IMO, Biden Will Sign An Infrastructure Bill and A Voting Bill This Year

[mark46]

Progressives want it all, or fight over it in 2022. Biden is much more pragmatic.

An infrastructure under $1T seems very likely, although it may take a bit of time. Manchin and Biden will both need to believe that they have all they can get, and then the bill will become law through reconciliation if necessary. The progressives have to deal with Biden the pragmatist. If the 2021 infrastructure bill includes only brick and mortar, and no internet, and no climate money, then SO BE IT.

We need to fix the bridges. The Democrats will NOT have a winning 2022 issue by saying that they refused to spend $1T fixing bridges because the Republicans refused to spend money on climate initiatives.
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Manchin is just starting to negotiate on voting rights legislation. When a compromise bill is brought to the Senate, it will pass, or Manchin will be convinced to make a filibuster exception for the bill. This situation might take months to resolve, and the Senate has 7 weeks of vacation coming up.
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A Republican criminal justice bill could pass. but it seems that this is the limit of what can be pushed through. Progressives will push and push and pout, and eventually they will realize that almost their agenda cannot be passed, NOT for the lack of 60 votes, but for the lack of 50 votes. Manchin will have done his all if he is key to passing the stimulus, infrastructure, voting rights and perhaps criminal justice legislation.

 

[Hans Blaster]

A Republican criminal justice bill could pass. but it seems that this is the limit of what can be pushed through. Progressives will push and push and pout, and eventually they will realize that almost their agenda cannot be passed, NOT for the lack of 60 votes, but for the lack of 50 votes. Manchin will have done his all if he is key to passing the stimulus, infrastructure, voting rights and perhaps criminal justice legislation.

How is it you think a *Republican* criminal justice bill will pass?

 

[mark46]

How is it you think a *Republican* criminal justice bill will pass?

I call the bipartisan bill of the Senate, Scott's bill, to be a Republican bill. That is as opposed to the progressive bills of the Democrats. Booker and Scott worked hard to pass a bill under trump. They are close to succeeding again. The final issue is whether individual policemen can be sued. The Democrats have been ordered to never accept this clause, but I suspect that this will happen.

 

[Hans Blaster]

I call the bipartisan bill of the Senate, Scott's bill, to be a Republican bill. That is as opposed to the progressive bills of the Democrats. Booker and Scott worked hard to pass a bill under trump. They are close to succeeding again. The final issue is whether individual policemen can be sued. The Democrats have been ordered to never accept this clause, but I suspect that this will happen.

We'll see if Mitch brings his obstruction machine to bear on any Scott-Booker bill. Either way I would not call a bipartisan bill a Republican bill (or a Democratic bill).

Qualified immunity is a judicially invented doctrine. It's long past time for Congress to set the parameters for permissible and non-permissible actions of cops.

 

[Crwth]

Man, do I hate politics - same old stuff day in and day out. The uber self-righteous on the left and the uber self-righteous on the right fling their well-aimed volleys of canned, boilerplate invectives at each other - right on schedule, never missing a beat. Each side has a pithy response for anything the other side says. Every response is adversarial, charged with utter contempt and disdain, triggered by the same from the other side. Pre-programmed, never ending loop of IF-THEN code that just runs by itself anymore.

The atmosphere has become so vitriolic and toxic that no one can long survive it without it corrupting them as well.

"Infrastructure Bill?" Just another medium for the back-and-forth volley of never-ending toxic invective.

 

[Pommer]

I call the bipartisan bill of the Senate, Scott's bill, to be a Republican bill. That is as opposed to the progressive bills of the Democrats. Booker and Scott worked hard to pass a bill under trump. They are close to succeeding again. The final issue is whether individual policemen can be sued. The Democrats have been ordered to never accept this clause, but I suspect that this will happen.

One of the other reasons for the Juneteenth bill passing by such wide margins (unanimously in the Senate?), is to show each other and the Electorate that “yes, we CAN still work together!”

The Senate hasn’t been very functional for a dozen years.

 

[Hans Blaster]

The Senate hasn’t been very functional for a dozen years.

Ahh, the McConnell years. The memories. The disfunction.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Progressives want it all, or fight over it in 2022. Biden is much more pragmatic.

An infrastructure under $1T seems very likely, although it may take a bit of time. Manchin and Biden will both need to believe that they have all they can get, and then the bill will become law through reconciliation if necessary. The progressives have to deal with Biden the pragmatist. If the 2021 infrastructure bill includes only brick and mortar, and no internet, and no climate money, then SO BE IT.

We need to fix the bridges. The Democrats will NOT have a winning 2022 issue by saying that they refused to spend $1T fixing bridges because the Republicans refused to spend money on climate initiatives.
==================
Manchin is just starting to negotiate on voting rights legislation. When a compromise bill is brought to the Senate, it will pass, or Manchin will be convinced to make a filibuster exception for the bill. This situation might take months to resolve, and the Senate has 7 weeks of vacation coming up.
==================
A Republican criminal justice bill could pass. but it seems that this is the limit of what can be pushed through. Progressives will push and push and pout, and eventually they will realize that almost their agenda cannot be passed, NOT for the lack of 60 votes, but for the lack of 50 votes. Manchin will have done his all if he is key to passing the stimulus, infrastructure, voting rights and perhaps criminal justice legislation.

Biden better pass something this year -- if the GOP takes back the Senate in 2022 (and they almost certainly will; they're passing too many voting restrictions to make the same mistake twice), they'll do what they do best -- obstruct.