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A Pair o Bills For Our Time
Author: BobR    Date: 08/11/2021 12:23:50

You may have missed it yesterday amid all the Cuomoversity, but the Senate passed the largest infrastructure bill in our lifetime. It was overshadowed by NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's decision to resign, something that was obviously going to happen when I wrote about the NY AG's report a week ago. It was classic Governor Cuomo, trying to tout his accomplishments while minimizing his guilt.

But - the infrastructure bill!

There's a lot of good stuff in that bill. It includes funding for things that one would consider "traditional" infrastructure, like repairs to roads, bridges, rail, airports, ports, and waterways. It includes funding for electrical and water systems, as well as environmental cleanup.

However, it also includes some other areas not traditionally considered "infrastructure"":

  • Broadband upgrade: This is meant to ensure all income level Americans have access to the internet, and puts some pricing controls in place

  • Electric vehicle upgrades: Provides funding to allow schools to replace diesel buses with electric, and provide a grid of charging stations nationwide

  • Reconnect Minority Neighborhoods: Creates funding for projects that will reconnect minority neighborhoods with the rest of the city, for those neighborhoods that were cut off due to highway or such construction.

  • Tax regulations for cryptocurrencies: This could raise an additional $28B in federal revenues to help pay for this bill.

  • Delaying drug rebate rule: This is a bit controversial. The "administration" of the Orange Menace required Big Pharma to pass any rebates directly on to consumers, rather than the middle-men. This had the unintended side-effect of raising Medicare costs. This is being kicked down the road for a year, likely so that the rule can be tweaked.


Some things got left on the cutting room floor: Help for Americans with disabilities and the aged, help for healthcare and dislocated workers, improvements to the VA, and some tax reforms.

There are some who will complain about the items left out, but this is still a pretty good bill that passed the Senate. It should pass in the House without problem.

Another larger pill passed in the wee hours this morning - the budget bill. It is a $3.5T (that's trillion, with a "T") package that increases the debt ceiling while making "sweeping changes to the nation’s health care, education and tax laws." The bill - largely written by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), covers a lot of ground, and will be pushed through using budget reconciliation (thus avoiding the filibuster) because it claims to more than pay for itself. This bill will also help calm down those on the left who think the infrastructure bill is lacking.

These two bills - together - promise sweeping changes to our country's future. It's nice to have the adults back in charge.

 
 

8 comments (Latest Comment: 08/11/2021 16:15:21 by TriSec)
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