The Squad is not happy. Kyrsten Sinema has publicly stated that she could not support the 3.5 trillion dollar spending bill that the Democrats are trying to convince voters is an infrastructure bill.
If you think inflation is bad now, and it is, this spending boondoggle would jack the prices through the roof.
Rashida Tlaib and AOC are out there bad-mouthing Sinema for stopping and getting professional opinions on the bill Democrats want to pass via reconciliation.
Sinema said:
“I have also made clear that while I will support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion — and in the coming months, I will work in good faith to develop this legislation with my colleagues and the administration to strengthen Arizona’s economy and help Arizona’s everyday families get ahead.”
Her opposition to such a large spending package dooms the legislation which is nothing more than a grab bag of liberal wishes that would lead to Jimmy Carter inflation and interest rates. That would spell disaster for the country.
We already allocate a lot of the budget on interest payments on the debt and could drive the country into bankruptcy.
If Sinema refuses to vote for the package it is doomed but only because Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger cannot vote for the bill in the Senate.
The bill is loaded with spending that has nothing to do with infrastructure. Spending in the bill includes expanding Medicare, free community college tuition, national paid family leave, extending Biden’s revamped child tax credits, and various climate change policies watered down from the Green New Deal.
“While bringing both parties together can seem impossible these days, Arizonans elected me to do the hard work,” she told the Arizona Republic. “Our historic legislation would make the strongest investment in America’s critical infrastructure in a century — creating Arizona jobs, expanding economic opportunities for our state, securing our water future, and protecting our communities from wildfires.”
However, progressive Democrats want the Biden administration to swing for the fences on progressive priorities and ignore Republicans entirely. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has vowed that the House will not bring a bipartisan infrastructure deal up for a vote unless the Senate also passes the $3.5 trillion Democratic bill, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) must force through the Senate using a process called budget reconciliation to pass it without GOP support.