Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:59 pm
For all of those who doubted Joe Biden, today as he signs the biggest investment in infrastructure since the Eisenhower era, is the day to admit they got it wrong.
Video clip of President Biden:
Biden takes back the political message, "My fellow Americans, today I want you to know, we hear you, and we see you. The bill I'm about to sign into law is proof that despite the cynics, Democrats and Republicans can come together and deliver results." pic.twitter.com/y4hGpyWVkg
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— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) November 15, 2021
Biden said, “My fellow Americans, today I want you to know, we hear you, and we see you. The bill I’m about to sign into law is proof that despite the cynics, Democrats and Republicans can come together and deliver results.”
Today, Uncle Joe – also known as the President of these United States, signed Democrats’ once-in-a-century, $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. And somehow, President Biden, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer even managed to get a scattering of Republicans to vote yes on something Democrats proposed, with 19 Senate and 13 House Republican votes. That feat makes this bill not only historic, but in these times, an incredible accomplishment.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) helped dragged this bill across the finish line with the tenacity that’s come to identify the most effective House Speaker in modern history.
Predictably, 200 House Republicans, however, were unable to break with the hold their party has on the dedication to not legislating that has motivated them to vote no on almost anything that might help the American people. Leader Kevin McCarthy is actually threatening his Republican members who voted for jobs and against potholes. Republicans went so far as to label patriotism Democrats’ “socialist wish list.” That didn’t go as they thought it might and so they quickly deleted their tweet:
House GOP deleted tweet calling infrastructure socialism
The game-changing, historically popular infrastructure bill is loaded with patriotic investments in our country, long needed, and with benefits hard-working families including creating millions of good-paying union jobs. It will modernize and improve our roads, bridges, ports, rails, and supply chains, and yet House Republican leadership – who are complaining about supply chains now that there’s a Democrat in office- call it socialism.
This bill will boost the competitiveness of the United States for decades.
Perhaps it’s jealousy driving McCarthy’s cynicism, after all, week after week Republicans promised it was “infrastructure week” and yet it never came. Instead, we got Donald Trump extolling the virtues of household cleaner injected into our veins as a way to fight Covid-19 and daily whining about the meanies in the press.
Is it broadband access for tens of millions of Americans – or perhaps making it more affordable and equity focused, that is the issue for Republicans? Is that… socialism? Their rural voters will be crushed.]
It could be that clean power grid or the clean water – that might be where the socialism is burning. Trying to not kill kids with toxic chemicals is something (the one or two actual Democratic socialists in Congress) seem to be proud of, but what do they know about the burning desires of the American people.
Perhaps it’s the cost. Someone should tell Republican Senator Rob Portman, who said, “It’s paid for. We do it without raising taxes.” Democrats say the bill pays for itself without raising taxes, using multiple measures.
Though Factcheck quibbles, and it will add to the deficit. But why are we focusing on cost – of *this, as opposed to say the costs of keeping our military deployed in Afghanistan – when our country is crumbling around us, bridges and dams failing?
Though we can well understand Republicans objections to the funding for drought management and wild fire mitigation – nothing says socialism like not letting the country burn to the ground to punish the libs.
But indeed, the grown ups are in charge right now – for this brief period before Democrats lose the House in the midterms (unless you get all of your friends to vote) and the grown ups are doing that thing called… their “job.”
For all of those writing about “Democrats in disarray” as their go-to easy headline every time Democrats try to do heavy lifting for the people, today is the day to admit they got it wrong. This is the bill the likes of which we haven’t seen since FDR. This is a bill that while not supported by the progressive caucus, is actually a huge accomplishment of progressive values. This is the bill my made-in-America, union supporting grandfather would have wept with pride over. It’s full of the best kinds of patriotism, the kind that actually makes this a better country and helps the actual people who live in it have better lives.
This is a day to be very proud of this president and to take a needed pause from the terror and chaos of the last five years to remember, this is what voting can do. Voting did this.
You, the people, did this. Congratulations, take the win.
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Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
