INDEPENDENT VOTER NATION NEWSLETTER
Independent Voter News & Views On American Politics/Where Democracy Begins & Corruption Exposed
The Late Edition/November 5, 2021
“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress.” Mark Twain
President Biden’s “Infrastructure & Jobs Act” Passes
The U. S. House of Representatives passed the $1.2 trillion “Infrastructure & Jobs Act” late Friday night by a vote of 228 to 206. Several of the Progressive Democratic leaders, “The Squad” and friends, voted against it as a protest for not getting an immediate scheduled vote on the “Build Back Better Act”. They wanted a vote on both bills at the same time. (For more details, view these sources: Associated Press: “Roads, transit, internet: What’s in the infrastructure bill”; by Mary Close Jalonik; 11/05/21. & THE HILL)
Opinion: Economic Impact of the “Infrastructure & Jobs Act”
We know that nothing will help the American workers and families for the rest of 2021. Gearing up for this plan will take most of 2022. Maybe we will see some tangible developments by 2023. Here is a quick overview of the abbreviated version: $40b-bridges, $11b-safety, $39b-transit,$66b-Amtrak rail,$7.5b-e-vehicle chargers, $5b-clean buses, $17b-ports,$25b-airports,$50b-water resilience,$55-drinking water,$65b-broadband,$21b-enviro remediation,$73b-power remediation/clean energy. Question: Who gets this money and where is the oversight?
The “Build Back Better Act” Gets Stalled
A procedural vote approved the final stages or the final vote on the BBBA in the U. S. House of Representatives right behind the jobs act, but a few moderate Democrats have stalled the final vote pending an economic analysis report from the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO report will not be available for another week or two. A congressional recess is coming up soon. No action is planned until mid-November. These moderate Democrats are probably getting coached by Senators Manchin and Sinema. (For details, see CNBC.COM: “Biden social and climate bill clears procedural vote in House, where it still awaits final approval”; by Christina Wilkie; 11/06/2021)
Opinion: The Build Back Better Act
The BBBA has been chopped to $1.75 trillion from $3.5 trillion in the last two weeks. Supposedly, Progressive Democrats were promised a vote on the BBBA by mid-November, but this promise did not sound firm. A few items have been restored to the BBBA such as the child tax credits and other important social programs. More climate change programs are also included in the BBBA. Immigration programs may be cut or they were cut previously. There has been a wide variety of domestic programs in this bill. It is not clear if they will remain. One item that gets little attention is the tax rate increase on the wealthy from 21% to 26%. That item got dropped like a hot potato almost immediately. It was one of the first items that was ejected from the BBBA. Wow! That went nowhere fast! Another tax on billionaires is being considered now, but how will they get that passed. Don’t expect any real taxes on millionaires or billionaires to get passed with Democrats and Republicans controlling congress. The tax burden remains on the middle income earners and the poor, because the wealthy know how to avoid paying taxes.
Opinion: The COP26 United Nations Climate Conference/Glasgow, Scotland/October 31-November 12, 2021
“COP26 is a failure: Greta Thunberg says climate summit has turned into a PR event”; CNBC.COM; by Sam Meredith; 11/05/2021. This headline resonates with me 100%! President Biden and his climate change crew went into this conference with more empty promises and more vague pledges. The U. S. along with China and India failed to sign the “Global Coal Clean Power Transition” Statement. Twenty countries signed an agreement to end financing coal mining as well as oil and natural gas projects, but the U. S. was not on the list. The best part of this conference is the protests outside the conference by world environmental groups and speeches by Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish climate change activist. The United Nations continues to exclude input and discussions with these environmentalists.
America’s New Revolution, my recent book, contains some of the most far-reaching climate change programs. It is a climate change report card that is relevant to the current summit in Glasgow. Get your copy today at Amazon books or go the book’s Facebook page for details. Thank you, Randy Fricke, author.
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Purchase America’s New Revolution today to help me lobby against Big Pharma and get Medicare-for-All passed. Thank you, Randy Fricke
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