Over the past two months of infrastructure talks, there’s been a constant refrain from Republican negotiators: why not just use all the unspent COVID aid money to pay for the bill?
why not just use all the unspent COVID aid money to pay for the bill?
Because, unlike you cretins, we understand the pandemic isn’t over and there will be another.
“The majority of it has not been spent,” said Sen. Rob Portman (R-PA) in April.
Correction: I believe Sen. Portman is (R - OH.)
The “unspent” COVID money will be spent soon enough.
It’s only been about 120 days since the legislation was passed, and nowhere in the bill did it say that the money was to be spent immediately if not sooner.
This is typical GQP fuckery, and It’s pretty clear that Biden will reject the whole foofaraw and do what Sen. Ron Wyden proposes—a massive infrastructure bill passed through reconciliation.
Manchin and Sinema obviously got themselves elected to the US Senate, so I can’t premise this with, ”If either of them had ANY political sense…”, but they could’ve gone either of two ways on the filibuster – and they chose the dumbass way.
If, instead of announcing a hesitance to nuke the filibuster, and putting Dems in a position of weakness, they could just have easily announced a willingness to nuke the filibuster – and put the GOP in a position of weakness.
Even if they never, ever, ever intended to carry through on that faux “willingness”, Republicans would’ve rushed pell-mell for compromise – some compromise, any compromise – to avoid being marginalized for the next two years permanently.
A simple majority to roll back Trump tax cuts? A simple majority to pass sweeping voting rights? A simple majority to grant statehood – and new senators – to US territories?
I may be naïve (and I often am), but I’m guessing the GOP would move toward – not away from – compromise, once they faced the existential fear of that specter. Instead, Manchin and Sinema effectively said, ”Don’t sweat it, Mitch – we’ve got your back!”
Now, of course, the question is: Why?
Even if there isn’t another wave, as the article makes clear, there are plenty of other things localities need, and are allowed, to use that money for.
Under the circumstances, the proposed ‘repurposing’ becomes a way for the reactionaries, who uniformly voted against the bill, to prevent it from achieving what it was meant to do.
Presumably, then they can blather on it about the insufficiency of federal assistance, or something worse, like, ‘what Demonrats give with one hand they take with the other.’
But at the same time, the GOP said that it would be opposed to any tax increases — framing that as changes to the Trump tax law.
“You need to look at, see what hasn’t gone out the door or what has gone out the door, hasn’t been spent yet or dedicated in any way,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said last month.
This is what happens when you leave the negotiations up to Senate ‘moderates’: They are willing to partially-repeal Democrat-passed laws, but not Republican ones. Proper messaging on this topic would be for Biden to publicly state he would not consider repealing any of the American Rescue Plan as part of the Infrastructure deal, full stop.
The good news is that all of these “bipartisan” negotiations will fail because none can get 10 GOP Senators on board. Biden can revert to closer to his original offer when Senate Dems are ready to proceed with budget reconciliation.
Taxes is what really pisses me off about this “compromise” which I think is really a surrender on the part of Democrats if passed.
The reports I have read say the compromise/Democrat surrender does have tax increases in the form of user taxes to include an increase in the gas tax paid mostly by the working class. That is instead of reversing the tax cuts to billionaires the plan is paid for by increasing the tax on working Americans.
As you asked, why would Democrats agree to this.
Honestly, whoever is writing TPM’s headlines needs some training. They have been the most convoluted sentence structure lately, I couldn’t even figure out how to read this one.
I totally understand not wanting to raise taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations to pay for infrastructure. They don’t use roads, bridges, airports, dams, harbors or waterways.
what Republicans refer to as “repurpose unused federal spending.”
I’ll bet Republicans don’t specify which unused federal spending to use.
They’ve got cue cards ready that say, “Be outraged that Democrats are failing to fund the vitally important ________.”
That’s essentially what I was planning to mention. It’s another way for them to try to make the D’s fail.
I agree.
Since we’re no longer fighting the Afghanistan war, we can use the money budgeted last year for it : - )
OT: as a person of way less-than-average height, I couldn’t help but notice how uncomfortable Rep. Granger looks on that couch, pillow notwithstanding. Sitting like that would give me a big ol’ backache. She needs a larger pillow at her back and probably a footrest.
"There will be another (Pandemic).
Most assuredly.
Nor do their businesses, so totally unfair.
Yes, and what they are offering for funding is a regressive tax that would fall heaviest on the poorest American drivers which, coincidentally, will be passed to preserve lower tax rates for the richest Americans.
The bad press releases write themselves.
Fuck this. Fuck this fuck this fuck this. I’m so fucking sick and tired of the blue states and urban centers having to take it up the ass ON EVERYTHING just to drag the red and rural, kicking and screaming and recalcitrant and failing at everything anyway as they are, into the fucking 21st century with the rest of us. Oh, you want infrastructure NY, LA, Boston, et al.? Well,sorry, but you’re going to have to choose between (a) COVID relief and a functioning municipal government and services for X MILLION PEOPLE or (b) roads, tunnels, bridges, overpasses and subway lines that aren’t about to collapse. Meanwhile, out in Ruralville, Dumbfuckistan, they don’t have the same needs or expenses because nobody but a couple of generational inbred families live there, there’s barely any infrastructure…but hey, the rest of us get to be forced to sacrifice OUR pandemic relief to build them some, all while they curse us all to hell and plan violence against us for the very “socialism” that is bringing them broadband and a new roadway or school or irrigation or dams or whatever.
FUCK. THIS. We need to split this stupid country and leave these people in the dust. FUCK THIS AND FUCK THEM. I’ve so fucking had it with paying for them to eek out their miserable, ungrateful, undereducated, hateful existences.
How about this?? want some infrastructure money Mississippi? Well, you get NONE unless and until you raise your own fucking state taxes and revenue like a responsible fucking government and you ONLY get matching funds for whatever you can put towards the infrastructure improvements. The rest of us have had it with your failure and your mooching and your milking of the rest of us while we do all the work generating the nation’s GDP and creating its economy. OR just get the fuck out. Get the fuck out and don’t come back and survive on your own and become the racist neofascist theocratic zero-tax third-world failed state you always dreamed of being. In 50 years, we’ll fucking invade and take you over and that’ll be the end of your nonsense.
Fuckin’ A!
And the MO legislature just passed an increase on the level the state taxes gasoline. We needed an increase, but in the past when we the tax payers got to vote on it they always added stuff that wasn’t for roads and bridges, and so it failed.
I still haven’t figured out how twice we voted it down, they knew the reasons, why we twice voted it down, but this time it doesn’t have to go to voters to decide, again.