Joe Biden DESPERATE To Salvage Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal

Joe Biden is in a mode in which he wants to salvage the bipartisan infrastructure deal AND so that he can salvage the 50 votes necessary for a reconciliation deal. These two things are going to run in parallel. Sam Seder and the Majority Report crew discuss this.

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Sam Seder: The Democrats are in a mode in which, and particularly Joe Biden is in a mode, in which he wants to salvage the bipartisan deal and so that he can salvage the 50 votes necessary for a reconciliation deal. These two things are going to run in parallel. We have talked about them as being supplemental in some respects, the reconciliation bill providing funding in for the bipartisan bill that didn't go far enough, farther enough... far enough, I should say.

For example: The support for electric vehicles provision.I can't remember the specific numbers off the top my head, but I think going into it, the Democrats wanted, let's say a hundred thousand EV stations around the country. I think it was probably closer to 65. And the bipartisan deal only provides 15 thousand. Don't hold me to these numbers, I don't have them right in front of me. The point is, is the dynamic. The White House has said, and made a pledge, that nothing in the reconciliation bill will add to the specific silos in the bipartisan bill — so in other words, you could provide in the reconciliation bill hypothetically, $400 billion worth of solar panels or subsidies, just hypothetically, but according to the pledge that Biden has made to the bipartisan voting bloc, there will be no more funding for EV stations.

Now, there may be ways that the Democrats in the reconciliation bill get around this, so that it's not technically adding to the specific line item or silo, for instance world broadband — I think Biden wanted $65 billion and I think they ended up doing maybe 20 billion dollars. You could not then add another $45 billion theoretically to rural broadband, but who knows what you could call it at that point. You could create a different program.

But it is an important understanding to know when you start to talk about the politics that are involved in this: They need to argue that the bipartisan bill is a limiting principle, if you will, so that it will hopefully pass, and the value of it passing is to get Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema's votes on the reconciliation bill, because it is the the members of the House and some members of the Senate has said we're not voting for one if we don't get both.

Sam Seder: And so the deal here is deliver the bipartisan bill. Sinema and Manchin will then vote theoretically for the reconciliation bill and that's the way this is going to work. But for there to be value to the bipartisan bill, Republicans need to be able to say, "Hey, we prevented an extra $40 billion to rural broadband." It's another question altogether as to why that would have value to them but that's the way that they... that's where they find their value. So understand the sort of delicate interplay here when Biden says this is a limiting principle and gives the opportunity for some of those Republicans who are on board with this in that Gang of 10 talking points it makes it harder for Mitch McConnell to scuttle that bill. You can pass it with 55 if McConnell says we're not going to do a filibuster. And of course if they do the filibuster, then the hand of people who want to reform the filibuster and argue against the position that Joe Manchin has taken, they are strengthened so it's a very interesting interplay that's going on here, and the bottom line of it is if it works out we could be looking at the largest expansion or stimulus infrastructure investment, investment in soft infrastructure, that we have seen in this country — I don't know, maybe ever in one bill? I mean, we're talking about the potential of $5 or $6 trillion worth of spending. That's extraordinary.

Sam Seder: But we're a ways off for it for actually happening.