The New York Times carried an article and a useful set of graphs illustrating just what the Dems ended up with in their negotiations with a handful of Republican Senators on President Biden's signature infrastructure proposal. To say that a lot more needs to be done in the upcoming 2022 budget reconciliation process is an understatement (click to enlarge):
The amount of new funding in the "bipartisan" plan is less than a quarter of the President's original proposal. Given the conserva-Dems who volunteered to cut a deal, it's not surprising that clean energy, in-home care, and innovation were left out, among other priorities. Details will be filled in, and amounts negotiated, when the full Senate and the House weigh in. According to the article cited:
"Three major areas of President Biden’s original proposal were not included in the bipartisan deal: buildings, in-home care and innovation. The bipartisan plan also left out $363 billion in clean energy tax credits."
Despite that, the White House lauded the "bipartisan" deal, despite the dramatic reductions in the amounts to be spent on Biden's priorities, which may suggest they weren't the priorities after all, or they so overinflated the numbers that future spending proposals (e.g., on the things left out this time) will be viewed as full of fluff. The fulsome praise by the White House for the deal also suggests that Biden placed good ol' fashioned "bipartisanship" to "get things done" over his supporters' needs, and the imperative of modifying or eliminating the filibuster to get the right things done. Stay tuned.
(photo: Grasping his arm, Sen. Sinema (?-AZ) looks adoringly at Sen. Rob Portman (Sedition-OH). Scott Applewhite / AP)
