Why Trump never pushed harder to deliver an infrastructure bill while he was in office baffled me. The only conclusion I could draw is that he didn't think it was important to his reelection.
I thought it was. Whether it would have a made a difference in the middle of a global pandemic the likes of which haven't been seen since the end of World War One is easy to assert but difficult to prove.
What's apparent is that Biden believes he has to deliver something on infrastructure, even if it is the shrunken bipartisan deal -- widely announced but as of Saturday afternoon the text has yet to be completed.
The Democratic Party needs some proof of life heading into a midterm election year, particularly now that Delta is on the ascent and evidence is emerging that breakthrough infections are much more common than previously supposed.
The one feather in Biden's cap had been the rollout of vaccines produced by Trump's Operation Warp Speed. If it turns out that these vaccines don't offer a complete solution to the problem -- as I said, it is being acknowledged now that fully vaccinated people can spread the virus and end up in the hospital -- things are going to take a turn for the ugly. As Yves Smith noted last week quoting a story by NPR on the recent COVID-19 surge in the U.S. -- "[Infections] will steadily accelerate through the summer and fall, peaking in mid-October, with daily deaths more than triple what they are now."
It's not a good look for Biden. And, as Smith points out, the pandemic isn't the only bad look for Biden. Every policy area appears to be turning to shit right before our eyes. Whether it's Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba, the lapsing eviction moratorium, the false promises to alleviate student debt, Biden is looking less like the conservative, feckless Obama 3.0 and more like bumbling, incompetent George W. Bush 3.0.
So, yes, absolutely. Some sort of meaningful infrastructure bill must be passed. I'm even willing to accept the bipartisan deal as it is being currently reported if only to get the increased public transit, Amtrak and lead abatement funds into the pipeline, knowing full well that big-ticket $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation will likely never leave the launch pad.
If we use the fate of Biden's original infrastructure proposal as a gauge for budget reconciliation, the Democrats will end up somewhere around $1 trillion; at which point, I imagine, the party will be on the precipice of a free fall.
