Breaking: Senate parliamentarian sez 50 vote infrastructure vote is okay.

Not known if Democrats will do it. I say yes.

From Politco:

Democrats can pass another major piece of legislation — such as President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion-plus infrastructure plan — by revisiting the budget process they used to approve his coronavirus relief package without Republican support, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.

The interpretation of the ruling from the Senate parliamentarian, the upper chamber’s official adviser on procedural matters, could give Democrats significantly more opportunities to push their legislative priorities past a filibuster. But the procedural leeway of using the budget process to make that happen may not be a panacea for the majority party: All 50 Democratic senators will have to go along with the approach, which moderates like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have advised against using a second time.

A Democratic aide familiar with the ruling said the parliamentarian's feedback is "a good first step." However, the aide added, "we still have to work out the details."

The decision, as read by Schumer's office, represents a major expansion of the reconciliation process that allows passage of some bills with a simple Senate majority. That stretch of reconciliation empowers any party in full control of Washington to theoretically use the tool as often as they want, if Schumer decides to follow through on using the budget process to pass legislation like Biden’s infrastructure plan or an immigration overhaul, which he has not yet done.

The parliamentarian's opinion "is an important step forward that this key pathway is available to Democrats if needed," Schumer's spokesperson said in a statement Monday.

If he does proceed down that path, Schumer’s never-before-tried maneuver is sure to draw complaints from Republicans, who could weaponize the budget process themselves if they regain majorities in both chambers and the White House.

Schumer had asked the parliamentarian for permission to revisit the fiscal 2021 budget resolution that Democrats already deployed to pass Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package, hoping to unlock a second attempt at reconciliation. If Democrats choose to reuse that budget measure, they’ll have at least three — and possibly more — opportunities to use reconciliation to pass a host of their priorities before the midterm elections.

Won't matter unless Dems tailor legislation to suit Manchin.

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RgrF
Won't matter unless Dems tailor legislation to suit Manchin.

Yeah, he and maybe a couple of other "centrist" Democrats are probably going to be a problem. I'm hoping they'll at least go along with 80% of what Biden has proposed with respect to infrastructure investment. I think it's important to note that these programs are investments in projects that will lead to more economic production than their cost - in some cases by a whole lot. (@#$%& trickle down.) Unfortunately I think some things like child care funding are less likely to make it to the 80%.

But I suspect that Schumer and other Democratic senators may very well want to use one of their shots at reconciliation (51 votes) on something other than infrastructure investment. If they can get Manchin to go along with some sort of reasonably robust increase in corporate taxes to pay for more programs, then I would expect to see that incorporated into at least one of the reconciliation bills. But I have no good idea how Manchin feels about increasing/not increasing corporate taxes other than he doesn't want to increase them as much as Biden proposed.

This is NOT how the single largest democracy in the world should have to operate (thank you SCOTUS for that unconscionable Citizens United decision). I was never a fan of this approach but now believe it's time to expand (pack) the court just to mitigate the long term damage inflicted by McConnell & Company™.

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RgrF
This is NOT how the single largest democracy in the world should have to operate (thank you SCOTUS for that unconscionable Citizens United decision). I was never a fan of this approach but now believe it's time to expand (pack) the court just to mitigate the long term damage inflicted by McConnell & Company™.

Because it is so much better to cram down the agenda of a slight majority of the country and leave the rest out? (Both sides are guilty of this) And we wonder why the nation is so divided....

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C(-)ris
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C(-)ris

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RgrF
This is NOT how the single largest democracy in the world should have to operate (thank you SCOTUS for that unconscionable Citizens United decision). I was never a fan of this approach but now believe it's time to expand (pack) the court just to mitigate the long term damage inflicted by McConnell & Company™.

Because it is so much better to cram down the agenda of a slight majority of the country and leave the rest out? (Both sides are guilty of this) And we wonder why the nation is so divided....

Explain to me when was it the Dem majority refused to vote on a SCOTUS nominee past an election and later turned tail and rammed through their own candidate less than two weeks before an election.

When did that outrage occur?

PS: I'm not a Dem and hold that party in no high regard but once compared with the only alternative, for the present, the choice becomes clear.

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RgrF

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C(-)ris

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RgrF
This is NOT how the single largest democracy in the world should have to operate (thank you SCOTUS for that unconscionable Citizens United decision). I was never a fan of this approach but now believe it's time to expand (pack) the court just to mitigate the long term damage inflicted by McConnell & Company™.

Because it is so much better to cram down the agenda of a slight majority of the country and leave the rest out? (Both sides are guilty of this) And we wonder why the nation is so divided....

Explain to me when was it the Dem majority refused to vote on a SCOTUS nominee past an election and later turned tail and rammed through their own candidate less than two weeks before an election.

When did that outrage occur?

PS: I'm not a Dem and hold that party in no high regard but once compared with the only alternative, for the present, the choice becomes clear.

Like I said, both parties are guilty of doing the exact same thing. There needs to be a long game determined for unifying the nation. Trying to stack the court or get rid of protections to pass an agenda is very short term and most likely will backfire spectacularly in the future when the tides turn. We need some middle ground instead of the extremes. I have my doubts that Democrats will win in 4 years, assuming it isn't Trump running again.

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C(-)ris
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2021 09:34PM by C(-)ris.

A pox on both parties is not a solution nor is it a way forward like you'd prefer.
You haven't answered my question of when you recall Dems acting like Repubs did on their own way to packing the SCOTUS, you instead lumped them both into the same pot. In this example, that's pretty weak tea.

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RgrF
A pox on both parties is not a solution nor is it a way forward like you'd prefer.
You haven't answered my question of when you recall Dems acting like Repubs did on their own way to packing the SCOTUS, you instead lumped them both into the same pot. In this example, that's pretty weak tea.

They likely would have if they thought they could have, but they never had the votes. The Republicans did and took advantage of it.

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C(-)ris
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I'd like to see the Democrats slow-walk this legislature and spend time selling it until the country is begging for it.

Because for every cry of, "b-b-but socialism!" there are verifiable examples of where that isn't the case. Take them to school, Republicans need it. Similarly, for every plea of the evils of taxation, expound upon how the opposite (a government that magically runs for free) is fantasy. Especially how their 2017 tax cut actually did NOT work, will not work so shut to eff up.

It's like Biden said, "What would they have me cut?" ... that's been met with either crickets or straw men.

We don't need Republican politicians to like it or even vote for it, just their voters to WANT it. That's far more powerful.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2021 10:00PM by deckeda.

I find it very hard to believe that the good voters of West Virginia are so devoted to conservatism that they would torpedo a major infrastructure investment in their state. Apparently coal is the only industry in the entire state the way you hear Republicans campaign, and telling them to move to the jobs is an insult of some sort. If any state deserves such a boost it's WV, in return for suppling the country with coal at the expense of its lungs and ecosystems for three generations.

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deckeda
I'd like to see the Democrats slow-walk this legislature and spend time selling it until the country is begging for it. .

The country has been begging for this for a long time. Trump campaigned on this then did nothing and made a joke of it.



We are past talking, time for action.

Manchin is not a problem, he's a smart politician. He will compromise, he won't block progress on something that directly benefits his state.

I was wrong about the message not getting out, as this Rampell column illustrates: [www.washingtonpost.com]

There are numerous citations of popularity for this Bill.

meh...it's mostly those who own the heavy equipment who benefit from leasing it out, workers using that equipment only get a few weeks or months of pay per project.

2 trillion will go faster than anticipated given the cost of replacing a single Interstate bridge here locally was estimated at $400 million...and that figure was from a newspaper article nearly a decade ago, IIRC.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2021 07:48AM by Bill in NC.

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RgrF
This is NOT how the single largest democracy in the world should have to...

For the record; although flawed, India is the “largest democracy in the world”.

“With a population of over 1.3 billion people – and growing – India is the world’s largest democracy, and the second largest country on the planet after China.”

Biden winning sure is rubbing some people the wrong way, isn't it?

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

The Senate has more than 50 members. If the Republicans were not trying to destroy America, they would not be voting against these measures as a block.

It's time to override their treasonous obstruction.

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Bill in NC
meh...it's mostly those who own the heavy equipment who benefit from leasing it out, workers using that equipment only get a few weeks or months of pay per project.

2 trillion will go faster than anticipated given the cost of replacing a single Interstate bridge here locally was estimated at $400 million...and that figure was from a newspaper article nearly a decade ago, IIRC.

I was just going to write something very similar. It happened with the "shovel ready projects" under Bush/Obama. I have friends and family in the construction industry and it's the same "good ole boys" (and hardly any non-White and female) owned companies who benefit. Now, if it were a WPA style building program it might be different. However, if the need is for skilled labor, not so much.

FYI - it's "bloc," not block.

-rj

In reply to [forums.macresource.com]

Correct. Thanks!

Replacing bridges and such, while necessary, are like repairing your house. Yes, it's necessary, but at the end of the day you have the same square footage that you started with. Put on an addition or add a bathroom or a patio...NOW you're adding value and capability. Infrastructure Week needs to have vision beyond mere maintenance if it's going to energize anything in a lasting fashion.

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Acer
Replacing bridges and such, while necessary, are like repairing your house. Yes, it's necessary, but at the end of the day you have the same square footage that you started with. Put on an addition or add a bathroom or a patio...NOW you're adding value and capability. Infrastructure Week needs to have vision beyond mere maintenance if it's going to energize anything in a lasting fashion.

...which, to be clear, Biden’s does; the Republican alternative (if it can be called that), not so much.