Bipartisanship Is Garbage
Centrist pundits and politicians are cheering the new bipartisan infrastructure bill, even though it slashes a range of vital spending programs contained in the original. We don’t need continued fetishization of bipartisanship — we need measures that actually aid the working-class majority.
One year into Joe Biden’s presidency, comparisons to FDR and New Deal policy haven’t aged well. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)
A tweet from democratic socialist congressman Jamaal Bowman laid it out in stark terms.
What was gained: “Bipartisanship”
What was lost: pic.twitter.com/QxjDXiHb1s
— Rep. Jamaal Bowman Ed.D. (@JamaalBowmanNY) July 30, 2021
Whether the “bipartisan” gutting of the infrastructure bill is all the fault of Joe Manchin or Joe Biden and his frequently professed enthusiasm for renewed bipartisan cooperation, it’s a disaster for the working class. The original bill had $387 billion for “housing, schools, and buildings.” The bipartisan version has $0. The original infrastructure bill had $400 billion for “home- and community-based care.” The bipartisan version has $0. Even “clean energy tax credits,” an absurdly inadequate response to the climate crisis, plummeted from $363 billion to $0. Other climate measures were also scrapped.
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