Democrats remain divided on Infrastructure and Reconciliation
Image courtesy of The Guardian
By Jack Rowing
The ‘two-track bill’ plan proposed by President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Schumer involves the plan by Democrats to pass both the Infrastructure Bill, which proposes to spend 1 trillion dollars and the Reconciliation Bill. Their plan is to unite the conservative Democratic Senators Manchin and Sinema with the Progressive Caucus. This plan only has one major issue—they are divided on two trillion dollars.
As a condition of voting on an infrastructure bill that has bipartisan support, Speaker Pelosi and progressive Democrats are insisting on a successful voting on the Reconciliation Bill. The Reconciliation Bill, however, is a far more complex bill that proposes to spend 3.5 trillion dollars. The legislation proposes to spend money on, amongst other things, the following items: free community college for two years, childcare, expanding Medicare, a child tax credit, investment into clean energy, drug price reforms, and paid medical leave.
Senator Manchin, a Democrat from the conservative state of West Virginia, has gone on record with his proposal of a 1.5 trillion-dollar Reconciliation Bill. Recently, however, he has expressed willingness to work within the ballpark of 1.9 trillion to 2.2 trillion dollars for the bill.
Given the enormity of the bill’s agenda, Democrats’ estimate to spend 3.5 trillion dollars makes sense. Any attempt to negotiate the price tag would result in the necessary cutting or removal of certain points on this agenda. Manchin’s home state, being heavily involved in the production of coal, could potentially result in his desire to see the clean energy provisions cut. Senator Sinema, however, has remained ambiguous as to what areas of the bill she may wish to see cut beyond her desire for the size of the bill to decrease. Senator Sinema experienced a 6 point drop in her approval ratings around the time she left negotiations to return to her home state of Arizona.
On the flip side, conservative Republicans and some Democrats do have areas of concern as America has been experiencing rapid inflation. The addition of 3.5 trillion dollars into the economy could continue to expand inflationary pressure on the economy. The Infrastructure Bill, which was originally set to receive large amounts of bipartisan support, has seen multiple Republicans now changing their vote because of its relationship to the Reconciliation Bill’s 3.5 trillion dollar price tag.
Biden’s agenda has been met with stiff opposition on both sides of the aisle. Razor thin majorities in both chambers of Congress have placed an emphasis on the strength of conservative Democrats in the Senate and progressive Democrats in the House. While both parties attempt to find a middle ground, 538 polling found that both sides have genuine policy disagreements and that it is less of a failure in political leadership than an aspect of the constantly changing democratic party landscape. Regardless, to get the two bills through, Democratic leadership will need to merge the two sides so that neither one is holding up the other agenda. Otherwise, President Biden’s poll numbers will continue to drop, and hurt many of their chances of getting reelected in 2022.
