Now that they’ve had their way with the whopping and bloated $1.9 trillion “stimulus” package, team-left lawmakers have begun working on their next wasteful spree: infrastructure.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released a statement on March 12 calling on House committee chairs to work with republicans to construct an infrastructure package.
But, her word choice suggests it may be anything but bipartisan.
“Building our transportation system has long been bipartisan. It is our hope that spirit will prevail as we address other critical needs in energy and broadband, education and housing, water systems and other priorities,” she said.
While infrastructure bills often pass with support across both sides of the aisle, past spending was focused on national networks like airports and the highway system, the Daily Signal reports.
What Pelosi and other democrats want is a big expansion of federal power.
Following Pelosi’s statement, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works transportation and infrastructure subcommittee, said democrats would likely push an infrastructure package through using reconciliation, which can enable legislation to pass the Senate with a partisan majority.
House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY) also said democrats plan to move forward with a reconciliation package in the summer.
So, Pelosi’s statement on bipartisanship may be a sham. If republicans choose not to support another multi trillion-dollar package, democrats can use reconciliation to get what they want.
Here’s why this is a problem.
First, big spending comes with cost. Whether it takes the form of tax hikes, piling on to national debt or both, it must be taken into consideration. Also, federal infrastructure spending has a terrible history when it comes to creating jobs, and the unemployment rate has already fallen drastically from where it was last spring.
Additionally, the proposal goes against the idea of dividing responsibilities between local, state and federal entities. State and local governments are responsible for local infrastructure projects like water lines and construction work. This separation helps with accountability, transparency and efficiency.
Because different states have different needs when it comes to infrastructure, government work at the state and local level works best. Under the plan, local governments would be given federal grants to pay for projects in exchange for rules that would make projects cost more and take longer to complete, according to the Daily Signal.
This would likely encourage local officials to use the “free” federal money to pay for unnecessary things.
Ultimately, despite Pelosi’s statement calling for bipartisanship, plans are underway to force another egregiously wasteful bill through Congress without support from team-right.
