With the demise of the transformative and extremely popular Build Back Better Act, the Democrats have almost nothing to campaign on but the miserable bipartisan hard infrastructure bill (Build Back Less Better) written largely by conservatives like Lisa Murkowski, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. In the House, 215 Democrats plus 13 Republicans voted for it and 200 Republicans + the 6 most progressive Democrats in the House voted against it.
Increasingly desperate Democrats are now trying to paint it as some kind of great breakthrough package, but you don't hear the six Democrat who voted against it-- AOC (NY), Cori (MO), Jamaal (NY), Rashida (MI), Ilhan (MN), Ayanna (MA)-- trying to take credit for it. Instead, they explain why they took the bold, and courageous decision to vote tactically against their own party and their own president. On the other hand, many of the 200 Republicans who voted no, are trying to claim credit for the projects-- and jobs-- the bill is bringing to their districts... aggressively so.
The Republicans who voted for it-- who have been attacked as RINOs by Trump for betraying his orders to obstruct everything-- Don Bacon (NE), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Andrew Garbarino (NY), Nicole Malliotakis (NY), David McKinley (WV), Christopher Smith (NJ), Fred Upton (MI), Jeff Van Drew (NJ) and Don Young (AK) plus 4 who are retiring: Anthony Gonzales (OH), John Katko (NY), Adam Kinzinger (IL) and Tom Reed (NY)-- are entitled to take credit for infrastructure projects in their districts. Logically, the other 200 Republicans aren't. But that isn't stopping them.
This morning, ABC News reported how Virginia slimedog Rob Wittman (R) got caught trying to deceive his constituents. He was one of the lockstep obstructionists who voted no, calling the bill irresponsible and the "Green New Deal in disguise." But on Friday "he took to Twitter to tout funding from the bill he voted against-- highlighting a $70 million expansion of the Port of Virginia in Norfolk-- one of the busiest and deepest ports in the United States. Wittman, who deleted the tweet Friday shortly after ABC News reached out to his office for comment, is the latest member of a growing group of Republicans celebrating new initiatives they originally opposed on the floor."
Shortly after voting against the measure last fall, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) celebrated its hundreds of millions in funding for a stalled highway project in Birmingham.
Last week, Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) touted new funding for a flood control project from the package, which she opposed last year, decrying it at the time as a "so-called infrastructure bill."
Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) a freshman lawmaker who also voted against the infrastructure bill, celebrating new "game-changing" funding to upgrade locks along the Upper Mississippi River.
Thirteen House Republicans and 19 Senate Republicans-- including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)- voted with Democrats to approve the package, with many working with Democrats and the Biden White House on the details and legislative language.
"When I voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, I was voting for exactly this type of federal support for critical infrastructure that Iowans depend on,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said in a statement about the new lock and dam funding that Hinson also recognized.
Democrats have been quick to call out Republicans who voted against the infrastructure deal and recent COVID-19 relief package while praising elements of the legislation, criticizing them for "voting no and taking the dough."
“When these Republicans had the chance to actually do something good for their constituents, they refused,” Nebeyatt Betre, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement. “We’re not going to let them get away with this blatant attempt to rewrite history.”
...A spokesperson for Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) the No. 2 House Republican who touted a $1 billion investment in flood protection and hurricane repairs in his home state funded by the package he opposed, told ABC News that the GOP whip has "consistently supported these flood protection projects" and approved earlier legislation to pave the way for them.
"What he did not support is tying necessary infrastructure needs to unrelated, Green New Deal policies Democrats put in their $1.2 trillion dollar bill-- very little of which was dedicated to traditional infrastructure-- that would cripple Louisiana’s energy economy and hurt workers and families in his state," the spokesperson said.
In large part because Biden and some of the corporate whores around him-- especially lobbyist scumbag Steve Ricchetti-- decided to woo (unsuccessfully) right-of-center swing voters rather than the Democratic base, big parts of the base are not invested in voting this year.
This morning, Chuck Todd and his team reported that the enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats in daunting and points to big GOP gains in November. They wrote that "While Democrats hold a narrow 1-point lead in congressional preference, Republicans enjoy a double-digit enthusiasm advantage, with 61 percent of Republicans saying they are very interested in the upcoming midterms-- registering their interest either as a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale. That’s compared with 47 percent of Democrats who have the same high level of interest. In previous midterm cycles-- whether 2006, 2010, 2014 or 2018-- the party that held a double-digit advantage in enthusiasm (or close to it) ended up making substantial gains, our pollsters say."
Black voters, young voters and urban voters feel let down by Biden and his party and while they're not going to necessarily vote for the GOP, many will likely just stay home and not vote at all.
