for iPhone

Jonathan Weisman @jonathanweisman
Two hours and 20 minutes in Kevin McCarthy just said China would never have thousands of IRS agents go after its people.

Jordan Weissmann * Q @JHWeissmann
"I wish could have been in Tiananmen Square." Really?

Andrew Solender C •.. @AndrewSolender
Handful of Republicans sitting behind McCarthy without masks: Clyde, Cawthorn, Miller-Meeks.
McCarthy, well into his second hour, is musing about what if Abraham Lincoln wasn't assassinated.

Ben Siegel @bensiegel
McCarthy is now talking about the 1984 film "Red Dawn."

Arthur Delaney " O @ArthurDelaneyHP
"children can't play outside on their own property," not in cities but on "remote cattle ranches"
"build back... they're going all the way back to the westerns, I guess. people have to fend for themselves."
Seems like a lot of incoherent babbling.
 
Democrats postpone Build Back Better vote after GOP leader stalls with hourslong speech - "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy held the floor for hours with a speech railing against the legislation and Biden's"
House Democrats postponed a much-anticipated vote on President Joe Biden's social safety net and climate package early Friday morning after Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delayed a final vote with a long, wide-ranging and often angry speech.

The House is now slated to meet at 8 a.m. on Friday to finish consideration of the Build Back Better bill.

McCarthy, who began speaking at 8:38 p.m., crossed the four-hour mark in a speech that criticized the bill as reckless and inveighed against Biden's presidency overall. He discussed unrelated matters like the Southern border, Afghanistan policy, recruitment of police officers, poll numbers and the problem with "one-party rule."

Rep. Andy Levin on Twitter: "Magic minute? Magic hour? Magic lifetime!" / Twitter
Rep. Andy Levin on Twitter: "If McCarthy’s “one minute” speech is magic, please saw me in half and put me out of my misery." / Twitter
Rep. Andy Levin on Twitter: "With McCarthy, it’s Build Back Later." / Twitter

Congressman Tim Ryan on Twitter: ".@GOPLeader should really be considered for an Oscar after his acting job tonight." / Twitter

Mondaire Jones on Twitter: "Kevin McCarthy has now shown more anger about making child care affordable than he has about the insurrection on January 6th." / Twitter

Erin You Ain't Pro Life Without A Mask Conroy on Twitter: "@MondaireJones Kevin McCarthy in 2016: “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrbacher and Trump.”

So he’s shown more anger about Americans getting affordable child care than about a foreign power buying the executive branch. And the whole GOP." / Twitter
 
More from NBC:
Democratic leaders began debate on the floor Thursday evening, aiming to pass the bill that night. Shortly after midnight, and almost four hours into McCarthy's floor speech, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., announced that the House would not hold the final vote that evening.


Andrew Solender on Twitter: "NEW: Hoyer says “no further votes tonight.”
House will come back at 8:00 AM to pass BBB." / Twitter

then
Ilhan Omar on Twitter: "Goodnight everyone, except the rambling fool on the house floor who hasn’t realized we all went home and the American people are asleep." / Twitter

I watched that full video by AOC and it was fun, watching her and Jamie Raskin have fun at the expense of the House Republicans.
 
Manu Raju on Twitter: "McCarthy’s speech clocked in at 8 hours and 32 minutes, beating Pelosi’s 2018 record of 8 hours and 7 minutes for the longest House speech in history. House reconvenes at 8am and expected to narrowly pass the Build Back Better bill, sending it to the Senate" / Twitter

Colin Woodard on Twitter: "House voting on Build Back Better this morning. Democrats expecting only one defection, Jared Golden (#ME02). I spoke to him last night just as McCarthy’s nearly 9 hour speech started for @PressHerald: (link)" / Twitter

Rep. Golden to vote against Build Back Better package - Portland Press Herald
Congressman Jared Golden said he would vote against the current version of the $1.85 trillion Build Back Better package in the House Thursday night.

In an interview with the Press Herald just before the vote on the core piece of President Biden’s agenda, the 2nd District Democrat said he was doing so primarily in opposition to SALT relief, a provision that primarily benefits wealthy home owners by a lifting a $10,000 cap on the deductions federal taxpayers can take for state and local taxes they have paid.

“There are so many great things we could do with this money instead of doing one of the worst things, which is to give it to millionaires,” said Golden, who has bucked his party on a number of high-profile bills. “This is about getting this right in regards to how we prioritize things and how it will speak about what our greatest values are. To me, I want our focus to be on kids living in poverty, on the public education system, on access to pre-K.”
What an issue. Jared Golden's district is ME-02, all of his state except a narrow -- and populous -- southern strip, and he is one of the most conservative Democrats in the House.

Manu Raju on Twitter: "Asked AOC about McCarthy saying that he would put Gosar and MTG back on committees in a GOP majority. “Well, I would love Leader McCarthy to please let him communicate to the entire country that he is deeply supportive of people who are violent towards women…”" / Twitter

Manu Raju on Twitter: "“….And that he is deeply supportive of members, and deeply accepting of members, who fundraise for neo-Nazi organizations and placing them on important committes. That may be red meat for his base, but I would really love for him to tell that to all communities,” she said" / Twitter
 
Kevin McCarthy Speaks for More Than Eight Hours to Delay a House Vote - The New York Times
"The House minority leader began speaking Thursday night against President Biden’s social policy bill. He stopped at 5:10 a.m. Friday, after setting a record for the longest speech."
Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader, took to the House floor at 8:38 p.m., determined to make history, even if he had no hope of derailing the Democrats’ roughly $2 trillion bill to strengthen the social safety net and combat climate change.

Eight hours and 32 minutes later, he stopped talking, with a few groggy Republicans remaining to applaud his performance.

...
The debate over the bill had been scheduled to last 20 minutes before Mr. McCarthy — who is not known for his soaring oratory — took over to deliver a circuitous, rambling speech stuffed with Republican talking points against the legislation and punctuated with riffs about history. He skittered through President Ronald Reagan’s missile defense initiative, his personal friendship with Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, and, at one point, a lengthy disquisition on the famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River on his way to the Battle of Trenton.

China came up a lot and repeatedly: its responsibility for the coronavirus, its hypersonic missile, and its mock-ups of American battleships. In one aside, he suggested that not even the Chinese would fortify the Internal Revenue Service to force its citizens to pay their taxes the way Democrats had in their bill.

As the clock ticked toward midnight and then long after, Mr. McCarthy sometimes seemed to lose the thread, spouting what sounded like a Mad Libs of Republican attacks.

“Inflation is at a 31-percent high, gas prices, Thanksgiving, a border that in a few months breaks every record of the last three years combined,” he shouted at one point.

The whole speech felt like a circular loop, touching on the same issues over and over.
A big fat filibuster.
While the House has no equivalent to the Senate filibuster, Mr. McCarthy used the so-called “magic minute” a House custom that allows leaders to talk for as long as they want when they are recognized for their one minute of floor time. Ms. Pelosi used the tactic when she was minority leader in 2018 to speak for just over eight hours about the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers.
Rep. Jamie Raskin on Twitter: "It is a feat of epic proportions to speak for four hours straight and not produce a single memorable phrase, original insight or even a joke.

McCarthy thinks he is a wit but so far he has proved he is only half right." / Twitter

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, who attempted to interject twice during Mr. McCarthy’s speech, said the Republican leader had been “auditioning for his base.”

“I think he wanted to say he did it longer than Nancy Pelosi,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said on Friday. “But if he wanted to outdo her, he should’ve done it in stilettos.”
 
House Narrowly Passes Biden’s Social Safety Net and Climate Bill - The New York Times
"The vote was months in the making for the roughly $2 trillion measure, one of the most consequential bills in decades. Now it faces a difficult path in the Senate."
Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened the final push with what she called “a courtesy to” her colleagues: “I will be brief.” She then put the House’s actions in lofty terms.

“Under this dome, for centuries, members of Congress have stood exactly where we stand to pass legislation of extraordinary consequence in our nation’s history and for our nation’s future,” she said, adding, the act “will be the pillar of health and financial security in America.
House Democrats pass Biden's social safety net expansion but major obstacles await in the Senate - CNNPolitics
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi celebrated the legislation's passage after the vote. "This bill is monumental. It's historic, it's transformative, it's bigger than anything we've ever done," she said at a press conference.
 
The vote:
Roll Call 385 | Bill Number: H. R. 5376 at clerk.house.gov

It was 220-213, almost entirely on party lines, with D's for it and R's against it.

The only Democrat to vote against it was Jared Golden ME-02, and he had earlier stated his intention to vote against the bill.

The only Rep not to vote was Scott Perry R-PA-10.

Now it's off to the Senate.
 
The Recount on Twitter: "2 and a half hours into his speech, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy wonders about a world in which Abraham Lincoln wasn't assassinated and says he'd "love to debate Jim Crow one day" because its enactors were Democrats. (vid link)" / Twitter
then
Rep. Jared Huffman on Twitter: "If this was a bar, this man would be cut off and his keys would be taken away" / Twitter

Jim Crow's enactors were Dixiecrats, Southern Democrats who became Republicans around half a century ago. The Republican Party ended up becoming the party of Jefferson Davis.

Kevin McCarthy Derided Over 'Unhinged' 8-Hour Speech Against Build Back Better Act
"Imagine being this upset about Americans having lower drug prices, paid family leave, affordable child care, healthcare, universal pre-K and extended child tax credits," Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the whip for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, tweeted late Thursday. "McCarthy must only hate prosperity for families, because he joyfully passed $2 trillion in corporate giveaways."

Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) called the California Republican's remarks "unhinged" and argued that "McCarthy has now shown more anger about making child care affordable than he has about the insurrection on January 6th."

After McCarthy finally left the House floor Friday morning after eight and half hours, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) tweeted that Democrats are "still focused on lowering drug prices, reducing child and healthcare costs, fighting climate change, and cutting child poverty."

Newsweek on Twitter: "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Instagram Live to roast GOP leaders with Rep. Jamie Raskin during Kevin McCarthy's record-long speech on Nov. 18. AOC said Rep. Andrew Clyde was "crying like a little baby" during the insurrection on January 6. (links)" / Twitter

Katie Hill on Twitter: "Even before I was pregnant there’s no way I could go 8 hours without needing to pee so I guess I have to commend McCarthy’s bladder size… or his use of diapers." / Twitter
 
Stephanie Ruhle Reports on Twitter: "WATCH: @RepJayapal reacts to the Build Back Better bill passing in the House.
"I am so proud of Democrats today. I am so proud of President Biden. We are delivering ..."
@MSNBC (link)" / Twitter

Rep. PJ claimed that most of the bill was "pre-conferenced" with Sens. JM and KS, meaning that it was worked out in advance of the vote. That's what Congresspeople like to do with big bills, be sure that the bills' contents are what they will be willing to vote for.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Twitter: "Voters delivered Democrats the House, the Senate, and the White House.
Today, we are delivering for YOU. (link)" / Twitter


Ilhan Omar on Twitter: "🎶 We gonna build back better 🎶 (pic link)" / Twitter
Showing IO doing a little dance with someone in a "BBB" rolled-up thick-document costume.

Ilhan Omar on Twitter: "Proud to cast my vote for Build Back Better in the House this morning.
Now we need the Senate to get this done. Tens of millions of working people are counting on you, senators.
Don’t let them down.
Here’s just some of what this bill means: (pic link)" / Twitter

With a graphic with her logo on it:
  • Home care - $150 billion
  • Affordable housing - $150 billion
  • ACA tax credits - $130 billion
  • Child tax credit - $200 billion
  • Pell grants - $40 billion
  • Free pre-k - $400 billion
  • Green energy and climate change - $555 billion
  • Paid leave - $200 billion
Congresswoman Marie Newman on Twitter: "What's in the #BuildBackBetterAct for Illinois families? I'm glad you asked 👇 (pic link)" / Twitter
With her logo on that also
  • Universal preschool for 3 and 4 year-olds
  • Affordable, high-quality elder and child care
  • Lower prices for prescription drugs
  • Expanded Medicare to cover hearing benefits
  • Tax cuts for millions of working families
  • Largest investment in real climate action
 
Not only did every member of the "Squad" vote for BBB, they are celebrating their vote. Thus confirming that their voting against BIF was because it alone was not good enough.

Congressman Kaiali‘i Kahele on Twitter: "#BuildBackBetter never looked so good.
It is an honor to be in the fight for working families with such an outstanding group of progressive leaders. (pic link)" / Twitter

Showing KK with Jamaal Bowman, AOC, and Cori Bush.

Our Revolution on Twitter: ""Our work will not stop until the #BuildBackBetterAct passes the Senate without any weakening of these popular provisions. We call on the Senate to quickly pass this bill a& send it to @POTUS's desk as soon as possible. It's time to deliver." - @RepJayapal (link)" / Twitter
noting
'Time to Deliver': House Democrats Pass Build Back Better Act With Zero GOP Votes
with a picture captioned "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) fist bumps a man wearing a Build Back Better Bill costume on the House steps on November 19, 2021."


Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Twitter: "WATCH: About to (finally) cast a vote on the #BuildBackBetter Act! Thank you to all my fellow warriors who fought so hard to get all the key provisions in this bill that will be so impactful for #13thDistrictStrong. (vid link)" / Twitter

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Twitter: "🎉FINALLY🎉 We've fought long on hard to get the #BuildBackBetter Act passed and get the residents of #13thDistrictStrong the transformative investments they need and deserve—and today we finally got it done! Read my full statement here: (links)" / Twitter
noting
Tlaib Votes Yes on Build Back Better Act, Delivers on Promise to Pass The People’s Infrastructure | Representative Rashida Tlaib
Today, I was proud to vote yes with my fellow Democrats on the Build Back Better Act and deliver on our promises to the American people that help is on the way. Build Back Better – or what I lovingly call “The People’s Infrastructure” – creates a pathway for President Biden’s transformative investments in people and the planet, and it’s up to the Senate to send the bill to the President’s desk without delay or further cuts.
 
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "What did we just pass in #BuildBackBetter?
✅ Universal Pre-K 👶🏿
✅ Lower US Climate Emissions 🌎
✅ Medicare + Hearing🦻🏼

Some of Team AOC’s Inclusions:
✅ High Speed Rail + Transit💰🚊
✅ Creation of Civilian Climate Corps (300k jobs!)🧑🏼‍🏭👷🏽‍♀️
✅ NYCHA Repair💰+ Faircloth Repeal 🏙" / Twitter


The Faircloth Amendment prohibits the construction of new public housing, and AOC is the author of H.R.659 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Repeal the Faircloth Amendment Act of 2021 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

NYCHA is the New York City Housing Authority. AOC has noted its decrepit state, and that's has motivated her Green New Deal for Public Housing bill: H.R.5185 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Green New Deal for Public Housing Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress and Text - H.R.2664 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Green New Deal for Public Housing Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

In the announcement of that bill back in 2019, AOC and Bernie Sanders showed up with a lot of housing activists. She didn't do so in some convention-center hall with a lot of building-repair company CEO's in attendance -- she isn't Pete Buttigieg.

A certain Antone Tucker ran against her in 2020 as a Republican write-in, and he tweeted about NYCHA-housing decrepitude. I laughed when I watched those tweets, because AOC herself is very aware of that.
 
wtf, baby carrots?



wtf, tobacky spit cup on the house floor?

 
Mariam Jalloul on Twitter: "LIVE: @AOC celebrates the passage of Build Back Better. Rep. @CoriBush can be seen dancing in the back. (vid link)" / Twitter

Transit and high-speed rail? :love:

Openings and Construction Starts Planned for 2021 – The Transport Politic

High-speed rail is very limited in the US compared to several other countries, like China, Japan, France, Spain, Italy, and Germany.

There is a system being built in California, a new start much like many of the systems in those nations. It is currently being built between Merced and Bakersfield, a sort of foot-in-the-door strategy to keep it from degenerating into regional-rail improvement in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. More funding will let it be extended to those areas.

The existing system, the Northeast Corridor, does at best 200 km/h, slower than the 300 km/h of many of those nations' lines. It also has some awkward bottlenecks, like some slow-running tunnels south of the Baltimore station. The Hudson River tunnels need rebuilding and spare capacity, and that will require extra tunnels alongside of them, the Gateway Project.

There are also some planned systems, like Barstow - Las Vegas and Houston - Dallas, but I don't know if they will get started building anytime soon. Barstow is some distance from LA, but it's relatively easy terrain from there to LV.


Turning to urban-transit rail systems, I tried making a list of extensions under construction, planned, and proposed, but I gave up. Check the Transport Politic page for extensions under construction, and I'd have to do a lot of research to come up with a comprehensive list of planned and proposed extensions.
 
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Rep. Ilhan Omar on Twitter: "The Build Back Better Act finally passed the House yesterday!

We’re going to provide universal pre-k, green jobs, paid leave, and combat the climate crisis. (pic link)" / Twitter

With her standing next to that gentleman in a bill costume, with a sash on it stating "ON TO THE SENATE!"


Jen Curt on Twitter: "Look who’s dressed in green for environmental justice, Civilian Climate Corps, climate resilience & clean energy affordability. LFG #BuildBackBetter Act 🌎 (pix link)" / Twitter
Showing Ayanna Pressley in a green shirt, a black jacket, and a black shiny skirt.

Pressley Statement on House Passage of Build Back Better Act | Representative Ayanna Pressley on how it represents some long overdue investment in our communities.

For all six Democrats who voted against BIF, I have found their celebrating their votes for BBB.
 
Rep. Ilhan Omar on Twitter: "The Build Back Better Act finally passed the House yesterday!
We’re going to provide universal pre-k, green jobs, paid leave, and combat the climate crisis. (pic link)" / Twitter
With her standing next to that gentleman in a bill costume, with a sash on it stating "ON TO THE SENATE!"


Jen Curt on Twitter: "Look who’s dressed in green for environmental justice, Civilian Climate Corps, climate resilience & clean energy affordability. LFG #BuildBackBetter Act 🌎 (pix link)" / Twitter
Showing Ayanna Pressley in a green shirt, a black jacket, and a black shiny skirt.

Pressley Statement on House Passage of Build Back Better Act | Representative Ayanna Pressley on how it represents some long overdue investment in our communities.

For all six Democrats who voted against BIF, I have found their celebrating their votes for BBB.
Jen Curt on Twitter: "Look who’s dressed in nonbiodegradable polyester for environmental justice, Civilian Climate Corps, climate resilience & clean energy affordability. LFG #BuildBackBetter Act 🌎 (pix link)" / Twitter
Showing Ayanna Pressley in nonbiodegradable polyester.

She should be wearing an alpaca jacket, bamboo socks, hemp shirt, recycled cotton skirt, and everyone and I mean everyone should wear merino wool undies. The world would be a happier place if they did.
 
Rep. Ilhan Omar on Twitter: "The Build Back Better Act finally passed the House yesterday!
We’re going to provide universal pre-k, green jobs, paid leave, and combat the climate crisis. (pic link)" / Twitter
With her standing next to that gentleman in a bill costume, with a sash on it stating "ON TO THE SENATE!"


Jen Curt on Twitter: "Look who’s dressed in green for environmental justice, Civilian Climate Corps, climate resilience & clean energy affordability. LFG #BuildBackBetter Act 🌎 (pix link)" / Twitter
Showing Ayanna Pressley in a green shirt, a black jacket, and a black shiny skirt.

Pressley Statement on House Passage of Build Back Better Act | Representative Ayanna Pressley on how it represents some long overdue investment in our communities.

For all six Democrats who voted against BIF, I have found their celebrating their votes for BBB.
Jen Curt on Twitter: "Look who’s dressed in nonbiodegradable polyester for environmental justice, Civilian Climate Corps, climate resilience & clean energy affordability. LFG #BuildBackBetter Act 🌎 (pix link)" / Twitter
Showing Ayanna Pressley in nonbiodegradable polyester.

She should be wearing an alpaca jacket, bamboo socks, hemp shirt, recycled cotton skirt, and everyone and I mean everyone should wear merino wool undies. The world would be a happier place if they did.
No, thank you. My boys need fresh, cool air to remain comfortable.
 
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