Too Much Information
File this in the “information I wish I didn’t know” category. Sausage is a mix of ground meat, spices, seasonings, and some kinds of grain or meal; all mixed together. But no one wants to eat a “mash”. So it’s shaped and stuffed into a tube called a casing. That’s what makes it “sausage”. And what’s the casing made of? Well, a natural casing is made of the sub-mucosa layer of animal intestines. It could be pig, or cow, or goat, or even a horse! That’s the “tastiest” kind of sausage. The casing lends a flavor to the “innards” (or is the “innards” really the casing – I’m not sure).
More mundane sausage is now contained by a polymer coating: nylon or polypropylene. There are also cellulose and collagen wraps. Doesn’t that sound tasty. Since the artificial casing holds the flavor in, and doesn’t lend any flavor of its own, they don’t become part of the “sausage experience”. And knowing that might make you really think about eating bites of whole sausage anymore. Maybe you should peal the edge off the bologna.
These essays are often political, and very, very seldom explain gastronomic delights. They do however, often deal with legislation, and we sure have been talking about “making sausages” recently. It seems only fitting that we should have a better understanding what goes into the real thing.
Raucous Caucus
Today (or tomorrow), the United States House of Representatives will vote on the “Build Back Better” plan. This is not of interest to the Republican Congressmen; they will, to a woman and man, vote against it. The Republicans aren’t interested in “making” this sausage, in fact, they are vegan when it comes to the “Build-Back-Better” bill. Nope, the sausage making is a wholly Democratic affair, and, like most things involving the always raucous Democratic caucus, there’s a whole lot of sausage making going on.
The ”chefs” in this sausage-making game are much the same Democrats as those that “cooked” up the final “BIB” (bipartisan infra-structure bill) the was signed into law this week. The “two” sides are the Democratic moderates and the Democratic progressives. But part of the true art of sausage making, is that there isn’t just two sides. There are shades of moderation and progressivism, and even some progressives who are extremely “moderate” on some issues (for example, Senator Kristin Sinema, progressive on the environment, almost beyond moderate to full Republican on government negotiating with “big pharma”).
Dreaming Things that Never Were
So no wonder the “raucous, caucus” has struggled to figure out what goes into Build-Back-Better. There’s so much they want to fix. They want to take care of people’s health: child care, cut prescription costs, Medicare hearing and eye care and home health. They want to “fix” the world: improving the climate, energy, modernizing education and creating affordable housing. And finally they want to improve our system of taxation, with the wealthy paying a fairer share of the burden.
Amazingly, with all of those “wants”, they managed to stuff their sausage in a casing that pays for all the programs. The United States government, known for dipping deeply into the trough of national debt, particularly when it comes to national defense, has found a way to pay for what it wants. The House bill spends $1.68 trillion over ten years (that’s $168 billion a year – less than a third of what we spend annually on national defense).
Inflation
For those of us (and that’s most of us) who are worried about all that spending fueling inflation, here’s the best part. Inflation is normally caused by increases in the supply of money. When the government heavily spends more than it brings in, it essentially creates more money. More money in supply means that the money is worth less – prices go up. But if the Build Back Better legislation is paid for, there’s no increase in money supply, and no inflationary pressure.
Technically, the Congressional Budget Office rates it as creating a ten year $160 Billion deficit – that’s $16 billion a year. But the CBO does not count the program that improves the Internal Revenue Service so that it collects more tax monies. That improvement should bring in more than $400 billion over ten years, actually making BBB budget positive. And if you’re worried about the IRS “coming for you”: then you’re making a whole lot more money than I am, and you’re cheating on your taxes.
A Blevit
No wonder the Republicans are against it. No surprise that Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy gave a rambling eight and a half hour speech to hold up the final vote. The Build-Back-Better bill does all the things the Republican Party is against – rich people paying taxes, poor people having housing, old people getting medical care, everyone paying less for medicine. Oh Hell no – line ‘em up, every Republican in Congress will vote against this one.
When Speaker Pelosi finally bangs down the gavel on the Build Back Better bill, we’re halfway there. The good news is that the Democratic House Moderates kept their word, the promise they made when the Progressives helped pass the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Bill. But the sausage making is only beginning.
The two most moderate Democrats in the Senate, Manchin and Sinema, have designated a “casing” quite a bit smaller than the House’s casing. So when the Senate gets the $1.68 trillion BBB Bill, they’re going to have to split the House casing, and stuff what they can in Manchin’s casing (of course polymer based, though if they could make a coal-based casing, he’d use it). It’s going to be smaller, maybe more like a trillion dollars.
There is an old Yiddish word that’s incredibly descriptive: a “blivet”. Technically it’s ten pounds of…manure…in a five pound bag. Joe Manchin’s holding the casing, and the Senate is going to decide what sausage fits in and what doesn’t. In the end, like any good compromise, probably no one will be fully “happy”. But Democrats are on course to deliver Build Back Better as a Christmas present to the American people.
It might be a “blivet”, but it should be tasty.
