6 minute read
NATIONAL
Left And Right Getting Pushback On Infrastructure Deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Often elusive, the political center is holding steady in the Senate as a coalition of Democratic and Republican senators brushes off critics to push the $1 trillion infrastructure package toward final passage.
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On the left, the Democrats have withstood the complaints of liberals who say the proposal falls short of what’s needed to provide a down payment on one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities.
From the right, the Republicans are largely ignoring the criticism from their most conservative and farflung voices, including a barrage of name-calling from former President Donald Trump as he tries to derail the package.
All told, some 70 senators appear poised to carry the bipartisan infrastructure bill to passage, a potentially robust tally of lawmakers eager to tap the billions in new spending it will unleash for public works projects back home.
Senators hoisted the package over another hurdle late Sunday, easily clearing a remaining 60vote threshold on a vote of 68-29, despite a few holdouts trying to run out the clock on debate and drag final passage to Tuesday. The measure would then go to the House.
“A very handsome, overwhelming vote,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The rare bipartisan momentum reflects a political power center that has sprung from the middle of the aisle in the narrowly split Congress. For weeks, senators have negotiated and shaped the package, overcoming partisan gridlock for a compromise with the Biden White House. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has pledged its own support.
Backed by Biden and a sizable coalition of business, farm, labor and public interest groups, the package is one of the biggest investments of its kind in years. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act seeks to inject nearly $550 billion in new spending on roads, bridges, broadband internet, water pipes and other public works systems undergirding the nation. Some 20 Republican senators are poised to join Democrats in supporting support it.
Once voting wraps up, senators immediately will turn to the budget outline for a $3.5 trillion package of child care, elder care and other programs that is a much more partisan undertaking and expected to draw only Democratic support.
Despite the momentum, action ground to a halt over the weekend when Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican allied with Trump, refused to speed up the process.
Hagerty, who had been Trump's ambassador to Japan, argued for taking as much time as needed for debate and amendments, in part because he wants to slow the march toward Biden's $3.5 trillion bill aimed at so-called soft infrastructure.
Trump called Hagerty on Sunday morning, said a person familiar with the call who requested anonymity to discuss it. Hagerty said later Sunday he was trying to prevent a “socialist debt bomb” of new government spending.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has so far allowed the bill to progress, calling the bill “a compromise.”
Senators have spent the past week processing nearly two dozen amendments to the 2,700-page package, but so far none has substantially changed its framework.
More amendments have been offered on cryptocurrency, defense-related infrastructure and to allow states to repurpose a portion of their untapped federal COVID-19 relief aid for infrastructure. But it's unclear if they will be considered for votes.
Senators have found much to like in the bill, even though it does not fully satisfy liberals, who view it as too small, or conservatives, who find it too large.
An analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office drew concerns, particularly from Republicans after concluding the legislation would increase deficits by about $256 billion over the next decade.
Unlike Biden's bigger $3.5 trillion package, which would be paid for by higher tax rates for corporations and the wealthy, the bipartisan package is funded by repurposing other money, and other spending cuts and revenue streams. The bill’s backers argued that the budget office was unable to take into account certain revenue streams — including from future economic growth.
The House is expected to consider both Biden infrastructure packages when it returns from recess in September.
STRAIGHT TALK WITH SAM
Sixth District U.S. Rep. Sam Graves 1415 Longworth House Bldg. Washington D.C. 20515 Phone: 202-225-7041
THERE’S STILL A CRISIS AT THE BORDER
No, it hasn’t gotten better. No, this Administration doesn’t have it “under control.”
I know I sound like a broken record, but as unbelievable as it sounds, this “seasonal influx” has shown no signs of slowing down. Usually, illegal immigration slows down in the hot summer months as the long journey across Mexico becomes increasingly difficult. Not this year. The monthslong crisis at our southern border is still getting worse.
At the same time, we keep learning more and more about what’s really going on down there. The city of McAllen, Texas has reported that some 7,000 COVID-19 positive immigrants have been released into their town since mid-February—with 1,500 being released in just the last week.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg, one small snapshot of what’s happening in one border town. It’s indicative of a much larger problem though. With the out-of-control crisis raging at the border, these illegal immigrants are being packed into overcrowded facilities with littleto-no social distancing. In effect, this border crisis has morphed into a massive COVID-19 super spreader. While the Administration is busy issuing mandate after mandate on American citizens, it seems the only people exempted are those breaking the law and coming to this country illegally. It’s madness. I’ve said it a million times now, but the solution to this crisis isn’t difficult. It’s staring us right in the face. When illegal immigration surged in 2019, President Trump took decisive action to enforce our laws, build the wall, and negotiate the Remain in Mexico policy which kept immigrants in Mexico until they were approved to enter the United States and kept illegal immigrants out. Unfortunately, this Administration has done everything they can to reverse all that progress, in the middle of a global pandemic no less.
They’ve ended the successful Remain in Mexico policy, they’ve reinstituted catch-and-release on a massive scale, and they’re paying billions to contractors to NOT finish construction of the border wall. They’ve chosen to play politics instead of rising above the political noise to solve this crisis.
It isn’t that hard, and it shouldn’t be a political issue. This crisis benefits virtually nobody, especially not the illegal immigrants being trafficked, exposed to the harsh elements of the journey here, and crammed into overcrowded facilities all while traveling with others that have COVID-19. In fact, the only beneficiaries of this Administration’s open border policies seem to be the Mexican drug cartels that are taking advantage of the crisis to flood our country with record amounts of deadly drugs like Fentanyl.
Enough is enough. It’s time to finish the wall. It’s time to secure our border. It’s long past time we ended this crisis.
