Seraphim Hanisch
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
The Republican Party revealed its true colors on Tuesday, when nineteen GOP senators sided with the Democrats to pass an extremely misnamed $1.2 trillion “infrastructure” bill through the Senate. Note the names of the Senators that sided with the Democrats:
- Roy Blunt, Missouri
- Richard Burr, North Carolina
- Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
- Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
- Susan Collins, Maine
- Kevin Cramer, North Dakota
- Mike Crapo, Idaho
- Deb Fischer, Nebraska
- Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
- Chuck Grassley, Iowa
- John Hoeven, North Dakota
- Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
- Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
- Rob Portman, Ohio
- James Risch, Idaho
- Mitt Romney, Utah
- Dan Sullivan, Alaska
- Thom Tillis, North Carolina
- Roger Wicker, Mississippi
The fact that the United States has major infrastructure problems is real enough. The explosive growth in population, the sprawling major cities and the incredible increases in traffic leave a mess of broken roads, worn-out bridges and many other problems. Certainly the American infrastructure is due for an overhaul of massive proportions.
However, this bill is estimated to cost $1 trillion, and it is curiously devoid of money for actual infrastructure spending. NPR reports this allocation breakdown below. We have bolded those items which could properly and strictly be called “infrastructure related.”
- $110 billion for roads and bridges
- $73 billion for electric grid and power infrastructure
- $66 billion for passenger and freight rail
- $65 billion for broadband investments
- $55 billion for water systems and infrastructure
- $50 billion for Western water storage
- $39 billion for public transit
- $25 billion for airports
- $21 billion for environmental remediation projects
- $17 billion for ports and waterways
- $15 billion for electric vehicles
- $11 billion for road safety
The other three line items are debateable. It is certainly possible to consider broadband as part of the communications infrastructure, admittedly, but electric vehicles are definitely not infrastructure by any measure I see. Neither is assigning “transgender” people to the status of “protected class.” Nor is the testing of a program to charge citizens for the miles they drive by having tracking systems installed in their cars. Nor is the unfettered ability of the Imposter Biden’s administration to give huge amounts of money to “pet projects” of the administration’s choosing.
This is a disastrous bill, and your GOP senator may have voted yes on it. If so, that person should be removed from office.
Here is Senator John Kennedy’s explanation for why he voted “no” on it.
Even so, this dollar amount adds up to $547 billion. What is the other $450 billion for?
Well, the bill approved by the Senate is 2,702 pages long. It is quite possible that a large amount of that $450 billion was used to pay for the paper, ink, toner and all the hot air used to generate such a nonsensical monstrosity.
But deep within the list of apportionments of the bill are some scary ideas, most of which did not make the news (one does not have to wonder why!)
The legislation does contain a very lengthy table of contents in which it describes all the sections and authorizations it proposes to cover with your money. It is well worth it to follow the link above and see for yourself, but here are some interesting non-infrastructure line items that caught my eye.
Now, a note: The tagged items I have elected to show here are not necessarily bad things, but we also have to look at the fact that these are not “strictly” infrastructure – and one in particular, the pilot program of a “vehicle-per-mile” user fee is outrageous. The United States is a very large country, and many people make their living driving as much as four or five hundred miles per day as a matter of course. Charging them money for this is a huge economic impact, which would probably kill jobs and deplete rural America of its people. It is bad enough that our cities are cesspools of urban violence and Marxists – the rest of us who want to live in Free America do not deserve to have our liberty curtailed in this fashion.
Other ideas are clearly “Green New Deal” type environmental moves. While many of the ideas such as alternative fuels development, or renewable energy development, are not in themselves bad ideas, they are also not infrastructure related, and should be indicated in a separate piece of legislation. However, this huge bill displays the monstrosity that Congress has become, that is say, a sloppy wish list for massive amounts of nonexistent money, all written in legalese. It is a disgrace.
Further, in the House, the parallel legislation to this bill is tied to a much larger, $3.5 trillion package of liberal “nocturnal emission” ideas that would cause further damage to the nation. Look at this list and think if you want these things lumped in with real-issue allocations or not.
Then, think about your Congress – this is just one example of the ridiculous way they work. The Republicans that opposed this bill in the Senate did so based on its size, its cost, and its attention to ridiculously irrelevant programs (relative to infrastructure), and they knew that if this passed, the much bigger disaster attached to it in the House would also be that much closer to becoming law.
Think about it this way: Do your congressman and senator represent your own interests? Do you even know? If you don’t know, find out. And then, take appropriate action with the answer you get.
For example, Lauren Boebert is my representative. I have had direct dealings with her office and she came through for me as my elected representative, so I am very happy with her. I cannot say the same for Bill Bennett, my senator, who did not even deign to answer my e-mails.
It is that clear. Our republic is supposed to be run by a citizen government, not an elitist one. However, we have gotten out of the practice of doing it this way, instead taking the lazy and very perilous course of sending people to DC “to take care of us” instead of “representing” us. These are very different ideas.
Enjoy the waste they are producing. Here below, now, is just a little taste of it.
TITLE I—FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS Subtitle A—Authorizations and Programs
Safe routes to school.
Wildlife crossing safety.
Nationally significant Federal lands and Tribal projects program. Tribal high priority projects program.
Bicycle transportation and pedestrian walkways. Recreational trails program.
Sec. 11502. Stopping threats on pedestrians.
Sec. 11503. Transfer and sale of toll credits.
Sec. 11504. Study of impacts on roads from self-driving vehicles. Sec. 11505. Disaster relief mobilization study.
Sec. 11513. Buy America.
Sec. 11523. Over-the-road bus tolling equity.
Sec. 13002. National motor vehicle per-mile user fee pilot.
Sec. 13003. Performance management data support program.
Sec. 13004. Data integration pilot program.
Sec. 13005. Emerging technology research pilot program.
Sec. 22101. Grants to Amtrak.
Subtitle B—Amtrak Reforms
Sec. 22201. Amtrak findings, mission, and goals.
Sec. 22202. Composition of Amtrak’s Board of Directors.
Sec. 22203. Station agents.
Sec. 22204. Increasing oversight of changes to Amtrak long-distance routes and other intercity services.
Sec. 22205. Improved oversight of Amtrak accounting.
Sec. 22206. Improved oversight of Amtrak spending.
Sec. 22207. Increasing service line and asset line plan transparency. Sec. 22208. Passenger experience enhancement.
Sec. 22209. Amtrak smoking policy.
Sec. 22210. Protecting Amtrak routes through rural communities. Sec. 22211. State-Supported Route Committee.
Sec. 22212. Enhancing cross border service.
Sec. 22213. Creating quality jobs.
Sec. 22214. Amtrak daily long-distance service study.
Sec. 23003. Combating human trafficking.
Sec. 23007. Promoting women in the trucking workforce.
Sec. 23017. Electronic logging device oversight.
Sec. 24211. Global harmonization.
Sec. 25026. Report on marijuana research.
TITLE II—SUPPLY CHAINS FOR CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES
Sec. 40201. Earth Mapping Resources Initiative.
Sec. 40202. National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program.
Sec. 40203. National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program. Sec. 40204. USGS energy and minerals research facility.
Sec. 40205. Rare earth elements demonstration facility.
Sec. 40206. Critical minerals supply chains and reliability.
Sec. 40207. Battery processing and manufacturing.
Sec. 40208. Electric drive vehicle battery recycling and second-life applications program.
TITLE III—FUELS AND TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS
Subtitle A—Carbon Capture, Utilization, Storage, and Transportation Infrastructure
Sec. 40301. Findings.
Sec. 40302. Carbon utilization program.
Sec. 40303. Carbon capture technology program.
Sec. 40304. Carbon dioxide transportation infrastructure finance and innova-
tion.
Sec. 40305. Carbon storage validation and testing.
Sec. 40306. Secure geologic storage permitting.
Sec. 40307. Geologic carbon sequestration on the outer Continental Shelf. Sec. 40308. Carbon removal.
Subtitle B—Hydrogen Research and Development
Sec. 40311. Findings; purpose.
Sec. 40312. Definitions.
Sec. 40313. Clean hydrogen research and development program. Sec. 40314. Additional clean hydrogen programs.
Sec. 40315. Clean hydrogen production qualifications.
Subtitle C—Nuclear Energy Infrastructure
Sec. 40321. Infrastructure planning for micro and small modular nuclear reactors.
Sec. 40322. Property interests relating to certain projects and protection of in- formation relating to certain agreements.
Sec. 40323. Civil nuclear credit program.
Subtitle D—Hydropower
Sec. 40331. Hydroelectric production incentives.
Sec. 40332. Hydroelectric efficiency improvement incentives.
Sec. 40333. Maintaining and enhancing hydroelectricity incentives.
Sec. 40334. Pumped storage hydropower wind and solar integration and system
reliability initiative.
Sec. 40335. Authority for pumped storage hydropower development using mul-
tiple Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs.
Sec. 40336. Limitations on issuance of certain leases of power privilege.
Subtitle E—Miscellaneous
Sec. 40341. Solar energy technologies on current and former mine land.
Sec. 40342. Clean energy demonstration program on current and former mine
land.
Sec. 40343. Leases, easements, and rights-of-way for energy and related purposes on the outer Continental Shelf.
Sec. 40434. Study and report by the Secretary of Energy on job loss and impacts on consumer energy costs due to the revocation of the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Sec. 40435. Study on impact of electric vehicles.
Sec. 40436. Study on impact of forced labor in China on the electric vehicle supply chain.
PART II—SMART MANUFACTURING Sec. 40531. Definitions.
Sec. 40532. Leveraging existing agency programs to assist small and medium manufacturers.
Sec. 40533. Leveraging smart manufacturing infrastructure at National Lab- oratories.
Sec. 40534. State manufacturing leadership. Sec. 40535. Report.
Subtitle D—Schools and Nonprofits
Sec. 40541. Grants for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy improvements at public school facilities.
Sec. 40542. Energy efficiency materials pilot program.
TITLE VI—METHANE REDUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE Sec. 40601. Orphaned well site plugging, remediation, and restoration.
TITLE VII—ABANDONED MINE LAND RECLAMATION
Sec. 40701. Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund authorization of appropria- tions.
Sec. 40702. Abandoned mine reclamation fee.
Sec. 40703. Amounts distributed from Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund. Sec. 40704. Abandoned hardrock mine reclamation.
TITLE X—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR ENERGY ACT OF 2020
Sec. 41001. Energy storage demonstration projects.
Sec. 41002. Advanced reactor demonstration program.
Sec. 41003. Mineral security projects.
Sec. 41004. Carbon capture demonstration and pilot programs. Sec. 41005. Direct air capture technologies prize competitions. Sec. 41006. Water power projects.
Sec. 41007. Renewable energy projects.
Sec. 41008. Industrial emissions demonstration projects.
TITLE XI—WAGE RATE REQUIREMENTS Sec. 41101. Wage rate requirements.
TITLE IX—BUILD AMERICA, BUY AMERICA
Subtitle A—Build America, Buy America Sec. 70901. Short title.
PART I—BUY AMERICA SOURCING REQUIREMENTS
Sec. 70911. Findings.
Sec. 70912. Definitions.
Sec. 70913. Identification of deficient programs.
Sec. 70914. Application of Buy America preference.
Sec. 70915. OMB guidance and standards.
Sec. 70916. Technical assistance partnership and consultation supporting Department of Transportation Buy America requirements. Sec. 70917. Application.
PART II—MAKE IT IN AMERICA
Sec. 70921. Regulations relating to Buy American Act.
Sec. 70922. Amendments relating to Buy American Act.
Sec. 70923. Made in America Office.
Sec. 70924. Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership activities. Sec. 70925. United States obligations under international agreements. Sec. 70926. Definitions.
Sec. 70927. Prospective amendments to internal cross-references. Subtitle B—BuyAmerican.gov
Sec. 70931. Short title.
Sec. 70932. Definitions.
Sec. 70933. Sense of Congress on buying American.
Sec. 70934. Assessment of impact of free trade agreements.
Sec. 70935. Judicious use of waivers.
Sec. 70936. Establishment of BuyAmerican.gov website.
Sec. 70937. Waiver Transparency and Streamlining for contracts. Sec. 70938. Comptroller General report.
Sec. 70939. Rules of construction.
Sec. 70940. Consistency with international agreements.
Sec. 70941. Prospective amendments to internal cross-references.
Subtitle C—Make PPE in America
Sec. 70951. Short title.
Sec. 70952. Findings.
Sec. 70953. Requirement of long-term contracts for domestically manufactured
personal protective equipment.
DIVISION I—OTHER MATTERS
Sec. 90001. Extension of direct spending reductions through fiscal year 2031. Sec. 90002. Strategic Petroleum Reserve drawdown and sale.
Sec. 90003. Findings regarding unused unemployment insurance funds.
Sec. 90004. Requiring manufacturers of certain single-dose container or single-use package drugs payable under part B of the Medicare program to provide refunds with respect to discarded amounts of such drugs.
Sec. 90005. Extension of enterprise guarantee fees.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
I get paid over $87 per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I’d be able to do it but my best friend earns over 10k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The potential with this is endless.
Here’s what I’ve been doing…….. http://www.ExtraRich1.com
Josh Hawley is right in that this is not an infrastructure bill. But it’s not a woke bill either as Hawley say. That’s just sour grapes talking.
This is a privatization-line-your-pockets bill, yet anther upward redistribution of wealth.. Republicans got scammed but only because they didn’t get their cut. That’s the only reason why the Repulsivekins are pissed.