Tangle - Biden gets his infrastructure deal.

Episode Date: November 8, 2021

On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill after months of negotiations. The bill had already passed the Senate 69-30, and will now head to President Biden's desk to become law. The bill passed by a 228-206 vote, with six progressive Democrats voting against it and 13 Republicans voting for it.Our newsletter is written by Isaac Saul, edited by Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo.The podcast is edited by Trevor Eichhorn, and music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.You can support our podcast by clicking here.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tanglenews/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.

From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, a place where you get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking without all that hysterical nonsense you find everywhere else. I am your host, Isaac Saul. And on today's episode, we are going to be discussing the infrastructure bill, infrastructure week. It finally happened. The bill passed the house. It is going to be signed by President Joe Biden soon. And we're going to tell you about what's in it, how it went down, and what people are saying about it. Before we jump in and before we get to our quick hits, which is what we usually do right now,

I just want to quickly plug Friday's subscribers only edition. I wrote a piece about the supply chain and the chaos that's been going on and some of what's happening, why it's happening, what it might mean long term for the economy. It quickly became one of the most popular pieces I've written in the last few months. It is behind a paywall, I will warn you, but I think it's worth it. I think it's worth subscribing and I hope you do. You can find it at readtangled.com. If you just click on the post or archive section, you'll see it. It is called There Will Be Tears. I hope you check it out. All right, that's it for the plugs. We're going to jump in with today's quick hits.

First up, Igor Danchenko, a key source for the Steele dossier, was arrested and charged with five counts of lying to the FBI. It's the third indictment in special counsel John Durham's investigation of the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. Number two, the U.S. economy added 531,000 non-farm jobs in October, beating predictions by more than 80,000. The September jobs report was also revised upward and unemployment fell from 4.8 to 4.6 percent. It is the first fairly encouraging jobs report we've gotten in a while. Number three, a federal court suspended the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates for private companies while legal challenges proceed forward. Number four, eight people died and a dozen more were injured after a stampede during rap star Travis Scott's concert in Houston, Texas. Number five, the U.S. reopened its borders for vaccinated

foreigners, ending more than 18 months of restrictions. All right, that's it for today's quick hits, which brings us to the story of the day. So we're talking infrastructure and the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which on Friday was passed by the House of Representatives. The bill had already passed the Senate 69 to 30 and will now head to President Biden's desk to become law. The bill passed by a 228 to 206 vote with six progressive Democrats voting against it and 13 Republicans voting for it. The progressives who objected were Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Jamal Bowman, and Ayanna Pressley.

They voted against the bill because of a lack of a vote on the Build Back Better social spending plan, which Democratic leadership had promised would come at the same time as the vote on the infrastructure bill. The two bills were supposed to be passed in near simultaneous fashion to ensure support from progressives and moderates in the party. The 13 Republicans who voted for the bill were Representatives Don Bacon, Brian Fitzpatrick, Andrew Gaborino, Anthony Gonzalez, John Katko, Adam Kinzinger, Nicole Malliotakis, David McKinley, Representative Tom Reed, Chris Smith, Fred Upton, Jeff Van Drew, and Don Young. The chair of the Progressive Caucus, Representative Pramila Jayapal from Washington, supported the bill after she secured a promise from moderates that there would be a vote on the larger spending bill when the

Congressional Budget Office came back with a score on how much it would cost. The bill is the largest piece of transportation spending in United States history. It includes $555 billion of new spending over 10 years with a top line cost of $1.2 trillion. Via the Associated Press, we have a list of some of what's in the bill, some of the big, big, big items. First up, there was $110 billion to repair the nation's highways, bridges, and roads. $40 billion of that is for bridges, and the White House says 173,000 total miles of highway and major roads are in poor condition. $66 billion is tagged to improve Amtrak service in the Northeast Corridor and add a few new intra-city routes across the country, the largest federal investment in passenger rail

service since Amtrak was founded 50 years ago. $65 billion was tagged for broadband internet access that aims to improve internet services for rural areas, low-income families, and tribal communities. Another $65 billion was tagged to improve the reliability and resiliency of the power grid. Money will also be invested in carbon capture technologies and more environmentally friendly electricity sources like clean hydrogen. $55 billion is going to water and wastewater infrastructure, including $15 billion to replace lead pipes used for drinking water. $39 billion is going to public transit and would expand transportation systems, improve accessibility for people with disabilities, and provide dollars to state and local governments to buy zero and low emission buses. $25 billion is going to improve runways, gates, and taxiways

at major airports, as well as upgrading aging airport control towers. $21 billion is going to improve runways, gates, and taxiways at major airports, as well as upgrading aging airport control towers. $21 billion is going to be used to clean up Superfund and Brownfield sites, reclaim abandoned mine land, and cap orphan gas wells. $7.5 billion is going to build electric vehicle charging stations across the country, and another $5 billion is going to the purchase of electric school buses and hybrids. Democrats plan to pay for the bill by tapping $210 billion in unspent COVID-19 relief aid, $53 billion in unemployment insurance aid some states have halted, along with an array of smaller pots of money like petroleum reserve sales and spectrum auctions for 5G services. The CBO also said that the bill would raise about

$50 billion by imposing new superfund fees and changing the tax reporting requirements for cryptocurrencies. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill will add $256 billion to the federal deficit over a 10-year span. All right, that is basically the info that we have on the bill. and now we'll talk a little bit about what the left and right are saying. First up, the left is mostly happy that the bill passed, though some are concerned that progressives caved and won't get their Build Back Better plan. Michelle Cottle said that it's something of a partial delivery, but for now we should focus on the achievement in hand. The infrastructure bill will provide close to $600 billion in new federal spending over the next decade on a cornucopia of infrastructure

delights, she said. Roads, rail, ports, water systems, bridges, dams, airports, broadband. It puts $47 billion toward helping communities deal with the impacts of climate change. Jobs will be created, the vast majority of which Mr. Biden stressed would not require a college degree. This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America, he said. It is also a much-needed win for Mr. Biden and congressional Democrats. For months, the public has suffered through the dispiriting sight of the party's centrist and progressive He said. Democrats had what it takes to get anything done. Their basic competence was being called into question and the rolling spectacle of, altogether now, Democrats in disarray likely contributed to the party's poor showing in Tuesday's Virginia elections. The Washington Post editorial board said Democrats need to quickly move to improving the Build Back Better plan, which has drifted from what it was supposed to be. After months of internal negotiations, Democrats have ended up

with a bill that fails to raise the income and corporate tax rates and does nothing on inheritances, they wrote. Worse, the third most expensive provision in their bill is a loosening of the cap on the deduction for state and local taxes, a payoff to high-income Americans in high tax states. Democrats now propose funding the bill through corporate tax reforms that do not raise overall rates, a surtax on income over $10 million, and enhance internal revenue service tax enforcement. This may bring in revenue, but not nearly enough to pay for the programs if they become, as Democrats hope, permanent. And it falls short of the original goal, tax reform that responds to the nation's extreme wealth inequality. On the spending side, the Democrats now propose

extending an enhancement of the child tax credit, which slashed childhood poverty, for only a single year. Fixes to the Affordable Care Act would run only four years. The Democrats' marquee universal pre-kindergarten program would only get six years of funding. The early expirations make these programs seem cheaper than they really are. The calculation is that future Congresses will refuse to allow popular benefits to expire, and the danger is that future lawmakers will use budget gimmicks or debt to renew them. They should focus on programs that have improved to work and help those most in need, the child tax credit and earned income tax credit and the Affordable Care Act first

and foremost. In the Daily Beast, Matt Lewis said progressives folded like a cheap suit. They went from saying they would pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill only after the Senate passed a $3.5 trillion social spending bill, to passing that bill in exchange for only an agreement for a House bill on a half-size $1.75 trillion package if the Congressional Budget Office agrees it would pay for itself, and knowing that there's little chance, even if that happens, that it will make it through the Senate intact. Progressives and Nancy Pelosi can dress this up however they like, but the trade House Democrats made was passing a mainstream popular bill that will become law in exchange for some progress on a sprawling progressive bill that won't, at least not anytime soon and certainly not without major overhauls. It's baffling to me why progressives ended up holding out just long enough to help torpedo Democrats' chances in the Virginia governor's race and then acceded to this vote just days later, Lewis said.

My only theory is that they feared being blamed for the loss, which explains why Jay Powell started signaling the decision to back down on Monday, but couldn't get votes in before Friday. Alright, and next up we have what the right is saying. So the right is supportive of elements of the infrastructure bill, but frustrated that it was conservatives who helped push Biden's agenda forward. The Wall Street Journal editorial board said the divided Democratic Party was rescued by 13 Republicans. With their narrow House majority, Democrats couldn't pass the bill themselves after six left-wing members voted no, the board said. left-wing members vote in no, the board said. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a

witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and

older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at FluCellVax.ca. Without those GOP votes, the bill would have failed and Democrats would have suffered another political defeat and more recriminations. Instead, Democratic leaders are moving ahead fast to focus on their $4 trillion entitlement spending and tax bill that is now more likely to pass. The country needs spending on such public works as roads and bridges, and some projects will offer an economic return on the investment. But this bill throws money at far more than that, with only $110 billion reserved for this traditional infrastructure.

The bill includes tens of billions of dollars in public broadband subsidies that will preempt private investment. Amtrak gets a $66 billion bailout that should be enough to build a high-speed line in the Northeast Corridor, but almost certainly won't because of union and political stipulations. Some $16 billion will go to a national won't because of union and political stipulations. Some $16 billion will go to a national rail network that is unnecessary and bleeds money. The bill is also a large down payment on the Green New Deal. This will be a festival of corporate welfare serving political interests rather than the best return on investment. In the National Review, Philip Klein said the 13 Republicans committed an utterly disgraceful act.

Democrats' goal has been to pass trillions of dollars of new spending at a time when debt as a share of the economy is at historic levels rivaled only by the fight against World War II. The strategy all along was for Democrats to win over some Republicans to their cause by creating a charade that their agenda was actually divided into two parts, a physical infrastructure bill and a sweeping social welfare bill. This is a substantively bad decision that is political malpractice. It represents a betrayal, Klein said. The federal government already spends more than enough on infrastructure to meet our needs, and the COVID-19 bailout money left many states awash in cash. Despite promises, only a small portion of the bill focuses on traditional infrastructure, such as fixing roads and bridges, and the legislation, soon to be law, will add $256

billion to deficits. It will also help grease the wheels for the passage of the larger, multi-trillion-dollar welfare bill that will expand Medicare and Obamacare, initiate a federal takeover of preschool and childcare, and impose economically devastating tax increases on individuals and businesses. Politically, it's unclear what Republicans are thinking. In Fox News, David Marcus said many conservatives are outraged at the defectors who cross the aisle, but maybe they shouldn't be. There were basically three possible outcomes for the bills. The first was that neither passes. This was always a long shot, as evidenced by only six of the 40 members of the Progressive Caucus voting no, Marcus said. A second scenario was that both bills pass as is. That is still a possibility, but even if more moderate Democrats fold after the Build Back Better plan is scored by the Congressional Budget Office in the coming weeks,

that still doesn't solve the problem of objections from Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. The final possible outcome, the one that seems most likely, is that Build Back Better sees significant cuts now and the progressives are no longer holding the infrastructure bill hostage. This is the outcome the 13 GOP defectors are counting on. It's also worth noting that six of the 13 Republicans who voted yes were from New York or New Jersey, both states that see huge boons in the bill, including $10 billion for the Metropolitan Transit Authority. People may scoff at Representative Nicole Malliotakis selling out for HOV lanes on the Staten Island Expressway,

but you know who doesn't scoff at it? Her voters on the island who drive on that parking lot. Now the fight moves to Build Back better, a far more dangerous package in that it introduces entitlements likely to last forever if they are passed. All right, that is it for the left and the right's take. And now on to my take. So this is what I imagined the Biden presidency would look like. Tangible legislation on kitchen table issues like crumbling roads and everyone is still unhappy. Republicans, progressives, and even some moderate Democrats. In a vacuum, one could argue that this is what a lot of people voted for. Even the Wall Street Journal editorial board conceded the silver lining of the infrastructure bill is that some

projects will be worthwhile while most of it is one-time spending that will end. It got 19 Republican Senate votes and 13 Republicans in the House, which gives it some quote-unquote bipartisan credibility, and it pissed off the far left along the way. That's basically what Biden ran on, more or less. The Republican rationale for voting for this bill is not a mystery. For one, as Marcus noted, half the Republicans who voted for it are from New York or New Jersey, and it's clear they think the Amtrak investment, as well as the public transportation money, is going to help them and their constituents directly. For them, it's a political win, even if it enrages some conservative pundits.

Their job is to serve their constituents, not the punditocracy. Of course, their defense for voting on it in the national political context is simple, too. Nicole Malliotakis, the New York Republican, said she voted for it because it took away strength from the progressives. I weakened their hands, she told Axios. They have no leverage now. I voted against AOC and the squad tonight. That may well be true. The larger Build Back Better plan is now in a vacuum, and progressives won't be able to threaten sinking the must-have infrastructure bill when they don't get everything they want. It's already been cut in half, and we'll see what gets whittled down or out in the coming weeks. Progressives say they wouldn't vote on this infrastructure bill without a vote on BBB. Then 90% of them did. As Matt Lewis wrote above, it's hard to see that as anything but

a cave. As for the actual bill, I've said it was a net good for months, and nothing major enough was altered in the last minute for me to change my mind. My favorite parts of the bill remain intact. Our roads and bridges need repair, and now they should get it. Increasing access to the internet and rural and low-income communities is a critical and long-overdue investment in leveling the digital playing field in 2021, one that will bring more consumers, students, and business creators online over the long haul. That we still have water pipes made from lead is a national embarrassment, and this bill gets a giant step closer to changing that. Concerns about the budget and adding to the deficit are fair, but let's not overstate them either. $256 billion in deficit over 10 years

is $25.6 billion a year. According to the same CBO scoring this bill, Trump's tax cuts added $1.9 trillion in deficits over 10 years, even after taking into account the hoped-for growth impacts. That's $190 billion a year, meaning in 18 months, Trump's tax cuts added more to the deficit than this bill will over 10 years. For Biden, the deal is a solid win, but a week too late. What happens with Build Back Better will almost certainly define his presidency, but it's hard to imagine anyone driving the agenda going forward who is not named Manchin or Sinema. We'll see. All right, that's it for my take, which brings us to today's reader question.

This one is from Thomas in Westford, Massachusetts. He said, concerning the recent election in Virginia and most U.S. elections, how much of the results can be explained by a lack of voter participation? This is a good question. In my opinion, the answer is not much. While it's true that nearly 50% of registered voters in Virginia did not cast ballots, it's also true nearly 50% of registered voters in Virginia did not cast ballots, it's also true that turnout in this election exceeded expectations. About 3.2 million Virginians voted of the 5.9 million registered in the state. The race looks like it'll be decided by about 80,000 votes. That basically just tells us it was a close race, one where Youngkin eked

out just enough advantage across multiple demographics to win. Generally speaking, though, it is worth pointing out, and I do often, that American voters are still pretty bad at voting. We trail most other OECD nations in voter turnout, even the ones that don't have mandates. Of the countries in the OECD, we only fare better than Switzerland, Luxembourg, Chile, Latvia, and Slovenia. Given that, it's fair to roll your eyes anytime a politician talks about the mandate they have from voters or Americans, especially when one elected in a close race where their mandate can be as low as 26 or 27 percent of eligible voters. But you should really save your ire for the folks who continue to sit out every year. All right, that is it for the reader question. That brings us to our story that matters for today. This is an unusual story that matters, but I thought it was pretty fascinating. It was something I've never seen before.

Last week, I asked how the polls could have been so wrong in New Jersey again after all the postmortems pollsters did in 2020. Well, it turns out I wasn't the only one asking that question. Patrick Murray, the man behind Monmouth University's polling in New Jersey, published a very straightforward op-ed. I blew it, he said, and then he issued an apology. apology, not just to the candidates in the New Jersey governor's race, but to New Jersey voters too, before suggesting that maybe we're better off if they stop doing election polls altogether. If we cannot be certain that these polling misses are anomalies, then we have a responsibility to consider whether releasing horse race numbers in close proximity to an election is making a positive or negative contribution to the political discourse, he said. Kudos to Murray for admitting

the failures and explaining them. The piece is fascinating. I encourage you to read it. There's a link in today's newsletter. But yeah, I'm just shocked to see him just own it, say maybe our job should be obsolete going forward. I mean, it's pretty nuts. Anyway, that's it for the story that matters, which brings us to today's numbers section. 65% is the percentage of Americans who describe the nation's economy as poor, according to a new Associated Press poll. 35% is the percentage of Americans who describe the nation's economy as good, according to that same poll. 10% is the percentage of Tesla stock that Elon Musk promised to sell after putting

up a poll on Twitter asking followers what he should do. $21 billion is the estimated worth of that stock if Musk were to actually sell it. 33% is the number of nations who just saw their travel ban to the U.S. lifted. 2% is the percentage of people in low-income countries who have received a COVID-19 vaccine. All right, finally, our have a nice day story. This is a cool one. You might notice I just kind of love these stories. I'm a sucker for them. At first, scuba divers in Wisconsin thought all they had uncovered was a giant log stuck in the sand of one of the state's deepest lakes, but they soon realized they had just found a 1,200-year-old canoe carved from a single tree.

It took teams of divers days of digging to retrieve the canoe, which was about a mile off the shore of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, and believed to belong to some indigenous people who used to live there. Consider cutting down a tree that's two and a half feet wide with a stone tool and then hollowing it out to make it float. It must have taken hundreds of hours and a great deal of skill, Jim Skibbo, Wisconsin State Archaeologist, said. Finding something made of organic material that old and preserved intact is incredibly rare, and it is now one of the oldest intact vessels ever found in Wisconsin.

CNN has the story. All right, everybody, that is it for today's podcast. As always, I appreciate you listening, reading. Don't forget, you can go to our newsletter, our website, readtangle.com, to check out that Friday edition, which is for subscribers only. And if you want to support the podcast, just click that link in the episode description. Appreciate it, and we'll see you guys tomorrow. Our newsletter is written by Isaac Saul, edited by Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and produced in conjunction with Tangle's social media manager, Magdalena Bokova, who also helped create our logo. The podcast is edited by Trevor Eichhorn,

and music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. For more from Tangle, subscribe to our newsletter or check out our content archives at www.readtangle.com. We'll see you next time. on Charles Yu's award-winning book. Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.