Joe Biden’s Build Back Batter Winning the House is a Damn Big Deal — But It Still Isn’t Enough

On Friday, Associated Press’s Political feeds depicting House adoptions Joe Biden’s “Build back better” plan therefore: “A heavily divided House of Representatives passed an expansive social and environmental bill, a victory in President Biden’s bid to use Democrats’ control of government to divert resources force for their domestic priorities. Changes to the bill are likely to happen in the Senate.”

NS AP really have to stop to let Ted Cruz run their Twitter feed. Seriously, even I, a conservative writer and alleged (by some) Trump, find this interpretation too negative.

So what is the truth? Is this a big deal or a small thing? You will solve for Medium?

Just a few weeks ago, there was a chance that linking this partisan conciliation vote to a bipartisan infrastructure bill could have derailed both bills, effectively ending the program. Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. Then the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed, resulting in less leverage for progressives to pass Build a Better Back. It may simply wilt on the vine. But that also didn’t happen. Now, instead of going 0-for-2, Biden appears to be on a slide as he has already passed two important items on the agenda. Take it that, AP!

We could enter a history of revisionism and assume Biden would be better off if he skipped the hostage talks with the progressives and quickly passed the bipartisan bill right after the Senate. The hospital passed it in August. But that’s water under the bridge. Instead, what happened was slow and sloppy, but in the end the Democrats do passed the bipartisan bill and now appears to be on track to pass a scaled-down version of Build Back Better. As famous NFL coach Bill Parcells said, “You are what your record says you are.” The Democrats – with an extremely slim majority – put points across the board.

It’s fair to point out that if the BBB becomes law, however, it will look different than what passed on Friday ($1.75 trillion)—and it will look significantly different from Progressives’ more expansive original vision.

The truth is, if the BBB is passed, it will essentially be written by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, and progressives will have to gobble up. that.

Manchin has all the levers, and a failure to break through the BBB will demoralize the base entering midterms (sarcastically punishing moderate Democrats who are most vulnerable to defeat. – another reason for Manchin to say “yes”).

Manchin will insist on something that appears deficit-neutral, unlike the plan passed by the House of Representatives on Friday (according to the Congressional Budget Office, the BBB would add $367 billion to the deficit). ). Eliminating paid leave (as Manchin emphasizes) would help close the cost gap. The BBB legislation would also not include initially desirable advancements like free community college. And instead of the child tax credit being given to every parent, it will likely be experimental (meaning only lower-income families will be eligible). In addition to budget issues, Manchin also said the re-alignment bill must include the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars for abortions in most cases. It also won’t include climate provisions that could hurt West Virginia’s coal industry.

This is a long-winded way of saying that Friday’s vote was a step toward a simplified version of the BBB that eventually became law. But regardless of which version effectively passes, it’s important to note that this will still be the most sweeping social spending policy bill in US history. That would make the BBB a BFD — if it passes.

The next question is: How much will this problem be? politically?

As a conservative, I will vote against this bill. But substance aside, politics is obvious. A victory is a victory.

That said, the short-term political benefits of adopting the BBB appear to be minimal.

Biden has 99 problems, but the most worrying is inflation. Now, we can debate whether or not the BBB is contributing to that (Biden swears it will be “paid,” meaning it won’t pump money into the economy). But one thing is for sure: the BBB won’t — between now and the November 2022 midterm elections—handle inflationary.

It’s okay. Biden is betting on a long game. He is betting that things will change. That COVID-19 and supply chain problems, which he believes are the main driver of this inflation, will subside. And he is praying that the investments we are making in infrastructure (both physical and “people”) will come into effect by 2024. Make no mistake, it requires faith to believe these will succeed. But that’s not a fantasy scenario. And even if things don’t turn around, Biden bets history will remember him for his legislation achievements—For the score he was recording on the scoreboard.

Seen through that lens, BBB’s move in this week’s Common House is a small, but important, step in the right direction. It seems to suggest that Biden is on track to finally pass what will be an impressive piece of legislation.

That might not be good for the country — and it won’t do much to get Biden out of the predicament he’s in regarding his sagging approval numbers. But let’s not fool ourselves. A victory is a victory.