School House Rock
Who would have “thunk-it”! Democrats in the United States Congress actually got something done. Friday night, after enough sausage-making to satisfy even the “Oscar Meyer Weiner” company, the bipartisan-infrastructure bill was passed. For those who need the School House Rock play-by-play: the trillion dollar bill was already passed in the Senate. The House approved the identical Senate bill – so it’s done. The bill now goes to the desk of the President of the United States, where he has ten days to sign it, veto it, or let it become law without his signature.
No worries there either. President Biden is more than excited to get this bill signed. He wants America on improved roads, rebuilt bridges, expanded ports, fixed railroads, faster internet, and driving electric cars. It will get America moving even faster, and it will employ millions of Americans in “good-paying” jobs. And it will also inject money all across the country, putting more dollars into local economies for concrete and guardrails, Big Macs and Tacos for construction workers and – especially here in Ohio, ORANGE BARRELS!!!
For those who need “granular detail”, Ohio doesn’t actually “own” many orange barrels – the state leases them, by the barrel and by the day. When last I checked, the rate was a $1/barrel/day. Drive any interstate highway – someone is making some good cash in “barrel leasing”!
So expect that the bridges will get fixed, even here in Licking County, where forty-three bridges out of four hundred and thirty are categorized as being in “poor” shape (Bridgereport – look up your county).
Leap of Faith
The passage of this bill was a leap of faith for Democratic House Progressives. Speaker Pelosi needed almost every Democratic vote, with only thirteen Republicans voting in favor. And six Democrats voted against it – the “Squad” plus one. They weren’t against the bill – but they don’t have the faith of the other Progressives.
And what did they have to have faith in? Progressives linked the passage of this bill with the eventual passage of the even bigger “Build Back Better” bill in the near future. The language for Build Back Better is complete, but moderate Dems want to see the “scoring” for the bill. Scoring is when the Congressional Budget Office goes through the entire bill and determine what it will cost, and what revenues it will raise. CBO then generates a “bottom line” cost – a number that Congressmen can work with.
Moderate Dems wouldn’t vote the Build Back Better bill through without the scoring, though they did approve a procedural measure to move the bill along. And they gave written assurances to the Progressives that they would vote for Build Back Better once it is scored. So Progressives gave up their leverage and voted for this infra-structure bill. They trust that the moderates of the House, and ultimately in the Senate will keep their word. And that’s what “making sausage” is all about.
Tweaked Sausage
The “Build Back Better” bill is going to be “tweaked” in the Senate. And whatever the Democrats in the Senate determine is in “their” version of the bill, that’s what they’ll pass by a 51-50 vote (Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaker). Then the House and Senate will put together a conference committee, to determine a bill that both chambers can pass. Then it will go back for final passage, without amendment, to both Houses. It’s back to School House Rock.
So there’s a long legislative journey ahead for “Build Back Better”. And assuredly the Progressives and the Moderates will tangle once again as the “sausage gets made”. What can also be assured though, is that Republicans will have no part in this. Whatever gets done, will be done by Democrats. Governing and progressing, isn’t what Republicans do these days. They are too busy whining about non-existent issues like Critical Race Theory, “election security” and paying down the National Debt to actually get anything done. They weren’t worried about the debt as long as they were the ones passing bills.
The Moderates didn’t just promise the Progressives. They also assured the President of the United States that they would support his bill – Build Back Better. So the commitments are made. But until the votes are actually cast, nothing is certain.
We can expect that negotiations for Progressives will be harder without leverage. But in the end, as promised, Democrats delivered the first of two huge legislative efforts to rebuild America. And if you have to drive over one of those “poor” bridge in Licking County or elsewhere in the nation every day, you’ll should be glad to hear it.
