Here are the results of a Morning Consult/Politico poll about President Biden's infrastructure bill:
Overall, 81% of respondents support an infrastructure bill one way or another. As you'd expect, Democrats prefer pairing it with a tax increase on the rich, while Republicans prefer putting it on the national credit card.
If there's any surprise here, it's that Republicans are fairly closely split on the tax increase. You don't often see 32% of Republican voters supporting a big tax increase on the rich.
Will this have any effect on actual Republicans in Congress? I doubt it, but I guess we'll see.
Trump ran on infrastructure, but never delivered on it. It opened up a big opportunity for Democrats.
The Democrats are only able to countenance Infrastructure Week today because El Jefe expanded what is possible politically by running to Shrillary's left in 2016.
Really, the credit for this bill still redounds to El Jefe de Maralago.
Snark aside, there is a surprising amount of truth to this comment. The Trump presidency was a slap on the face of reasonable American politics, and RAP is responding by saying "Thanks, I needed that!"
Bernie and Eliz. Warren did a heck of a lot more than Trump did.
And Trump has moved over to the far right. He's upset about taxing corporations to pay for infrastructure now: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/trump-accuses-biden-of-classic-globalist-betrayal-over-plans-to-raise-taxes-to-pay-for-infrastructure/ar-BB1fb7pl
Not surprising, but boldly illustrated here that a higher percentage of Republicans than Dems support infrastructure spending without raising taxes. In other words, eff the deficit.
Assuming that 32% does want to increase debt, or just use the lack of funding as an excuse to do nothing.
They would just use that as another excuse to ensure lack of overall Republican support for the legislation. Deficits are by definition the fault of the "Democrat" Party. They're as afraid of actually voting for a deficit as if the correct adjective.
On another note: can we go back to Disqus? I miss seeing replies to comments. It often kept conversations going long after the thread was buried under new ones. Also would like to edit my spelling mistakes.
I'm assuming a near 100% vote, if only that were possible.
I'd like to add my vote, too. The editing thing is important. Also, I like the "likes."
Nice as a return to Disqus might be, I suspect as an independent now, Kevin has less pull with the powers that be than when he was at Mother Jones.
And no, the irony of this comment system being a step back from even Coral is not lost...
I suspect the issue isn’t one of influence but if economics. This is the free commenting system that comes with WordPress. Disqus is quite pricey.
I think Intense Debate is free but I’m not sure.
Disqus costs money. It would cost Kevin real money. I believe Intense Debate (the system they used at Same Facts) is still free. And it was quite good.
Will this have any effect on actual Republicans in Congress?
Of course not. The crazier voters are against anything a Democrat proposes or does, even if it benefits them, and they tend to vote in primaries, which is a greater risk for most Republican Congresscritters than the general election because of population sorting, gerrymandering, etc.
And even the Republican voters who support infrastructure will have no problem voting for a Republican over a Democrat because reasons (but there is not a racist bone in their bodies).
So a Republican has nothing to gain and everything to lose by supporting the bill.
It's all about the swing Dem votes, especially the ones in the Senate. That's where the bargaining will be. The rest is just posing for the cameras.
Precisely. Republican voters may favor infrastructure spending, but not enough to override more serious issues like keeping transgender girls off of sports teams.
Off topic, but for regular readers in Southern California with Kaiser for health coverage: with the new age cutoff for the covid vaccine going into effect today, April 1, as of a few minutes ago it was very easy to make an appointment to get the vaccine on Thursday or Friday in LA.
UGH, I swear that Fairfax, VA will be the last place in the US to allow non-category under 65 year olds to get the vaccine.
Not sure why Fairfax County was allowed to opt out of the Virginia statewide distribution scheme, but Kaiser facilities in Fairfax are also distributing vaccine to under-65s too, some of whom (like me) have no pre-existing conditions or special work status.
Not a Kaiser member, I'm a Fed with the most popular Fed plan for my insurance. Just now Governor Northam announced that Virginia would be open vaccine appointments to everyone on 4/18/2021. I have no idea what Fairfax is doing now, they are still working through the queue of 1b folks.
Getting my first vaccination from Kaiser before the county responded to my lucky first-day registration is the ONLY thing that they have done right, but only because I sent a message complaining about their very real "death pane" when they announced eligibility of those younger than I without serious underlying conditions. Kaiser is the worst: a provider of medical services, but basically an insurer with the heart of an underwriter - something I know due to my own diagnosis, delayed by six years.
The one thing that has really frustrated me was the focus on category 1b in Fairfax and now 1c but no consideration for folks aged 50-64 who might be "healthy" and not think they qualify under category 1b. I'm hoping it's not a hot mess come 4/18/21.
Then someone diplomatically told me that "health issues" include having an unhealthy BMI. Ooooh, with the pandemic pounds I qualify. So I put myself on the wait list yesterday. I figure I've let the sickest folks go first, my conscience is clear.
Until it is run through their back yard or spoils their view...
Fortunately, high speed internet doesn’t really run through many back yards or spoil many people’s views since the cables are generally laid underground. At most, some people end up with huge fugly server farms in their viewshed, like the ones that have sprung up in Loudoun County, VA.
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"You don't often see 32% of Republican voters supporting a big tax increase on the rich."
Wrong. Polls consistently show a large fraction of Republicans supporting tax increases, though not a majority. For example:
https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/425422-a-majority-of-americans-support-raising-the-top-tax-rate-to-70
"You don't often see 32% of Republican voters supporting a big tax increase on the rich."
Wait till the brain washing starts in earnest.
What's the legislative strategy on this? Is there an expectation that there's a realistic chance 50 Democratic votes can be found to kill the filibuster, or, is the thinking that this bill (if it can pass) won't make it to Biden's desk until we're in the new fiscal year (post October 1) when a new reconciliation bill can be adopted?
Surely nobody expects ten Republican senators to support it, do they?
Nobody expects 1 Republican to support it, and that includes "moderates" like Susan Collins and Ben Sasse.
Nobody expects Republicans to get on board. They will certainly be trying to pass it through reconciliation.
My understanding is that Democrats have an extra reconciliation bill available because Congress didn't pass one last year. I've seen a lot of conflicting claims, though, so I might be way off base there.
Thanks
The real question is whether Biden can overcome Kevin Drum's objections to (re)-building a modern passenger rail service. I get that long security lines, cramped seats, indifferent service and pollution are hugely popular with the masses (well, really just Kevin) but real leaders are willing to risk their job to overcome that.
This is a wildly misleading explanation of Kevin's position on rail travel. He's been opposed to the California HSR because, as he correctly points out, there are myriad, very serious problems specific to this project. I've never read a general statement from him opposing trains in general (or HSR).
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"You don't often see 32% of Republican voters supporting a big tax increase on the rich."
Actually, from what I've seen in surveys, this is fairly typical of Republican voters. There is a vast gulf between the policies favored by Republican elites and those favored by their voting base--a gulf exploited by Donald Trump to great effect in the 2016 primary.