The House passed the $1.2T bipartisan ‘infrastructure’ bill, 228-206. Thirteen Republicans voted Yes and six Democrats voted No. The BIF bill passed the Senate 69-30 in August and now heads to President Biden.
The Republicans who voted for it are John Katko, Don Bacon, Jeff Van Drew, Don Young, Fred Upton, Adam Kinzinger, Anthony Gonzalez, Brian Fitzpatrick, Tom Reed, Andrew Gabarino, Nicole Malliotakis, David McKinley, and Chris Smith.
Communist Democrats who voted against it are Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, and Ayanna Pressley.
Some of it is infrastructure and some of it sets the stage for the Green New Deal.
The package includes $550 billion in new spending. Expect more inflation.
It’s being hailed by the media as a big win for Biden.
The $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes:
More Dollars on the Unprofitable Amtrak
Amtrak will receive $32 billion for operations between the years 2022-2026, and $58 billion total. The state-owned corporation is a favorite of President Joe Biden, who was nicknamed “Amtrak Joe” for riding the train to work every day from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and making sure it was continually funded. Hunter was one of the directors with no qualifications for the job.
Amtrak received $1.7 billion from the ARP, which passed in March. Before the bailout money, it was $1.6 billion in debt.
Drunk Driving Prevention
They are going to force vehicle manufacturers to install a drunk driving device although drunk driving is not a big problem. It will make cars more expensive.
The bill “requires passenger motor vehicles manufactured after the effective date of such standard to be equipped with advanced drunk driving prevention technology.”
It’s a mandate with no funding.
Diversity Recruitment
The Department of Transportation will receive $20 million from 2023-2026 to increase “awareness of career opportunities in the transportation sector” and “diversity, including race, gender, ethnicity, veteran status, and socioeconomic status, of professionals in the transportation sector.”
No kidding. That’s for real.
The secretary of transportation will also be able to “establish a pilot program to demonstrate a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee.”
Hidden mileage tax in infrastructure bill. @tedcruz @WestonMartinez pic.twitter.com/3Y3qQrXE2v
— Texas News Network (@texasnewsnet) August 5, 2021
Highway Tear-downs
The bill allocates up to $1 billion for highway tear-downs, an equity provision for which Biden originally requested $20 billion. They say it’s to resolve the problem of the racist highways.
Local Block Grants/Pork, Selling Out the Federal Taxpayer
Key senators who negotiated the agreement will receive billions of dollars in pork for their states.
The Department of Transportation will fund “necessary reconstruction” of the Alaska Highway, a 1,387 mile-long road first built in World War II. The legislation provides for “an applicable competitive grant program.” Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was part of the bipartisan group that negotiated the package.
She is selling out America to buy votes.
The Central Utah Project Completion Account gets $50 billion dollars. Mitt Romney is part of this deal. He is selling out the federal taxpayer for votes.
Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Ohio Sen. Rob Portman were members of the bipartisan group, and Manchin’s wife Gayle serves as a federal co-chair for the ARC. Republican West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who voted for it, previously negotiated directly with Biden on infrastructure, and Republican Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell.
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