Quote:Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) broke with President Joe Biden Wednesday morning, refusing to bring the bipartisan “roads-and-bridges” infrastructure bill to the House floor without a guarantee that it is paired with a multi-trillion dollar “human infrastructure” package.

Last week, Biden hailed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan as a major achievement at a press conference on the White House lawn, just minutes before suggesting that the bill would only receive his signature if it is paired with — and passed with — a larger, “human infrastructure” package that includes major welfare expansions as well as a significant tax hike for many Americans.

Over the weekend, the Daily Wire reported that Biden backed down on that threat, reassuring touchy Republicans that he would sign the bipartisan compromise deal without a second bill attached.

Wednesday, Pelosi appeared to buck Biden, reportedly telling House Democrats that no bipartisan infrastructure package will pass without a “human infrastructure” bill.

‘Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday amplified her plans to link a bipartisan infrastructure agreement to a second package of Democratic economic priorities, rebuffing an appeal from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to decouple the two bills,” The Hill reported. “In a closed-door meeting with her caucus in the Capitol, Pelosi said her initial strategy — to withhold a House infrastructure vote until the Senate passes a larger, partisan families plan — remains unchanged, according to lawmakers in attendance.”

“What the Speaker has said, and I totally agree with her, is that we’re not going to vote on one until the Senate sends us both,” Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), told reporters, per The Hill. “That’s not changed.”

Pelosi, the outlet added, “is standing her ground, supporting the liberals in her caucus who are wary that enacting the smaller infrastructure bill — which the Senate is shooting to pass before the August recess — would erode the momentum behind the larger partisan package, which Democrats intend to pass by reconciliation.”

Biden has until August to pass any ambitious items on his presidential agenda, or he risks running into the start of the 2022 mid-term elections. Congress is also now just weeks away from summer recess, and a second compromise, this time on “human infrastructure,” is unlikely.

For Pelosi, the decision to double down on linking the infrastructure bills seems to demonstrate a chasm opening up in her own caucus. House progressives, including the so-called “Squad,” are already voicing opposition to the bipartisan “roads-and-bridges” bill, with Rep, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) claiming Tuesday that the Senate agreement does not bind the House.

“The Senate doesn’t run the show,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters. “If the Senate really wants to run with their bipartisan bill…then they should give on reconciliation.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that if House and Senate Democrats continue to be at odds over the infrastructure situation, then Biden should step in to demand they follow his lead.

“The President cannot let congressional Democrats hold a bipartisan bill hostage over a separate and partisan process,” McConnell said.

Link


Nice! Thanks, Nancy. Zero bills is better than two.

Related:

Biden* Walks Back Comments On Infrastructure Plan

GOP Rep. Davis: ‘Partisan’ Infrastructure Bill Puts Most Money in Urban Areas, Sacrifices Rural America

Quote:During Wednesday’s broadcast of “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business Network, Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) warned that the current infrastructure bill would direct most of the funding to urban areas while sacrificing rural America.

Davis described the bill as “very partisan” rather than what was initially floated by President Joe Biden as a “bipartisan deal.”

“[F]irst of all, I want to make sure your viewers know, this bill that we’re voting on and debating this week here in the House is not the bipartisan deal that President Biden was talking about. It’s a very partisan bill that puts most of the money in urban areas at the sacrifice to rural America and many of the areas that I represent,” Davis argued.

“It’s unfortunate that this is the path that the Democrats in the House have chosen,” he added. “This bill — we tried to be bipartisan. There’s about $164 billion identified in bureaucratic red tape in this bill that we could have fixed with my simple amendment called the One Federal Decision Act that Democrats just conveniently threw out of the way. They don’t want to help with taxpayer dollar efficiencies. All they want to do is pass their Green Deal priorities. And in this bill we’re debating today, in this bill, about one out of every two dollars in this $500 billion-plus package is going to New Green Deal priorities.”

Yeah, I don't think she understands that passing neither bill is fine with republicans especially when shes given them cover for it. Pelosi will be blamed for torpedoing the infrastructure bill.

I'd much rather see them do nothing.

(06-30-2021 05:01 PM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  I'd much rather see them do nothing.

Agree.

#win

Gridlock is good when it comes to congress.

Remember, congress is the opposite of progress.

Is it just me or does AOC sound like a 12 year old spoiled brat when she speaks?

(06-30-2021 05:01 PM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  I'd much rather see them do nothing.

yeah, but I can't resist muh yogi-isms....

Doing nothing is ideal because it will force Machin and Sinema to give on the filibuster on this and thus open the flood gate to everything else. Once reality sets in around September that nothing is getting done, you better believe their attitudes will change. My guess is they will be forced to bring up both bills and force McConnell's hand. If he plays chicken, he'll lose the hen house.

(07-01-2021 07:38 PM)scorpius Wrote:  Doing nothing is ideal because it will force Machin and Sinema to give on the filibuster on this and thus open the flood gate to everything else. Once reality sets in around September that nothing is getting done, you better believe their attitudes will change. My guess is they will be forced to bring up both bills and force McConnell's hand. If he plays chicken, he'll lose the hen house.

Well, one thing you can count on is that McConnell with find a way to screw the pooch. I hope and pray that Manchin and Sinema can hang tough in the face of the pressure that will be put on them, and that none of the RINOs break ranks.

(06-30-2021 08:52 PM)BlueDragon Wrote:  Is it just me or does AOC sound like a 12 year old spoiled brat when she speaks?

Unfortunately that appeals to a large segment of our voting populace. The same segment that couldn’t handle Trump’s mean tweets.

I smell a rat. Pelosi has a plan and it will include reconciliation. They will do their best to get everything. No compromise from the marxist. Everything. Just like Barry care.

(07-01-2021 08:09 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 07:38 PM)scorpius Wrote:  Doing nothing is ideal because it will force Machin and Sinema to give on the filibuster on this and thus open the flood gate to everything else. Once reality sets in around September that nothing is getting done, you better believe their attitudes will change. My guess is they will be forced to bring up both bills and force McConnell's hand. If he plays chicken, he'll lose the hen house.

Well, one thing you can count on is that McConnell with find a way to screw the pooch. I hope and pray that Manchin and Sinema can hang tough in the face of the pressure that will be put on them, and that none of the RINOs break ranks.

I wouldn't hold out much hope on them hanging tough unless they are being paid off behind the scenes like Lieberman almost certainly was when he suddenly come out against lowering the Medicare age with Obamacare after rallying for it his whole career.

I say this because 10 years ago one of the first acts as senator, Machin co-sponsored a bill to get rid of the filibuster. Also about 10 years ago Sinema (in the AZ legislature at the time) publicly criticized Lieberman and Nelson for capitalizing on the fact they were the deciding votes for Obamacare.

So good luck on them hanging tough. I wouldn't bet on that. Regardless, they will almost certainly cave on voting rights. I'd put a bet on that.

(07-01-2021 07:38 PM)scorpius Wrote:  Doing nothing is ideal because it will force Machin and Sinema to give on the filibuster on this and thus open the flood gate to everything else. Once reality sets in around September that nothing is getting done, you better believe their attitudes will change.

(07-02-2021 07:31 PM)scorpius Wrote:  I wouldn't hold out much hope on them hanging tough unless they are being paid off behind the scenes like Lieberman almost certainly was when he suddenly come out against lowering the Medicare age with Obamacare after rallying for it his whole career.

I say this because 10 years ago one of the first acts as senator, Machin co-sponsored a bill to get rid of the filibuster. Also about 10 years ago Sinema (in the AZ legislature at the time) publicly criticized Lieberman and Nelson for capitalizing on the fact they were the deciding votes for Obamacare.

So good luck on them hanging tough. I wouldn't bet on that. Regardless, they will almost certainly cave on voting rights. I'd put a bet on that.

LOL at the idea Lieberman was “paid off behind the scenes.” No more so than McCain or Chafee was then, or Romney is now. Or Sinema and Manchin are now. These people love the power and the attention and the drama and they do what they feel like doing. That’s all.

Is calling Manchin “Machin” a troll-thing or just typographical? I noticed you did that twice.

There’s nothing special about the month of September, or any other month, in all this. If Manchin and Sinema decide to go back on their specific, repeated, public statements — and not just generic boiler-plate for a press release but spontaneous reactions out of their own mouths — they will do it on their own time-frame in accordance with whatever they think is important in that moment. I admit it’s possible that either or both will do so, although right now today, it seems unlikely to me.

Sinema has had a curious political trajectory. I don’t know what, exactly, happened in terms of her private/personal experience, but for some reason Sinema has apparently chosen — much like McCain himself — to step away from the partisan faction that helped to get her elected in the first place. Also like McCain, she doesn’t seem to care who is okay with it and who isn’t. It can be very difficult to put “pressure” on a person like that, especially when the person has invested a lot of their public image/ego in resisting that pressure.

Manchin has always struck me as a go-along-to-get-along type who views his primary political mission in life as getting re-elected forever, like Strom Thurmond or Robert Byrd. While I don’t think he’s really “against” any of the Democrats’ agenda, per se, I also don’t think he’s going to stick his neck out on the chopping block in order to get it passed. LOL that a bill he co-sponsored 10 years ago (!) has anything to do with his strategy, here and now.

Also, I’ll repeat a point I’ve made before, that there are other Dem. Senators who privately approve of what Manchin/Sinema are doing and are encouraging them to hold firm, but don’t want to catch any of the flak themselves.

But I guess we’ll see.

(07-02-2021 10:28 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 07:38 PM)scorpius Wrote:  Doing nothing is ideal because it will force Machin and Sinema to give on the filibuster on this and thus open the flood gate to everything else. Once reality sets in around September that nothing is getting done, you better believe their attitudes will change.

(07-02-2021 07:31 PM)scorpius Wrote:  I wouldn't hold out much hope on them hanging tough unless they are being paid off behind the scenes like Lieberman almost certainly was when he suddenly come out against lowering the Medicare age with Obamacare after rallying for it his whole career.

I say this because 10 years ago one of the first acts as senator, Machin co-sponsored a bill to get rid of the filibuster. Also about 10 years ago Sinema (in the AZ legislature at the time) publicly criticized Lieberman and Nelson for capitalizing on the fact they were the deciding votes for Obamacare.

So good luck on them hanging tough. I wouldn't bet on that. Regardless, they will almost certainly cave on voting rights. I'd put a bet on that.

LOL at the idea Lieberman was “paid off behind the scenes.” No more so than McCain or Chafee was then, or Romney is now. Or Sinema and Manchin are now. These people love the power and the attention and the drama and they do what they feel like doing. That’s all.

Is calling Manchin “Machin” a troll-thing or just typographical? I noticed you did that twice.

There’s nothing special about the month of September, or any other month, in all this. If Manchin and Sinema decide to go back on their specific, repeated, public statements — and not just generic boiler-plate for a press release but spontaneous reactions out of their own mouths — they will do it on their own time-frame in accordance with whatever they think is important in that moment. I admit it’s possible that either or both will do so, although right now today, it seems unlikely to me.

Sinema has had a curious political trajectory. I don’t know what, exactly, happened in terms of her private/personal experience, but for some reason Sinema has apparently chosen — much like McCain himself — to step away from the partisan faction that helped to get her elected in the first place. Also like McCain, she doesn’t seem to care who is okay with it and who isn’t. It can be very difficult to put “pressure” on a person like that, especially when the person has invested a lot of their public image/ego in resisting that pressure.

Manchin has always struck me as a go-along-to-get-along type who views his primary political mission in life as getting re-elected forever, like Strom Thurmond or Robert Byrd. While I don’t think he’s really “against” any of the Democrats’ agenda, per se, I also don’t think he’s going to stick his neck out on the chopping block in order to get it passed. LOL that a bill he co-sponsored 10 years ago (!) has anything to do with his strategy, here and now.

Also, I’ll repeat a point I’ve made before, that there are other Dem. Senators who privately approve of what Manchin/Sinema are doing and are encouraging them to hold firm, but don’t want to catch any of the flak themselves.

But I guess we’ll see.

Thats what I think. There are Democrats who have been around a while that know the Democrats will eventually lose both houses of Congress (probably in 2022) and will be just one presidential election from being steamrolled. Right now---their crazy left wing BLM/Socialist agenda is being held up by their mainstream media propaganda wing. Once people get a taste of actually living under those insane proposals the leftist Democrats are pushing (automatic even for bond multiple offense felons, slashed police budgets, ceasing to enforce theft laws under $1000, massive school tax increases due to open borders, confiscatory gun ownership taxes, etc), the tide will turn faster than disco went from a craze to a joke.

Anyone that remembers 1980 knows whats coming. President Houseplant is a Carter sized disaster, except we dont even get Carter's calming wisdom or his ability to speak in coherent sentences.

(07-02-2021 10:28 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  Is calling Manchin “Machin” a troll-thing or just typographical? I noticed you did that twice.
..
Also, I’ll repeat a point I’ve made before, that there are other Dem. Senators who privately approve of what Manchin/Sinema are doing and are encouraging them to hold firm, but don’t want to catch any of the flak themselves.

But I guess we’ll see.

I actually like Manchin. No need to troll him. He is the one who put common sense into the Dem's Voting Rights bill. The fact he came up with his own "compromise" tells me he is smart enough to know something must pass on this, with or without the GOP. That's why I think at the end of the day, Manchin/Sinema will do a one time exception to the fillabuster on that issue alone. And I believe it has to be by September so it can fully effect the 2022 election cycle.

(07-02-2021 11:16 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Anyone that remembers 1980 knows whats coming. President Houseplant is a Carter sized disaster, except we dont even get Carter's calming wisdom or his ability to speak in coherent sentences.

If Trump isn't the new Carter, I don't know who can be. The Trump brand now is absolutely toxic. What's left of it is becoming known as cheap, discounted, or downright sketchy. It's no longer associated with luxurious.

(06-30-2021 01:24 PM)Jugnaut Wrote:  Yeah, I don't think she understands that passing neither bill is fine with republicans especially when shes given them cover for it. Pelosi will be blamed for torpedoing the infrastructure bill.

Yep, and watch them change it around to make the Republicans the meanies just like they are trying to do with the Defund the Police narrative. These people are evil and as the Bible says Satan is the king of liars and liars following him. But, they don't care, they never have and never will.

(07-01-2021 07:38 PM)scorpius Wrote:  Doing nothing is ideal because it will force Machin and Sinema to give on the filibuster on this and thus open the flood gate to everything else. Once reality sets in around September that nothing is getting done, you better believe their attitudes will change. My guess is they will be forced to bring up both bills and force McConnell's hand. If he plays chicken, he'll lose the hen house.

Just checking in… Now that September is 2/3 done, how are things going with Manchin and Sinema?

(09-20-2021 12:02 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 07:38 PM)scorpius Wrote:  Doing nothing is ideal because it will force Machin and Sinema to give on the filibuster on this and thus open the flood gate to everything else. Once reality sets in around September that nothing is getting done, you better believe their attitudes will change. My guess is they will be forced to bring up both bills and force McConnell's hand. If he plays chicken, he'll lose the hen house.

Just checking in… Now that September is 2/3 done, how are things going with Manchin and Sinema?

He'll just change it to October

(09-20-2021 12:04 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  

(09-20-2021 12:02 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 07:38 PM)scorpius Wrote:  Doing nothing is ideal because it will force Machin and Sinema to give on the filibuster on this and thus open the flood gate to everything else. Once reality sets in around September that nothing is getting done, you better believe their attitudes will change. My guess is they will be forced to bring up both bills and force McConnell's hand. If he plays chicken, he'll lose the hen house.

Just checking in… Now that September is 2/3 done, how are things going with Manchin and Sinema?

He'll just change it to October

Which is also the new date that they believe Gaetz will be indicted, since it didnt happen in August, and doesnt look likely to happen in September.