Build Back Better Plan

The Build Back Better framework is proposed federal legislation in the United States. It consists of two parts: The cost of the first is pegged at  $1.2 trillion dollars, while the cost of the second is projected to be between $1.5 and $2.1 trillion dollars. The total cost of this framwork is expected to be between $2.7 and $3.3 trillion dollars, costs that president Biden committed will be paid by increased taxation and not by increased debt. If fully enacted, it would include investments in infrastructure, and is projected to create 10 million clean-energy jobs. Expenditures would also include government funds on housing, education, economic fairness and health care.
 * A bipartisan infrastructure bill that has already passed in the Senate, but not in the house
 * A budget reconcilliation bill, that has divided Progressive Democrats and Moderate Democrats who have not been able to reach a compromise, neither in the house nor in the Senate.

Quotes about

 * We are outraged that the initial framework does not lower prescription drug prices
 * Statement by AARP, an advocacy organization for the elderly "Biden, pushing $1.75 trillion spending bill, dealt setback on infrastructure" (October 28, 2021)+video


 * The reconciliation framework is a pro-worker victory: child care, home care, clean energy jobs, health care, tax fairness, immigration improvements and support for worker organizing
 * AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler "Biden, pushing $1.75 trillion spending bill, dealt setback on infrastructure" (October 28, 2021)


 * The U.S. Congress is poised to pass a $778 billion military budget bill for 2022. As they have been doing year after year, our elected officials are preparing to hand the lion's share — more than 65% — of federal discretionary spending to the U.S. war machine, even as they wring their hands over spending a mere quarter of that amount on the Build Back Better Act...U.S. society does face critical threats to our security, including the climate crisis, systemic racism, erosion of voting rights, gun violence, grave inequalities and the corporate hijacking of political power. But one problem we fortunately do not have is the threat of attack or invasion... by any other country at all...If the public is ever to have any impact on this dysfunctional and deadly money-go-round, we must learn to see through the fog of propaganda that masks self-serving corruption... and allows the military brass to cynically exploit the public's natural respect for brave young men and women who are ready to risk their lives to defend our country.
 * Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies, Congress loots the Treasury for U.S. war machine — while bickering over Build Back Better, Salon, (December 7, 2021)


 * And, by the way, you hear these numbers — $3.5 trillion or $1.75 trillion.  We pay for it all.  It doesn’t increase the deficit one single cent
 * Joe Biden "Remarks by President Biden on Build Back Better and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal" (October 25, 2021)


 * Call for the damn vote. Tell people to get in line. Be explicit
 * several Democrats in the caucus The moment has come for Biden and Pelosi to close the deal on his sweeping agenda (November 5, 2021)


 * We are just missing two things: What exactly is going to be in the bill and how we’re going to pay for it “Other than that, we are good to go
 * ” Rep. Brendan Boyle "HILL TAX BRIEFING: Democrats Detail Tax Hike Alternatives" (October 27, 2021)


 * I wish I could say yes, but there’s a great deal of uncertainty within the caucus as to what’s contained in the deal
 * Sen. Dick Durbin (CNN’s Ali Zaslav) " What’s in — and what’s out of — Biden’s latest spending proposal" (October 28, 2021)


 * The United States is on pace to spend over $7 trillion over the next ten years for the Pentagon. To put that number in perspective, the U.S. spends more each year on the military than China, Russia, India, the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and Australia combined. While Republicans and Democrats are in sharp disagreements over the much smaller Build Back Better legislation, there is largely a bipartisan consensus when it comes to the military budget and foreign military intervention...
 * Amy Goodman, “The War Party”: Jeremy Scahill on How U.S. Militarism Unifies Democrats & Republicans, Democracy Now! (24 November 2021)


 * We have our Build Back Better Framework. Now it’s time for Congress to pass it. Let’s get this done.
 * Kamala Harris via twitter "tweet" (October 29, 2021)


 * Most of that has been negotiated, most of it is ready to go. And we are just waiting for the last parts of the bill to be put together. We’re hopeful that that will be done in the next few hours, frankly
 * Steny Hoyer "Top Democrats aim to strike a deal on Biden’s social spending plan within hours" (October 26, 2021)


 * we're working on it
 * Steny Hoyer, House Majority Leader The moment has come for Biden and Pelosi to close the deal on his sweeping agenda (November 5, 2021)


 * Until we get that, we don’t have anything to say about numbers
 * Pramila Jayapal "The state of infrastructure talks in Congress, explained" (October 1, 2021)


 * As we’ve consistently said, there are dozens of our members who want to vote both bills — the Build Back Better Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — out of the House together
 * A full accounting of the spending and revenue has been provided by the White House, numerous pieces of the legislation have already been scored, and the [Joint Committee on Taxation] has put out analysis that Build Back Better will contribute to reducing the deficit
 * However, if our six colleagues still want to wait for a CBO score, we would agree to give them that time — after which point we can vote on both bills together.
 * Pramila Jayapal chair Progressive democrats [Jayapal sinks latest Pelosi plan on votes (November 5, 2021)


 * On the night the Build Back Better vote was to take place, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy forced a delay until the following morning by delivering an 8 hour, 32-minute floor speech—the longest in House history—during which he assailed the legislation as “big government socialism.” And, as with most legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, not a single Republican supported the bill, which also lost the support a lone Democrat who voted against it. Now it’s the Senate’s turn. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hopes to pass the bill by Christmas, but he first has to convince all 50 Democrats and the two independents who caucus with them to back the plan. It won’t be easy. The paid family leave provision may be cut to satisfy a demand from Sen. Joe Manchin, and Sen. Bernie Sanders will call for provisions in such areas as Medicare and climate to be strengthened. Any changes to the legislation will have to be voted on in the House, where Pelosi holds a razor-thin majority and can only afford three defections from her party. * In the meantime, Democrats have some selling to do. Many of the bill’s provisions won’t go into effect until after the 2022 mid-term election cycle where Democrats will go head to head for control of both houses. They will need to convince the American public of the many ways their lives will be made easier and more affordable by the Build Back Better Act.
 * House Passes Transformational Build Back Better Act, But Will the Senate Follow Suit? by Jane Kennedy, Trice Edney Wire/The Sacramento Observer (November 22, 2021)


 * President Biden's framework is the product of months of negotiations and input from all members of the Democratic Party who share a common goal to deliver for the American people.
 * As we work through the text of the legislation I would hope all of us will continue to deal in good faith and do what is right for the future of the American people
 * Joe Manchin via twitter "tweet" (October 28, 2021)


 * The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill represents a historic investment in West Virginia’s infrastructure – around $6 billion over the next 5 years. Here are some of the investments that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will bring to WV:
 * Joe Manchin via twitter "tweet" (November 6, 2021)


 * Thanks to the #AmericanRescuePlan, nearly $124 MILLION in relief is on the way to 440 #WV healthcare providers. I fought for dedicated funding for rural healthcare providers in the ARP to ensure they can continue to provide critical care in our communities
 * Joe Manchin via twitter "tweet" (November 23, 2021)


 * This is a no on this legislation. I have tried everything I know to do. And the President has worked diligently. He's been wonderful to work with. He knows I've had concerns and the problems I've had and, you know, the thing that we should all be directing our attention towards the variant, a Covid that we have coming back at us in so many different aspects in different ways, it's affecting our lives again
 * I have always said, 'If I can't go back home and explain it, I can't vote for it.' Despite my best efforts, I cannot explain the sweeping Build Back Better Act in West Virginia and I cannot vote to move forward on this mammoth piece of legislation
 * Joe Manchin Manchin says he won't vote for Build Back Better Act (Updated 2:39 PM ET, Sun December 19, 2021)
 * If I sound angry, I am. My constituents are angry. It’s clear to us that this bill is wrong on the merits. And they have responded with a single word: enough!
 * Kevin McCarthy '''Kevin McCarthy drops the gloves on Build Back Better and kicks off 2022 midterm fight (November 19, 2021)


 * President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law one of the largest infrastructure packages in U.S. history... shoring up $1.2 trillion, $550 billion in new investments for the nation's bridges, airports, waterways, public transit and more...  Headlining the 2,702-page bill’s spending,
 * roughly $110 billion... toward improving the nation's roads and bridges...
 * the largest-ever federal investment in public transit, allotting $39 billion to modernize systems, improve access for the elderly and people with disabilities, and repair more than 24,000 buses, 5,000 railcars and thousands of miles of train tracks....
 * $66 billion earmarked for high-speed rail, safety improvements...
 * $65 billion to bolster the country's broadband infrastructure ...
 * $108 billion..help upgrade the nation’s electricity grid...
 * $7.5 billion for the nation’s first network of electric-vehicle chargers along highway corridors...
 * $5 billion for zero-emission buses...
 * $2.5 billion for ferries. Clean drinking water...
 * $55 billion to replace all the nation's lead pipes and service lines...
 * more than $50 billion for water infrastructure improvement... a sweeping clean-up measure targeting toxic hot spots or areas of heavy industrial pollution...
 * More than $25 billion...to help modernize America's airports...
 * $11 billion in transportation safety programs, including a new program to help... reduce crashes and fatalities... particularly among cyclists and pedestrians...
 * In addition to the $550 billion in new investments, the package also includes roughly:
 * $650 billion in previously authorized funding for roads and other infrastructure,
 * including nearly $300 billion for the Highway Trust Fund and
 * $90 billion for public transit...
 * Jonathan Ponciano, Everything In The $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill: New Roads, Electric School Buses And More, Forbes (November 15, 2021)


 * [it ] doesn't contain everything that the president proposed and that some had hoped. But that's the nature of progress in a democracy
 * Former President Barack Obama "Biden urges Democrats to accept compromise on latest big social spending plan" (October 28, 2021)


 * Democrats 'pretty much there' on U.S. social spending bill
 * Nancy Pelosi "Democrats 'pretty much there' on U.S. social spending bill -Pelos" (October 24, 2021)


 * Being anti-Trump is not enough. Democrats need to run on results, and this should light a fire under frontline Democrats to get Build Back Better passed.
 * Tom Perriello "Dems vow to plow forward on Biden agenda, even after election faceplants"(November 3, 2021)


 * [The White House's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better framework is] by far the most significant piece of legislation ever passed in the world [to address climate]
 * Bernie Sanders "Sanders says the White House's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better framework is 'by far the most significant piece of legislation ever passed in the world' to tackle the climate crisis" (October 28, 2021)


 * Sanders' remarks on the NDAA—which cleared a key procedural hurdle late Wednesday—came as Democrats in Congress also worked to finalize the Build Back Better Act, a reconciliation package whose social spending and climate provisions have been gutted to satisfy right-wing members of the majority party such as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Manchin, a key swing vote in the Senate, has repeatedly cited the national debt as a reason to pare back the reconciliation bill, which now has a top-line price tag of around $1.75 trillion over ten years—roughly half of the original $3.5 trillion framework. But while the West Virginia Democrat says he's alarmed by the prospect of spending to expand Medicare and combat the climate crisis, he appears unconcerned that, over the past decade, Congress has poured over $9 trillion into the only federal agency that has yet to pass a full independent audit. Manchin has approved every NDAA since 2011, and he voted Wednesday to advance the 2022 Pentagon budget.
 * Bernie Sanders in Sanders Says Deficit Concerns 'Seem to Melt Away' When It's Time to Fill Pentagon Coffers, Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, (18 November 2021)


 * “This week, Democrats are continuing to make important progress toward finalizing President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, and we remain confident that a final deal is within reach
 * Chuck Schumer "[https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/26/biden-build-back-better-plan-democrats-pelosi-and-hoyer-look-to-strike-


 * After months of productive, good-faith negotiations with @POTUS and the White House, we have made significant progress on the proposed budget reconciliation package. I look forward to getting this done, expanding economic opportunities and helping everyday families get ahead.
 * Kyrsten Sinema via Twitter "tweet (October 28, 2021)


 * The sausage got made! President Biden's 1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill passed the house late last night and soon will be signed into law.
 * Michael Smerconish Smerconish: The sausage got made! (November 6, 2021) (cnn video)


 * There was a strange aftertaste to many of the calls for grand social reform in 2020. As the coronavirus crisis overtook us, the left wing on both sides of the Atlantic, at least that part that had been fired up Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, was going down to defeat. The promise of a radicalized and reenergized left, organized around the idea of the Green New Deal, seemed to dissipate amidst the pandemic. It fell to governments mainly of the center and the right to meet the crisis. They were a strange assortment. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States experimented with denial. For them climate skepticism and virus skepticism went hand in hand. In Mexico, the notionally left-wing government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador also pursued a maverick path, refusing to take drastic action. Nationalist strongmen like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey did not deny the virus, but relied on their patriotic appeal and bullying tactics to see them through. It was the managerial centrist types who were under most pressure. Figures like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the United States, or Sebastián Piñera in Chile, or Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, and their ilk in Europe. They accepted the science. Denial was not an option. They were desperate to demonstrate that they were better than the 'populists.' To meet the crisis, very middle-of-the-road politicians ended up doing very radical things. Most of it was improvisation and compromise, but insofar as they managed to put a programmatic gloss on their responses—whether in the form of the EU's Next Generation program or Biden's Build Back Better program in 2020—it came from the repertoire of green modernization, sustainable development, and the Green New Deal.
 * Adam Tooze, Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World Economy (2021)