From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann FIRST READ: Biden weighs going big on infrastructure — or going bipartisan Go big or go bipartisan?
When President Biden first faced this question earlier this year regarding his Covid relief plan, he decided to go big, opting for his $1.9 trillion package over the Senate GOP's offer of $600 billion.
(Notably, those 10 Senate Republicans never made another counteroffer to split the difference between the two proposals.) AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Now Biden is confronting the exact same question over his $2 trillion-plus infrastructure/jobs plan versus the Senate GOP's counteroffer of nearly $568 billion. But this time, it appears the bipartisan negotiations are much more serious than they were back in January.
On Thursday night, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., said she had a "constructive" call with Biden over the GOP's proposal. And on "Meet the Press" yesterday, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, agreed that the prospects for a bipartisan compromise on infrastructure are more promising than they were on Covid relief.
"I think it's going to be a better opportunity. And frankly, if the White House is going to work with us, this is a deal we can do. Infrastructure has always been bipartisan," Portman said.
But the answers to these three questions will determine whether Biden goes big or bipartisan.
One, how do you pay for it? Or do you even pay for it?
Democrats want to pay for their infrastructure/jobs package by raising the corporate tax rate, while Republicans oppose that and have instead proposed user fees and finding other savings.
Two, how quickly do Republicans come to the negotiating table? Or do they drag their feet?
Mindful of how Senate Republicans stalled on Obamacare in 2009, the Biden White House "wants to see counteroffers to Biden's $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan by the middle of this month, and if progress isn't being made by Memorial Day, officials will reassess their strategy of trying to build bipartisan support, said a person familiar with the negotiations," NBC's Sahil Kapur and Shannon Pettypiece report.
And three, what does Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., want? Does he demand regular order and insist that good-faith compromise is still possible?
Or is he eventually OK with Democrats going big and alone – as long as the bill is good for West Virginia?
Of course, there's one additional question if Democrats and Republicans are able to come together on a slimmed-down infrastructure package: Do Democrats then use reconciliation to pass all the other stuff they currently want from their infrastructure package – like on climate, on elder care and on corporate taxes?
Two Republicans advance to runoff in TX-6 In this past weekend's free-for-all special congressional election in TX-6, the Top 2 finishers were both Republicans, resulting in Democrats getting shut out of a runoff in a district that Donald Trump carried by just 3 points in 2020.
Republican Susan Wright – the widow of Rep. Ron Wright, R-Texas, who passed away in February, creating this vacancy – got 19.2 percent of the vote, and fellow Republican Jake Ellzey got 13.8 percent.
Wright and Ellzey will compete in a runoff that will be set after last weekend's vote gets certified.
Democrat Jana Lynn Sanchez got 13.4 percent of the vote, finishing behind Ellzey by a mere 354 votes.
In fact, had Sanchez received the 1,000 votes that the seventh-place finishing Democrat in this field of 23 candidates got, she would have more than qualified for the runoff.
So as the Cook Political Report's Dave Wasserman notes, Democrats' failure to make the runoff was both a story about poor Dem turnout and the party not picking one candidate for its voters to get behind.
Wasserman adds, however: "But strategically, they were right not to throw away millions: TX Rs will get to redraw it before 2022, so it doesn't matter for the majority."
Data Download: The numbers you need to know today More than 19 percent: The share of the vote won by GOP frontrunner Susan Wright during Saturday's special election in Texas, which saw two Republicans advance to a runoff.
32,575,434: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That's 30,701 more than Friday morning.)
581,211: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News. (That's 1,815 more than yesterday morning.)
245,591,469: The number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S.
29.1 percent: The share of Americans who are fully vaccinated
TWEET OF THE DAY: Romney gets booed in Utah
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world? The Biden administration will reunite four migrant families this week that were separated by the Trump administration.
Some Florida Republicans are worried that curbing mail voting could hurt their own turnout.
Denying the 2020 election results is swiftly becoming a GOP loyalty test.
The group powering Hispanic gains in Florida? Hispanic women.
Senate Democrats are still trying to figure out the best way forward on voting rights legislation.
And former Walter Mondale campaign staffers pen a tribute to their late boss.
Download the NBC News Mobile App
|
Monday, May 3, 2021
Welcome to Infrastructure Month … and two Republicans advance to TX-6 runoff
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Page List
Blog Archive
- June 2026 (185)
- May 2026 (347)
- April 2026 (840)
- March 2026 (2993)
- February 2026 (2529)
- January 2026 (2781)
- December 2025 (2836)
- November 2025 (2556)
- October 2025 (2219)
- September 2025 (2747)
- August 2025 (2903)
- July 2025 (2997)
- June 2025 (2807)
- May 2025 (2884)
- April 2025 (2766)
- March 2025 (2867)
- February 2025 (2635)
- January 2025 (2682)
- December 2024 (2451)
- November 2024 (2391)
- October 2024 (2862)
- September 2024 (2667)
- August 2024 (3156)
- July 2024 (3241)
- June 2024 (3107)
- May 2024 (3196)
- April 2024 (3104)
- March 2024 (3192)
- February 2024 (3006)
- January 2024 (3261)
- December 2023 (3176)
- November 2023 (3188)
- October 2023 (3191)
- September 2023 (2961)
- August 2023 (3120)
- July 2023 (3024)
- June 2023 (3042)
- May 2023 (3205)
- April 2023 (3030)
- March 2023 (2986)
- February 2023 (2584)
- January 2023 (2694)
- December 2022 (2745)
- November 2022 (2899)
- October 2022 (2916)
- September 2022 (2970)
- August 2022 (2981)
- July 2022 (2814)
- June 2022 (2759)
- May 2022 (2768)
- April 2022 (2692)
- March 2022 (2851)
- February 2022 (2550)
- January 2022 (2715)
- December 2021 (2641)
- November 2021 (2745)
- October 2021 (2836)
- September 2021 (2847)
- August 2021 (2756)
- July 2021 (2572)
- June 2021 (2738)
- May 2021 (2579)
- April 2021 (2698)
- March 2021 (2789)
- February 2021 (2532)
- January 2021 (2617)
- December 2020 (2664)
- November 2020 (2637)
- October 2020 (2824)
- September 2020 (2745)
- August 2020 (2704)
- July 2020 (2749)
- June 2020 (2669)
- May 2020 (2199)
- April 2020 (4060)
- March 2020 (5898)
- February 2020 (6963)
- January 2020 (7455)
- December 2019 (10)
Search This Blog
Iran deal creates confusion not clarity
Plus, the U.S. men's soccer team advances to the World Cup knockouts. ...
-
Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page . You are subscribed to Constit...
-
Plus, Deaths of foreign fighters draw renewed attention to the military volunteers in Ukraine. ...
-
View Images Library Photos and Pictures. Как сделать усилитель сигнала сотовой связи своими руками Усилитель 3G сигнала своими руками Антен...




No comments:
Post a Comment