"Bipartisan" "Infrastructure" Bill May Fail -- And Take Biden and Even Pelosi With It

Okay, that's very speculative. But all I do anymore is post bad news.

Let me speculate some in the positive direction.

Note that if the Democrat Party tears itself up over this, then the Republicans who consistently voted in favor of the "bipartisan" infrastructure bill, even as Democrats up to and including Joe Biden told them it was a Trojan Horse for Democrat wish-list spending and that the plan was always to betray their GOP quisling dupes, will actually have... won?

Won by surrendering, that is. Which is the only way the GOP can win, because they sure the heck don't fight.

Note that Obama's tactic was swearing "I won't c*** in your mouth" to get weak-sister GOPers to do the left's bidding.

Biden, on the other hand, admits straight-up: "I'm going to c*** in your mouth."

And Lindsey Graham and the rest of the cryptoleftists are right there to eat it all up.

On to the quotes:

Progressives are threatening to vote against the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill unless the $2.3 trillion "human infrastructure" bill is also passed by the Senate.

They intend this as leverage to force the "human infrastructure." They want both the $1.2 trillion "bipartisan infrastructure bill" and the $2.3 trillion leftwing wish list "human infrastructure bill" passed by the Senate.

If the Senate doesn't vote for the latter, they claim, they'll vote against the former. They are claiming they are voting for the $3.5 trillion blowout -- or for nothing at all.

Weak-sister House Republicans who have been cutting deals with the Democrats to get this horrorshow passed say they will not vote for the $1.2 trillion bill to make up for the lost votes of The Squad wing of the Democrat Party.

As House progressives threaten to withhold dozens of votes to pass a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill if it comes up for a vote in the coming weeks, several Republican members of a bipartisan group that backed the bill say they have no plans to rescue it.

Two members of the Problem Solvers Caucus -- Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) and Mike Bost (R-Ill.) -- told Forbes they won’t vote for the bill, while another, Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), said he has a "tremendous amount of discomfort" with it.

Several caucus members and moderate Republicans said they are still undecided on the bill, and only two members of the caucus, Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), say they are supportive of it.

Progressives say they have dozens of votes to deny passage if at least $3.5 trillion in reconciliation spending is not passed by both chambers of Congress beforehand: Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), one of the leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, estimated 40 to 50 votes, and possibly more.

Meanwhile, Kathryn Sinema has issued an ultimatum to Biden: Either pass the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill next week or I won't vote for any reconciliation bill to add in additional spending.

Democrats don't want to have to vote for these budget blow-outs as we approach an election year.

MODS TO BIDEN: BIF NOW OR BUST -- Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.) delivered a tough message to President JOE BIDEN at a private meeting Wednesday, we;re told: If the House delays its scheduled Sept. 27 vote on the bipartisan infrastructure plan -- or if the vote fails -- she won't be backing a reconciliation bill.

Sinema is not the only moderate taking this stand. Rep. KURT SCHRADER (D-Ore.) --- one of approximately 10 moderate Democratic House members playing hardball with leadership -- said he and several members of their group are on the same page. Some of the lawmakers have conveyed that message up the chain to leadership and the White House. A senior Democratic aide confirmed the warnings.

"If they delay the vote -- or it goes down -- then I think you can kiss reconciliation goodbye," Schrader told Playbook. "Reconciliation would be dead."

Biden's already unpopular -- and if he can't pass his leftwing blowout bonanza, the left wing will abandon him.

Independents already have, of course.

Internal Democratic discord has wounded President Joe Biden's massive social spending plan, raising the prospect that the package could stall out, shrink dramatically -- or even fail altogether.

Myriad problems have arisen. Moderate Senate Democrats Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) continue to be a major headache for party leadership’s $3.5 trillion target. The Senate parliamentarian just nixed the party's yearslong push to enact broad immigration reform. House members may tank the prescription drugs overhaul the party has run on for years. And a fight continues to brew over Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) push to expand Medicare.

"If any member of Congress is not concerned that this could fall apart, they need treatment," said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), who warned his party "will pay for it at the polls" if it fails in enacting Biden's agenda. "Our caucus has the feeling of freedom to support or oppose leadership."

There's a shot across Nancy Pelosi's bow, there. "Leadership" means her and Schumer, primarily.

Those headwinds threaten to sap the momentum from this summer, when Biden clinched a bipartisan infrastructure deal in the Senate and found support from all corners of his party for a budget setting up his sweeping spending bill. Now, Manchin is calling for a pause, moderates are resisting key components of the legislation and a new fiscal fight over the debt limit is heating up.

...

The multi-problem pileup comes at a critical moment for the party and for Biden, who needs a legislative win amid slumping approval ratings. But though polls show much of his social spending bill is popular outside Congress, winning approval among Democrats' slim majorities has been harder.

Yeah whatever leftwing Politico.

...

And progressives have grown increasingly annoyed by what they see as grandstanding by Manchin and Sinema. Just as behind-the-scenes negotiations on the social bill get underway, one of the two prominent moderates keep blasting out statements that jolt the talks and stall what progress has been made, they say.

...

But Democrats close to the centrists say progressives are vastly overplaying their hand. A group of five to 10 House moderates have signaled to leadership that they would be willing to let the infrastructure bill fail rather than be held hostage by liberals over the broader spending bill. It's a more attractive alternative to them than having to vote for painful tax increases to pay for an unrestrained social safety net expansion, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

"Squad" member Pramila Jayapal again says that she and her fellow leftwing terrorist-supporting radicals are not bluffing: They will blow up the entire bill if they are not given the economy-wrecking spending they demand.

Scott Wong

@scottwongDC
After more than 1.5 hrs, JAYAPAL emerges from Pelosi meeting and says progressives are still willing to tank BIF next week unless reconciliation package is passed.

"Try us," she says when told some people think progressives are bluffing

Jayapal recently scored a win for the radical marxist wing of the radical marxist party when she announced that funding for Israel's purely-defensive anti-missile Iron Dome program had been stripped from the must-pass continuing resolution, because "members in our caucus" opposed it:

@McCormackJohn
Asked why she objects to Iron Dome funding in CR, @RepJayapal says: "There's no reason for us to fund that right now, and members in our caucus have a problem with it, and so we don't need it."

Those "members in our caucus" include, of course, Rashida Tlaib, the Brotherf***er and whore Ilhan "Omar" Nur, and Jayapal herself, who has previously blamed Israel for Hamas' rocket attacks on Israel.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., suggested Thursday that Israel was the party responsible for the ongoing rocket attacks launched by Hamas, a terrorist organization, against the U.S. ally.

The left-wing congresswoman made the claim during a CNN appearance, alongside host Jake Tapper, while railing against Israel's "pattern of action" that she says prompted Hamas' "behavior."

...

"Well, we condemn Hamas' firing of those rockets, but I think you have to look at what prompted even that behavior," Jayapal said, not answering Tapper's question and instead redirecting to criticism of Israel.

The Democrats' hopes to avert political disaster lie upon the frail shoulders of a demented old man -- they say they're counting on the "secret sauce" of Joe Biden.

The two fractious wings of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's caucus are tumbling toward intraparty war. President Joe Biden is hoping to head off disaster.

Biden will hold a series of meetings with key Democrats Wednesday, including Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as party leaders try to salvage their two-part domestic agenda -- a massive social safety net expansion and bipartisan infrastructure bill -- amid a fresh round of hostage-taking from centrist and progressive members.

"I hope he is the secret sauce," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said of Biden. "The president of the United States is always a very influential figure, and I know he wants both bills passed."

Influential?

Here's another warning to Pelosi that her safety is not assured:

"It would be deeply disappointing to have the bill on the floor only to have people … vote against it for political grandstanding," said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), one of the nine centrists who struck that deal to set up Monday's infrastructure vote.

And if Pelosi pulls the infrastructure bill next week to avoid defeat, Murphy added: "The mistrust that exists currently between members will spread to mistrust between leadership and members."

posted by Ace at 02:16 PM

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