(Conditional) support for a bipartisan infrastructure deal
By 
President Biden struck an infrastructure deal on Thursday with a bipartisan group of senators, signing on to their plan to provide about $579 billion in new investments in roads, broadband internet, electric utilities and other projects in hopes of moving a crucial piece of his economic agenda through Congress.“We have a deal,” Mr. Biden said outside the White House, standing beside a group of Republicans and Democrats after a meeting in the Oval Office where they outlined their proposal. “I think it’s really important we’ve all agreed that none of us got all that we wanted.”
Mr. Biden’s endorsement marked a breakthrough in his efforts to forge an infrastructure compromise, but it was far from a guarantee that the package would be enacted. Both the president and top Democrats say the plan, which constitutes a fraction of the $4 trillion economic proposal Mr. Biden has put forth, can only move together with a much larger package of spending and tax increases that Democrats are planning to try to push through Congress unilaterally, over the opposition of Republicans.
“If this is the only thing that comes to me, I’m not signing it,” Mr. Biden said during remarks in the East Room of the White House. “It’s in tandem.”
Still, he signaled optimism about the success of the compromise, calling it a major win for his economic agenda, for America’s competitive stance against China and for democracy itself.
“This agreement signals to the world that we can function, deliver and do significant things,” he said, standing with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Getting a bipartisan deal as a signal to voters/placation of marginal votes and then passing a partisan reconciliation deal is fundamentally a win-win. And apparently the co-president is on board with the both-or-nothing strategy, helped by the fact that no Republican will vote for anything that raises taxes on the affluent:
MANCHIN on Biden’s two-track approach: “It’s the only strategy we have—is two track.”
“Reconciliation is inevitable,” he says, indicating that Republicans made it inevitable by opposing tax hikes.
Manchin says he wants “adjustments” to the ‘17 Trump tax cuts.
(via @frankthorp)— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 24, 2021
Get that money out the door!